Lecture 6 - Sustainable Transportation Rating Systems - Part 1
Sustainable Transportation Curriculum for Universities
Slide 1
LECTURE 6: Sustainable Transportation Rating Systems - Part 1
Slide 2
Introduction
Until recently, most rating systems, such as LEED, focused on vertical construction (buildings) and not horizontal infrastructure work (roads)
Slide 3
Introduction
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Sustainability factors for infrastructure projects:
- Cost
- Service quality
- Energy consumption
- Safety
- Resource requirements
- Societal impacts
- Capacity
- Environmental impacts
Slide 4
Introduction (continued)
Rating systems typically measure sustainability using five broad categories:
- Resources
- Energy
- Transport
- Water
- Waste
Slide 5
Rating Systems for Infrastructure
Prominent sustainability infrastructure rating systems:
- BE2ST-in-Highways
- Envision
- GreenLITES
- Greenroads
- I-LAST
- INVEST
These systems employ different methods of determining sustainability, emphasizing different sustainable factors.
Slide 6
1. BE2ST-in-Highways
- Building Environmentally and Economically Sustainable Transportation-Infrastructure-Highways
- Main focus is to quantify sustainability impact of using recycled materials in pavements
- Developed by the Recycled Materials Resource Center (RMRC) at the University of Wisconsin
- Compares a reference (base) design project with no sustainability features to a proposed project incorporating sustainable features — base case vs. sustainability case
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1. BE2ST-in-Highways (continued)
Projects evaluated on nine sub-criteria:
- Greenhouse gas emissions
- Energy use
- Waste reduction (ex situ materials)
- Waste reduction (recycling in situ materials)
- Water consumption
- Hazardous waste
- Life cycle cost (LCC)
- Traffic noise
- Social cost of carbon saving
Users may assign weights to each sub-criteria, but it is optional.
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1. BE2ST-in-Highways (continued)
- A percentage score is calculated by dividing the actual score by the maximum possible score
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Results in the following ratings:
- Bronze (50%)
- Silver (75%)
- Gold (90%)
- Applicable to projects in the design phase
- Offers third-party verification
- Entirely web based
https://rmrc.wisc.edu/be2st-in-highways/
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2. Envision
- Developed by Zofnass Program for Sustainable Infrastructure at Harvard Graduate School of Design and the Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure
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Used to rate infrastructure projects based on:
- Water storage/treatment
- Transportation
- Energy generation
- Information systems
- Landscaping
- Encourages use of life-cycle analysis (LCA) in planning, design, construction, and operation phases
- Recognizes efforts to incorporate sustainable practices throughout infrastructure project life cycle
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2. Envision (continued)
Distributes 60 credits under five categories:
- Quality of life
- Leadership
- Resource allocation
- Natural world
- Climate and resilience
Two-stage assessment tool:
- Stage 1 is a self-assessment checklist
- Stage 2 entails third-party verification and public recognition
Results in four certifications:
- Acknowledgement of Merit
- Silver Award (8% minimum in each category)
- Gold Award (15% minimum in each category)
- Platinum Award (20% minimum in each category)
https://sustainableinfrastructure.org/
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3. GreenLITES
Green Leadership In Transportation and Environmental Sustainability
Developed by New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT)
Three main purposes:
- Encourages development with no negative environmental impacts/little disruption to society
- Encourages appropriateness of design, safe multimodal transportation, and construction of low-cost/no-cost maintenance highways
- Provides a medium for dissemination of information and funding for research
Distributes 175 points across five categories:
- Sustainable sites
- Water quality
- Materials and resources
- Energy and atmosphere
- Innovation
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3. GreenLITES (continued)
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Award levels include:
- GreenLITES Certified
- GreenLITES Silver
- GreenLITES Gold
- GreenLITES Evergreen
- GreenLITES is mandatory for all NYSDOT highway projects
- Projects assessed during conceptual and design phases
- Project team reviews plans, estimates, and specifications and gives one of four awards — self-certification program
https://www.dot.ny.gov/programs/greenlites
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4. Greenroads
- Developed by CH2M HILL and the University of Washington
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Evaluates and scores an operations and maintenance plan
- Does not apply to day-to-day highway maintenance
- Awards credits to projects that use sustainable best practices
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4. Greenroads
Two main categories — required and voluntary
11 required credit categories:
- Environmental review process
- Life-cycle cost analysis
- Life-cycle inventory
- Quality control plan
- Noise mitigation plan
- Waste management plan
- Pollution prevention plan
- Low-impact development
- Pavement management system
- Site maintenance plan
- Educational outreach
Most of these categories are derivatives of codes or laws and do not add an additional burden to the project team.
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4. Greenroads (continued)
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Six voluntary credit categories:
- Environment and water (8 criteria)
- Access and equity (9 criteria)
- Construction activities (8 criteria)
- Materials and resources (6 criteria)
- Pavement technologies (6 criteria)
- Custom credits (2 criteria)
- After required categories are met, voluntary credits are submitted to Greenroads for third-party review
- Greenroads weights credits on a scale of 1–5 depending on potential to influence sustainability
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4. Greenroads (continued)
Four award levels:
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Four award levels:
- Bronze (32–42 voluntary credit points)
- Silver (43–53 voluntary credit points)
- Gold (54–63 voluntary credit points)
- Evergreen (64+ voluntary credit points)
- Greenroads is used primarily for highways but conceptually on bridges, tunnels, and other structures
- Web based and may be used throughout project life cycle
https://www.greenroads.org/3738/about.html
Slide 17 [end]
LECTURE 6: Sustainable Transportation Rating Systems - Part 1
