ReNew Canada magazine is reporting that the Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure (ISI) and the Zofnass Program for Sustainable Infrastructure at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design (GSD) have launched a new rating system designed to help policymakers evaluate the sustainability of infrastructure, set realistic national priorities, and conduct a national discourse on infrastructure investment.
“The Envision system is a complete framework of assessment for major civil infrastructure project types, scales, contexts, and project phases. It is meant for use by infrastructure owners, engineers, contractors and regulators from planning and design to construction, operations and maintenance, and decommissioning. It takes environmental, economic, and community benefits into account,” the magazine states.
“Its purpose is to foster a necessary and dramatic improvement in the performance and resiliency of physical infrastructure,” said ISI executive director Bill Bertera.
Tim Psomas, chair of the ISI board of directors, added, “The professionals who design and build these projects face a tall order to satisfy ever-growing demand for infrastructure while responsibly addressing potential environmental and economic effects. “Envision will allow project sponsors to better articulate the costs and benefits of infrastructure development by revealing the full value of projects, including contributions to job creation, triple bottom line outcomes (social, environmental, economic), enhancements to community resilience and regional competitiveness.”
ISI is a not-for-profit association of the American Society of Civil Engineers, the American Council of Engineering Companies, and the American Public Works Association. ASCE also administers America’s Infrastructure Report Card, the results of which showed that, as of 2009, $2.2 trillion was needed over five years to close the U.S. infrastructure gap.
The magazine is sponsoring an online poll on whether this new assessment and rating system help the United States improve on its D grade for infrastructure as rated by the ASCE. Visit the magazine website at http://renewcanada.net/2012/ratingsystempoll/. Editor Mira Shenker has promised to publish the results in the July/August issue.
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