Sustainable Infrastructure Rating Research Articles

Comparative analysis of traffic-and-transportation-planning-related indicators in sustainable transportation infrastructure rating systems

A sustainable transportation infrastructure rating system (STIRS) generally encompasses a wide range of indicators for the comprehensive evaluation of the sustainability of transportation projects. Appropriate traffic and transportation planning solutions may increase the performance of transportation projects. However, no investigation has been conducted to assess the significance of traffic-and-transportation-planning-related indicators (TTPIs) in STIRSs. This study first identified the five most up-to-date rating systems from 12 existing STIRSs. TTPIs were extracted from different categories of the five STIRSs, and similar feature indicators were regrouped into different traffic-and-transportation-planning-related features (TTPFs). The comparative analysis approach was adopted to investigate the priority and significance of TTPFs and TTPIs in the selected rating systems. The findings revealed that among the selected rating systems, Green Guides for Roads allocates the highest percentage of total points (37%) to TTPIs, whereas the Infrastructure Voluntary Evaluation Sustainability Tool allocates the lowest percentage of total points (20.9%) to TTPIs. With respect to the TTPFs of transportation projects, pedestrian paths and sidewalks, bicycle facilities, and traffic facilities are believed to contribute considerably to project sustainability, whereas freight traffic, parking spaces, and project consistency are believed to make relatively low contributions to project sustainability.

The State of Water/Wastewater Utility Sustainability: A North American Survey

A North American survey on current sustainable infrastructure practices among water and wastewater utilities was conducted in April 2014. The survey queried utilities on the types of infrastructure practices they use, ranging from renewable energy to infrastructure repair to demand management. The survey also collected information on utilities' sustainability‐related reporting, project evaluation, and decision‐making. The survey found that less than half of utilities that responded implement some form of sustainability practice. Of the 125 US respondents, 18% of utilities reported publishing a sustainability policy or vision statement. A large fraction of utilities reported not using sustainability tools or metrics; 26% of respondents reported using no metrics, and 46% of utilities used no sustainability tools. Energy and water audits (30 and 28%, respectively) were by far the most common tools used by utilities to evaluate the sustainability of their infrastructure. Less than 4% of respondents reported using Envision, the Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure's rating system.