Sustainability and Resilience

1. Sustainability and Resilience D. Wayne Klotz, P.E., D.WRE, Pres.09 ASCE

2. Topics • What is Sustainability? • What is Green Infrastructure? • What is Resilient Infrastructure? • Sustainable Infrastructure Is Not LEED ! • What are Owners/ Agencies Looking for? • Why Does it Matter? What Can I Do To Respond? • Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure • What Does This Mean for Designs? For Me? • Standards and Best Management Practices • Marketing, professional development, project delivery • Professional certification

3. What is Sustainability? • Sustainability is a set of environmental, economic and social conditions in which all of society has the capacity and opportunity to maintain and improve its quality of life indefinitely without degrading the quantity, quality or the availability of natural, social and economic resources.

4. Sustainability– Reliability, resilience, affordable, supportable, balanced, efficient, effective, strategic focus…. COMMUNITY ECONOMICS ENVIRONMENT

5. What is Sustainable Civil Infrastructure? • Sustainable civil infrastructure provides environmental, economic and societal well-being, now and for the future (ASCE) • Policies, approaches and investments that consistently provide effective systems over the long term with adequate operations,maintenance and replacement (USEPA) What is Green Infrastructure? • An array of products, technologies and practices that use natural systems (or engineered systems that mimic natural processes) to enhance overall environmental quality and provide utility services (USEPA)

6. What is Resilient Infrastructure? CAPABILITIES Preparedness OUTCOME Resilience PRIORITIZATION Risk Reduction Event Phases

7. Repairing, Rebuilding, Expanding • ASCE Infrastructure Report Card, 2009 • High U.S. unemployment rate and focus on creating jobs, economic competitiveness • Sustainability principles should increase: • value proposition, • effective project delivery, • political and stakeholder acceptance, • resilience and effectiveness

8. Infrastructure Condition • Leaking pipes lose an estimated 7 billion gallons of clean drinking water a day • An estimated 10 billion gallons of untreated wastewater are discharged each year from aging systems

9. Importance of Our Nation’s Infrastructure Systems • All contribute directly and substantially to our nation’s productivity and quality of life • How efficiently and effectively these systems function is directly related to… • Design • Maintenance • improvements • “Clean drinking water rated as #1 advancement in the last millennium.”

10. Infrastructure Challenges “Either the country can risk further productivity decline, transportation congestion and potential catastrophes from dilapidated systems or it can develop new networks . . . to accommodate the expected 100 million in population growth over the next generation.” - Ernst and Young, Infrastructure 2009: A Pivot Point

11. Sustainable Development Problems – • We’re using up natural resources and ecological carrying capacity faster than it can be replaced, replenished or restored • We’re not replacing or fixing the infrastructure in a way that conserves or restores natural resources and systems • We’re working with infrastructure that was built using old designs and approaches

12. “You cannot solve a problem with the same sort of thinking that created the problem” - Albert Einstein

13. Which Future Will We Choose? • Repairing our infrastructure the same old way OR • Building a sustainable infrastructure for the future

14. Sustainability in Buildings • LEED rating system has transformed the building industry • Application across the U.S. • Created a new value proposition for buildings

15. What About Infrastructure? • No overall sustainable infrastructure rating system • Many rating systems at the sector-specific level • Infrastructure presents a different challenge compared to buildings: • Building design and construction controlled by a single organization • Infrastructure – Public nature of civil and public works projects affect/ benefit macro ecosystems, communities and regions; • Need to consider the description of public support and the more efficient use of materials, resources, interference or impact on public expectations – sustainability needs to pay for itself!

16. Guidelines and Criteria for Assessing Sustainability • Prompts sustainable thinking • Stimulates innovation at all project stages • Identifies strengths and weaknesses • Assists risk management • Allows continual monitoring of performance • Demonstrates contribution to sustainable development • Encourages best management practice • Provides transparency of approach • Flexibility for selected application

17. Delivering Sustainability Infrastructure • The Traditional Triple Bottom Line – “Outcome Principles” – social, economic and environmental. • Acknowledges that current state can be insufficient and that there are opportunities to improve performance of our activities; • How Do We Achieve TBL - “Process Principles” – ethical, stakeholder and governance. • Describes the approach to be adopted in behavior and decision making and sustainable outcomes are possible when issues are considered broadly and collaboratively. • In these six Principles, there are 3 levels of performance. • Preventing harm • Preserving current value • Creation of positive or restorative value

18. Triple Bottom Line Outcome Based Performance After Water Corporation Business Principles

19. Triple Bottom Line Process Based Performance After Water Corporation Business Principles

20. Sustainability and Rating Systems? • Sustainability is not achieved by a uniform model or single approach because of the varying contexts, environments, community/ stakeholder/ physical needs; • Technology and performance efficiency are enablers to achieve desired outcomes but the public interest is met through behaviors and informed decisions; • A rating system : • Creates a framework of objective measures; • Provides guidance that can influence performance goals and approaches; • Promotes project resilience, balance and strategic focus.

21. Goals for the Rating System • Provide national standard for sustainable infrastructure • Promote transformational approaches to sustainability • Support transactional efficiencies and project delivery • Demonstrate balancing of Triple Bottom Line • Establish return on investment • Scalable and broadly applicable • Accommodate sector-specific rating systems • Promote higher degrees of collaboration with third parties involved in infrastructure planning and delivery

22. Sustainability - Rating System ENVISION - the nationally recognized standard for sustainability performance Promotes transformational approaches with increased project performance for triple bottom line ENVISION scalable and broadly applicable Accommodate sector-specific rating systems Adaptable to varying levels of sustainability applications

23. Rating System Implementation • Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure (ISI) Formed • Founding Partners - ASCE, APWA & ACEC • ISI Board met February 8/9 2011 and will own and administer the rating system with support from Founding Partners • ISI Core Products and Programs • Rating System • Communications • Owner (A/E, agencies, practitioners …) interface • Education and training for the rating system • Support of assessors and verifiers • Project recognition at various levels of performance

24. The Development Cycle • All three founding partners committed to sustainability and developed a number of tools and resource libraries • APWA – Center for Sustainability • ASCE – Committee on Sustainability • ACEC – Green Scorecard • ISI Formation • Leveraging value of a consolidated approach • Creating a framework that should become the National standard for Sustainable Infrastructure • Create a civil infrastructure standard model - USGBC

25. Goals for a Rating System • Should become recognized as a National Standard for Sustainable Achievement based on user acceptance and application; accommodate sector-specific approaches • Should guide practitioners, owners, stakeholders in the framing of infrastructure solutions and the performance goals • Sustainability must be affordable • Public nature of infrastructure projects requires support of policy makers, communities and stakeholders – guide behavioral improvements in project conceptualizing while confirming technical competence • Keep it simple, practical, adaptable and usable

26. Constructing the Rating System • Should be relevant, supportive, usable and productive • E-version, interactive, instructive, outcome-based, process-supportive, outputs • Should be scalable according to complexity and size • Stage 1 – checklist and self assessment • Stage 2 – comprehensive consideration of multiple criteria and core system • Stage 3 – focused project assessment (+ operations, existing facilities) • Stage 4 – multi-attribute, complex, contested, TBL balancing • Agencies, owners, consultants, communities (+/-) should be able to use approach to reach consensus through informed decision making

27. Project Rating for Stages of Application (ISI) 27

28. Sustainability Vectors Collaborative Delivery “Doing Things Right” Process/Tools Technological Improvements Performance Contributions Higher Performance Goals Sustainable Design Performance Improvements Integrated Solutions Pathway Contributions Transform Program Delivery “Doing the Right Things”

29. Example of Sustainability Assessment Criteria Source: AwwaRF, 2008

30. Sustainability Metrics SOCIAL • Customer perception of benefit • Aesthetics/recreation • Health and safety • Educational and cultural opportunities • Public engagement • Acceptable risk ECONOMIC • Funding source and financing • Land value • Life cycle cost • Operational and maintenance cost ratios • Return on assets (flood prevention) • Indirect economic impacts • Resourceprotection ENVIRONMENTAL • Water quality • Nutrients and other pollutants • Pollutants’ effects • Erosion prevention • Water source importance • Ecology • Biodiversity-rich habitats managed • Land use • Environmental policy and expenditure • Environmental impact of design Source: AwwaRF, 2008

31. Rating System Primary Criteria

32. Project Use of ENVISION and Verification • Professionals should seek training and certification in broad sustainability principles • Use ENVISION to enhance project performance; • Owners may apply for recognition of ENVISION achievements and performance • Professional standards requirements for assessors, verifiers and certified practitioners

33. OpportunitySpace - Conventional Range of sustainable performance Restorative Sustainable Decommission / Recycle / Disposal Operation & Maintenance Improvement Reuse / Reconfigure Construction Design Conventional Planning Affected stakeholders Project Life Cycle Partner organizations Regulatory institutions • Stakeholder engagement during design, construction and operation Stakeholder Collaboration

34. Opportunity Space - ISI Range of sustainable performance Restorative Sustainable Decommission / Recycle / Disposal Operation & Maintenance Improvement Reuse / Reconfigure Construction Design Conventional Planning Project Life Cycle Affected stakeholders Partner organizations Regulatory institutions Stakeholder Collaboration

35. Examples of Objectives

36. Examples of Levels of Achievement

37. Status • Stage 2 Rating System Version 1.0 has been developed by and is currently being pilot tested and peer reviewed. Beta-test launch date 7/2011 with 4-6 month public comment period • Stage 1 Rating System concept has been developed with feedback and visioning underway. Same Beta-test period as Stage 2 • Stage 3 and Stage 4 to be developed-2012/2013 • Zofnass/Harvard and several A/E firms are offering support, tools and resources to develop Version 2.0 and other tools, resources (expect many more helping hands) • Website under development- www.sustainableinfrastructure.org

38. Sustainability is happening.We can lead or we will be led.