Measuring What Matters

ENVISION FRAMEWORK IS CHANGING INFRASTRUCTURE PLANNING

By JASON M. BIRD CFM, Florida Resilience Lead, Jacobs and HOWARD LUSK PE, ENV SP, LEED AP BD+C Co-Leader of Sustainable Infrastructure Community of Practice, Jacobs

Since 1998, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Infrastructure Report Card has provided a way to translate infrastructure condition assessments into clear and concise terms to communicate with the public and to guide decision-making.

But what if there was a tool to help municipalities, utilities, engineers and consultants translate the more complex economic, social and environmental aspects of an infrastructure project into a scorecard that also factors in resilience?

Fortunately, there is.

The Envision Sustainability Framework gives infrastructure agencies and their consultants an objective measurement tool to examine the related effects of infrastructure on people, prosperity and the planet.

Measuring The Effects Of Infrastructure

The Envision Sustainability Framework was developed by the Zofnass Program at Harvard and the Institute of Sustainable Infrastructure (ISI), which was founded by the ASCE, American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) and the American Public Works Association (APWA).

Envision improves infrastructure projects, programs and agencies in a number of ways. It provides objective metrics for measuring performance, negative impacts and positive benefits, and it reveals additional considerations to inform decisions. Envision encourages designing for future adaptation instead of past conditions and identifies opportunities for increasing sustainable and resilient design beyond minimum regulatory requirements.

“Envision is about supporting higher performance through better choices in infrastructure development,” said Patricia Gómez, Ph.D., Deputy Chief Resilience Officer with Miami-Dade County and member of the Envision Review Board.

Envision encourages project co-benefits and additional value to the community. It can provide talking points for collaboration with stakeholders and help demonstrate good stewardship of economic, environmental and social resources.

Measuring The Full Range Of Effects On A Community

Envision’s 64 technical topics are known as credits and cover the full range of effects on the natural environment and on a community. The Envision v.3 manual provides evaluation and documentation guidance for the 64 credits, which are organized into five categories:

Quality of Life – Credits assess the project’s impact from the health and wellbeing of individuals to the wellbeing of the community. Subtopics include improving public health and safety, enhancing construction safety, encouraging sustainable transportation, protecting cultural resources and advancing equity and social justice.

Leadership – Credits demonstrate effective leadership and commitment by the owner, design team and construction contractors. Actions include establishing sustainability management policies, developing management plans, conducting life cycle economic evaluations and establishing plans for maintaining and adapting the infrastructure to changing conditions of the future.

Resource Allocation – These credits measure the use of renewable and non-renewable resources for the project. This area concerns aspects such as water and energy use during construction and operations, construction waste management, use of recycled content and the sustainable procurement of materials.

Natural World – Credits assess preservation and renewal of ecosystem functions. Examples include preservation of habitats and undeveloped land, management of stormwater and control of invasive species.

Climate & Resilience – Credits examine two main concepts: 1) minimizing greenhouse gas and air pollutant emissions and 2) focusing on resilience. Envision calls for a comprehensive hazard assessment and action plans to strengthen resilience to both short-term hazards and altered long-term future conditions. For the highest levels of achievement in resilience planning and design, the project considers the surrounding communities and connected and dependent infrastructure systems.

ENVISION CREDENTIALS FOR PROFESSIONALS, AGENCIES

Envision Sustainability Framework reference material and program information are available for free download from sustainableinfrastructure.org. There is no cost to use the framework as a planning and design guideline. Projects only incur fees when pursuing the optional award verification portion of the framework.

Professionals who have completed Envision training and passed an exam earn the Envision Sustainability Professional credential, which is abbreviated ENV SP.

Envision Supported Agencies are public-sector infrastructure entities in ISI’s community, with one or more ENV SPs on staff. There is no annual membership fee for Envision Supported Agencies. In addition to project-scale metrics, the majority of the Envision credits are also applicable for guidance at the program and agency level.

Envision Qualified Companies are private-sector member corporations. They pay an annual fee based on the number of total staff.

AWARD-WINNING ENVISION PROJECTS IN FLORIDA

In 2017, FDOT’s I-4 Ultimate Improvement Project achieved the platinum rating, the highest available recognition in the Envision platform. Begun in 2015, the I-4 Ultimate Improvement Project is a $2.87-billion transportation infrastructure project in Central Florida that includes the reconstruction of 21 miles of limited-access interstate and 15 major interchanges and construction of 140 bridges. The project traverses downtown Orlando through Orange and Seminole counties, connecting travelers to some of the most popular destinations in the state.

FDOT's I-4 Ultimate Improvement

“This particular corridor is critically important not to just local residents but to Florida’s overall economy,” said Brett Nein, director of Jacobs’ Advanced Planning Group and Principal Landscape Architect for the I-4 Ultimate Improvement Project. “And that’s why Envision certification was vital in helping mitigate the overall impacts and ensuring that all the landscape and aesthetic improvements were sustainable for the life of the project.”

While Envision project verification alone does not guarantee long-term project performance, it does provide an easy-touse framework to guide building with the future in mind to improve infrastructure reliability, limit adverse impacts on natural resources and help improve the quality of life for future generations. Application of the Envision Sustainability Framework during project planning, design and commissioning is shaping the future of our industry and developing sustainable and resilient communities of tomorrow.

As of March 2023, six projects in Florida have received an Envision award and another half dozen or so projects have registered or are in the process of pursuing Envision verification.