Taking the long view on infrastructure
Public infrastructure projects, ranging from highway and bridge reconstruction to water treatment facilities and airports, can have a big impact on the health and safety of the surrounding community and the environment. This, combined with worldwide growth in urbanization, creates a significant challenge for policymakers, designers, planners, and engineers. “Envision,” a tool released last month, provides a comprehensive framework for governments and industry to confront such challenges by evaluating infrastructure projects of all types and sizes based on environmental, economic, and community benefits. The goal of the rating and assessment system is to help policymakers assess and measure the sustainability features of projects, allowing them to set investment priorities based on which projects will deliver the most significant benefits for the surrounding community and environment. “The development of this new rating system was based on the simple premise that you cannot improve something unless you have the means to measure it,” said...