Implementation and results of a pilot project applying the new Infrastructure Sustainability rating tool to local council road management.
In late 2012, the IPWEA invited members through its online social network to nominate their councils for a pilot program applying a newly developed Infrastructure Sustainability (IS) rating tool.
IPWEA Director of Sustainability, Stephen Lees, managed the pilot program and presented the results at the IPWEA 2013 International Conference in Darwin.
“Prior to this project the IS rating tool had only undergone limited trials on infrastructure operations, so ISCA was keen to see the tool further trialled on the operational rating of existing infrastructure assets,” explained Lees.
Part of Australia’s first and only infrastructure sustainability rating scheme – which also includes an assessment process and education and training programs – the IS rating tool was developed by the Infrastructure Sustainability Council of Australia (ISCA, previously the Australian Green Infrastructure Council) between 2009 and 2011.
Trialled on 14 infrastructure projects in mid to late 2011, the tool covers transport, water, energy and communications infrastructure, which are in turn rated at Design stage, As Built and in Operation. The IS rating tool was officially launched by the Federal Infrastructure Minister at Australian Parliament House in Canberra in February 2012.
Working with Redland City Council in Queensland and Launceston City Council in Tasmania, the pilot project involved three iterations of applying the IS rating tool, proposing changes to improve its suitability, and finally drawing both general and council-specific conclusions about how local councils can make their road management practices more sustainable.
An example of an issue raised with the tool as a result of the pilot project was the need for an additional economic/finance theme to ensure financial sustainability was given adequate consideration. (Existing themes were limited to management and governance; using resources; emissions, pollution and waste; ecology; people and place; and innovation.)
The pilot project also saw the IS rating tool customised for local council road management, with the number of credits reduced from 52 to 35 once those that were not relevant to road management were removed, or several were combined into one, where appropriate.
Lees said the plan was to undertake “informal confirmation assessments” with at least two other local council to confirm the applicability of the customised version of the IS rating tool.
“Subject to discussions with ISCA, it is hoped that a customised rating tool can be made available to other local councils around Australia to self-assess the sustainability of their roads management activities,” he said. “This can happen either informally, with assistance from IPWEA through it’s IS Accredited Professional, or formally under the ISCA-managed process.”
See more papers from the 2013 IPWEA International Public Works Conference.