Envisioning a LEED-like Ratings System for Infrastructure

"At a recent sustainability conference, I learned about an intriguing effort to bring to infrastructure what LEED brings to buildings," says Graves. "It's called the Envision Rating System, and it's a joint project of the Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure (ISI) and Harvard University's Zofnass Program for Sustainable Infrastructure."

"Envision is just getting out of the starting blocks. Essentially, it's a guide for sustainability decision-making by government. 'We now have a way to help government prioritize needs and allocate resources for the physical infrastructure upon which everything else depends,' explains William Bertera, ISI's executive director. Ann Radil, an Envision user who is senior scientist for Parametrix, a Portland, Ore., environmental-engineering consulting firm, says that 'for infrastructure Envision has done the heavy lifting on sustainability. These tools help you ask the right questions.'"