Integration of Sustainability Rating Tools in Contemporary Pavement Management Systems
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Abstract
There is growing demand around the world for public agencies to implement sustainable initiatives into public infrastructure projects. Sustainability principles need to be integrated seamlessly into all decision making processes, especially when it relates to public expenditures on vital infrastructure. While agreeing with the principles of sustainability, many agencies struggle with how to implement these objectives in a systematic manner. Pavement sustainability can be evaluated using several different methods or tools, including life cycle assessment, life cycle cost analysis, performance assessment, and sustainability rating systems (SRS). A SRS is basically a list of sustainability best practices with a related measure, usually a point score, which quantifies each best practice in a common unit. The challenge is to develop a System or Program that can identify the benefits and project impacts, compare options in a balanced manner and quantify the benefits. To meet this challenge, both the Ontario Ministry of Transportation (MTO) and Golder Associates Ltd. (Golder) have developed user-friendly sustainability rating systems (SRS) to promote sustainable pavement technologies for the design, construction, rehabilitation, reconstruction, and preservation of roads. The MTO system is known as GreenPave and the Golder system as GoldSET. This paper describes the development and implementation of these two SRS and assesses their sustainability measures through a case study of a highway using innovative pavement preservation/rehabilitation techniques. In addition, the paper discusses how these SRS tools can be incorporated into pavement management and asset management practices.