Construction Monthly Magazine | Dallas 2021 Build Expo Show Edition

Who Uses Greenroads?
DESIGNER S
& CONSULTANT S
33%
24%
PARTNERS
& AFFILI ATES
CONTRA CTORS
& SUPPLIERS
19%
24%
PUBLIC
AGENCIE S
IF GREEN BUILDINGS, WHY
NOT GREENROADS?
By Sarah Andrews
Greenroads is a rating system specifically designed
for infrastructure projects such as streets, highways,
bridges, rails, trails, and more. Based upon a set of
sustainability best practices related to transportation
design and construction, achievement of these credits
gives a project a measure of sustainability performance
on a project. Greenroads is the only independent, thirdparty
tool specifically designed for transport projects.
Similar to buildings designed to be more resource and
energy efficient, there are ways to build roadways to
be sustainable, resilient, and beneficial to the local
community and ecosystem without causing pollution,
noise, and ecosystem degradation.
So, why Greenroads? Road design and construction has
remained mostly stagnant over the past fifty years while
other sectors of the construction industry have raced
ahead. Sustainable infrastructure supports healthy
economic development, creates new green jobs, results
in community-centric projects, saves tax dollars, reduces
environmental impact, and improves safety, mobility, and
access. Additional benefits include lower initial, lifecycle,
and user costs over the project’s lifetime. The Cheney
Stadium Sustainable Stormwater Project in Tacoma, WA,
realized up to 80% initial cost savings by using porous
asphalt to improve water quality while the Bagby Street
Reconstruction project in Houston, TX, designed a
roadway for extended durability that also treats 33% of
stormwater runoff through bioswales.
Within the rating system there are 61 credits, a mix of
mandatory and voluntary, and each sustainable practice
is assigned a point value according to its lifecycle impact.
The mandatory credits, or Project Requirements, must be
completed and documented for all Greenroads projects.
These requirements are considered essential for a project
to be considered “green.” Examples of these mandatory
practices include energy and carbon footprint analysis,
low impact development, lifecycle cost analysis, pollution
prevention, and waste management.
The voluntary credits are arranged into five Core
Categories: environment and water, construction
activities, materials and design, utilities and controls,
and access and livability. Examples of these strategies
include the use of recycled and local materials, electric
vehicle infrastructure, noise reduction, and multimodal
connectivity. There is a final category for Extra Credits
in Creativity and Effort to recognize incorporating local
values and enhanced performance above and beyond the
required thresholds. Like other rating systems, there is a
certification manual and online platform for the project
workspace to encourage and enhance collaboration and
communication between team members. Project teams
with Greenroads experience tend to win more future
Greenroads work and can differentiate themselves from
other design teams.
Green building and sustainability have become central to
the construction industry, and its not just for architects
anymore. There are many ways to incorporate low impact
development and other practices into infrastructure
projects, and engineers will need to lead the way toward
greener highways and byways. For more information on
Greenroads, visit greenroads.org for details, ideas, and
inspiration for your next roadway project.
10 CONSTRUCTIONMONTHLY.COM