portland-milwaukie light rail project sustainability program - update
TRANSCRIPT
Portland-Milwaukie Light Rail Project Sustainability Program- Update
Robert Hastings FAIA
TriMet, Agency Architect
Portland, Oregon
Holistic Approach with Measurable Results
• Leverage full Agency input
• Fulfill design team’s strategies
• Incite contractor’s engagement
• Field Office follow through
• Innovative measurement methodology
THE NEED FOR A FRAMEWORK
There’s been significant focus on the sustainability of the built environment, but not in infrastructure, which covers larger areas and has wider, more variable impacts.
The lack of indicators and assessment methods to comprehensively measure the progress toward sustainable infrastructure has been a barrier to its development.
Source Dasgupta and Tam, 2005 and metaculture.in
THE ENVISION RATING SYSTEM ™
Envision a Complete Approach
Purpose and goal
“The purpose of EnvisionTM is to initiate a systemic change…to transform the way infrastructure is designed, built, and operated.” -William Bertera
EnvisionTM is designed to be used as a project assessment tool and to provide guidance for sustainable infrastructure design.
Applies to all phases of infrastructure development.
What Types of Infrastructure Will EnvisionTM Rate?
ENERGY
Geothermal
Hydroelectric
Nuclear
Coal
Natural Gas
Oil/Refinery
Wind
Solar
Biomass
WATER
Potable water distribution
Capture/Storage
Water Reuse
Storm Water
Management
Flood Control
WASTE
Solid waste
Recycling
Hazardous
Waste
Collection &
Transfer
TRANSPORT
Airports
Roads
Highways
Bikes
Pedestrians
Railways
Public Transit
Ports
Waterways
LANDSCAPE
Public Realm
Parks
Ecosystem Services
INFORMATION
Telecommunications
Internet
Phones
Satellites
Data Centers
Sensors
Source: Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure 2013.
60 Credits in 5 Categories
Purpose, Community, Well-being
Siting, Land & Water, Biodiversity
Materials, Energy, Water
Collaboration, Management, Planning
Emission, Resilience
Source: Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure 2013.
HOW DOES IT WORK?
Levels of achievement:
1.Improved
2.Enhanced
3.Superior
4.Conserving
5.Restorative
HOW CAN EnvisionTM be used?
Envision™ can be used by infrastructure owners, designers, constructors and policy makers to:
Organize sustainability commitments into a comprehensive framework.
Meet sustainability goals.
Be publicly recognized for high levels of achievement in sustainability.
Make decisions about the investment of scarce resources.
Include community priorities in civil infrastructure projects.
PROJECT OVERVIEW
The PMLR will create a light rail alignment that travels 7.3 miles, connecting PSU in downtown Portland, inner Southeast Portland, Milwaukie and north Clackamas County.
MAX service is scheduled to begin in 2015.
The bridge will be highly versatile with tracks for light-rail and streetcar and allow for pedestrian and cyclists’ movement across the southern quadrants of the city.
TriMet Sustainability Drivers
Secure additional public support for projects and programs.
– How can TriMet leverage its sustainability commitment to garner additional funding from EPA/HUD/FTA Smart Communities grant program?
Help TriMet understand the significance of this project within larger transit industry.
Identify high-value sustainability initiatives that could be codified into best practices.
RFP Objectives
Help TriMet evaluate the effectiveness of its sustainability strategy
Identify additional opportunities for sustainable construction
Communicate the effectiveness of sustainability initiatives to internal and external stakeholders
Benefits of Our Approach and Envision
Provided guidance and tools to further improve the sustainability of the PMLR;
Will provide a baseline for future reporting and benchmarking by collecting and displaying sustainability metrics for the design and construction of the PMLR;
Will display the breadth and depth of TriMet’s commitment to sustainability in order to educate and hopefully inspire others outside of the agency; and
Will encourage an open and honest conversation about the challenges faced and solutions needed to move forward.
Positioned TriMet to receive additional funds from FHWA to apply INVEST.
Sustainability: Beyond the Triple Bottom Line?
Conventional sustainability frameworks seek to measure the ability to deliver economic performance, environmental excellence and social contribution.
Quadruple Bottom Line – Governance
Quintuple Bottom Line – Culture
How do you measure the effectiveness of sustainability strategies spanning these realms?
Envision helps you evaluate what matters,
and how much it matters. Scoring methodology combines qualitative and
quantitative assessment methods.
Qualitative approaches rely on:
• Explanation and description
• Dialogue, discussion and debate
• Iterative learning/double loop learning
Quantitative approaches rely on:
• Industry and agency-approved metrics for calculating measureable improvements, sometimes in relation to BAU.
“If we can come up with a set of metrics that people can agree to and that has the credibility … to measure and evaluate these projects, I think we’re going to have a very meaningful impact, a critically important impact, on preserving our environment.”
-Paul Zofnass, President, EFCG
Qualitative Assessment
Example: Turning building demolition into a training opportunity for local firefighters.
1. We crosswalk initiatives to the appropriate credit(s), which in this case is “LD1.3 Foster Collaboration and Teamwork.”
2. Using building demolition as a training opportunity shows a shift from BAU to a systems view of project design and delivery, helping TriMet earn a “Superior” Level of Achievement for this credit.
Quantitative Assessment to Answer “So what?”
1. Smart Track Engineering
2. Regenerative Energy Storage
3. Pervious Paving
4. EcoTrack
5. Material Upgrades
6. Bicycle/Ped Access
7. Bike/Ped Connections
8. Vehicle Charging Stations
9. Salvage Materials
10.Pervious Paving
11.Habitat
12.Flex Cars
13.Art…
Sustainability
Strategy
Effectiveness
Measure
Potential Measurement
Methodology Unit
Meaningful Interpretation of
Strategy
Potential/Example
of Meaningful
Interpretation
Smart Track
Engineering
Energy Savings, Air
Emissions Avoided
Measure the total amount of
energy saved due to adjustments
in track geometry over the
proposed lifetime of the system.
This measurement could be
interpreted from the track
profiles created by the Track
Engineer (URS).
Kilowatt Hours (kWh) of
Electricity Saved
Using Agency-Approved Equivalency
Calculators (Such as the EPA GHG
Calculator which can be accessed online at
http://www.epa.gov/cleanenergy/energy-
resources/calculator.html), develop
meaningful equivalency messaging.
"Smart Track Engineering
Saves Enough Energy to
Power X Number of
Portland Homes for One
Year".
Wayside
Regenerative
Energy
Storage
Energy Savings, Air
Emissions Avoided
Measure the total energy savings
realized by reconverting energy
by using motors as generators
when braking. This measurement
could be interpreted using
existing systems and
architectural plans prepared by
Systems Engineer (LTK).
Kilowatt Hours (kWh) of
Electricity Saved
Using Agency-Approved Equivalency
Calculators (Such as the EPA GHG
Calculator which can be accessed online at
http://www.epa.gov/cleanenergy/energy-
resources/calculator.html), develop
meaningful equivalency messaging.
"Regenerative Energy
Storage Saves Enough
Energy to Power X
Number of Electrical
Vehicles for One Year".
Salvage
Materials from
Selected
Demolished
Buildings
Waste Avoided, Air
Emissions Avoided,
Energy Saved,
Quantity of Oil and
Gas NOT
Consumed, and other
metrics.
EPA created the Waste
Reduction Model (WARM) to
help solid waste planners and
organizations track and
voluntarily report greenhouse
gas (GHG) emissions reductions
from several different waste
management practices.
Kilowatt Hours (kWh) of
Electricity Saved, Tons of
Emissions Avoided, Tons of
Waste Beneficially Reused,
Gallons of Gasoline Saved,
and more.
WARM allows users to compare baseline
scenarios of material consumption with
alternative, more sustainable scenarios. The
JLA team could populate material recovered
(tons) from buildings using data collected by
Stacy and Witbeck.
"During construction, the
PMLR team salvaged X
tons of building materials
for beneficial re-use. This
has the same impact on
the climate as planning X
number of trees."
Bicycle
Access/Bike -
Ped
Connection/
Flex Bicycling
Several, including
gallons of gasoline
saved, air emissions
avoided, and number
and type of non-
motorized transport
users.
The Transportation Research
Board has published data on how
bicycle access affects ridership.
Using this data as a baseline, the
JLA project team could apply a
framework for evaluating non-
motorized transportation
benefits and costs developed the
Victoria Transport Policy
Institute in British Columbia.
The "Units" of measurement
could be as diverse as the
categories of non-motorized
transport benefits and costs,
which include "Improved
walking and cycling
conditions ", "Increased
walking and cycling activity",
"Reduced automobile travel",
"Land Use Impacts",
"Economic Development",
and "Cost".
In the category of Reduced Automobile
Travel, examples of meaningful metrics
include congestion reduction, road and
parking facility cost savings, consumer
savings, accident reductions, energy
conservation and air emissions reductions.
"The PMLR makes it
possible for X number of
people a year to use their
bikes and public transit to
get to work. This amounts
to a savings of X gallons of
gasoline each year."
Wayside
Regenerative
Energy Storage
Energy Savings, Air
Emissions Avoided
Measure the total energy savings
realized by reconverting energy
by using motors as generators
when braking. This measurement
could be interpreted using
existing systems and
architectural plans prepared by
Systems Engineer (LTK).
Kilowatt Hours (kWh) of
Electricity Saved
Using Agency-Approved Equivalency
Calculators (Such as the EPA GHG
Calculator which can be accessed online at
http://www.epa.gov/cleanenergy/energy-
resources/calculator.html), develop
meaningful equivalency messaging.
"Regenerative Energy
Storage Saves Enough
Energy to Power X
Number of Electrical
Vehicles for One Year".
Quantitative Assessment to Answer “So what?”
There are many ways to use EnvisionTM
• As an organizing framework.
• As an industry barometer.
• Envision Checklist.
• Project Assessment and Verification
There are many reasons to use EnvisionTM
Positions agencies to secure additional public support.
Encourages efficiencies.
Infrastructure specific.
Objective framework allows you to clearly measure whether sustainability objectives are met.
Comprehensive. Indicators include all life stages and reflect social, economic, and environmental aspects.
Cost-effective. ISI has done the hard work of compiling resources and analysis (e.g. LCA and Sustainable ROI).
Builds transparency and accountability / reduces risk.
Increase stakeholder support.
There are many reasons to use EnvisionTM (2 of 2)
Saves Money.
It’s the right thing to do.
Portland-Milwaukie Light Rail Project Sustainability Program- Update
Questions?
Robert Hastings FAIA
Website:
http://trimet.org/pm/index.htm