At the Transportation Research Board’s Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C., in mid-January, University of Washington (UW) researchers and CH2M HILL unveiled the Greenroads rating system for sustainable road design and construction. The system outlines minimum requirements to qualify as a green roadway, including a noise mitigation plan, stormwater management plan, and waste management plan. It also allows for as many as 118 points for voluntary actions such as minimizing light pollution, using recycled materials, incorporating quiet pavement, and accommodating non-motorized transportation.

“The LEED [Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design] system has been really successful and has achieved a lot,” said Steve Muench, Ph.D., UW assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering. “Roads are a big chunk of the construction industry that has an opportunity to participate more fully in sustainability practices.

Greenroads originated in 2007 when Martina Söderlund, a graduate student from Sweden, came to the UW through the Valle Scholarship and Scandinavian Exchange Program. Muench was Söderlund’s adviser for her master’s thesis.

Greenroads Version 1.0 is now available at www.greenroads.us According to the website, Greenroads provides the following:

• a holistic way of considering roadway sustainability;
• a defined and quantitative means to assess roadway sustainability; and
• a tool for decision makers, agencies, consultants, and contractors that enables informed design and construction decisions regarding sustainability.

Logo being used for the University of Washington/CH2M HILL Greenroads sustainable road rating system.

Greenroads comprises 62 credits and 11 requirements in seven categories that can be used to achieve certification. The system can be used either for new road projects or for upgrades on existing roads. Categories are Project Requirements, Environment & Water, Access & Equity, Construction Activities, Materials & Resources, Pavement Technologies, and Exemplary Performance, which includes “innovative techniques not described in the existing credits.”

Certification levels for Version 1.0 are Certified, Silver, Gold, and Evergreen, depending on the number voluntary credit points earned, in addition to fulfilling all project requirements.

A short version of the Greenroads manual currently is available on the organization’s website; the full manual will be posted online when complete.

According to the developers, Greenroads’ aims are threefold:

• to recognize companies already using sustainable methods;
• to provide a catalog of ideas for greener practices; and
• to offer an incentive for agencies and companies to build more environmentally friendly roads.

“This helps our industry become more sustainable and shows the public that we can deliver sustainable roadways,” said Tim Bevan, west region technology manager at CH2M HILL.

A number of government agencies have expressed interest in the project, including the Oregon Department of Transportation and the British Columbia Ministry of Transportation and Highways. The New York State Department of Transportation used some of the credit ideas and wording from an early version of Greenroads for its GreenLITES system (www.nysdot.gov/programs/greenlites).

Roadway projects can be rated for a fee by contacting the Greenroads team. Fees for registering a project, for design review (after design is substantially complete), and for construction review (after the project is substantially complete) currently are based on the following project sizes: less than $5 million, $5 million to $50 million, and greater than $50 million.

However, only some projects can currently be rated because of limited staff. Long term, the Greenroads team hopes to allow qualified third-party consultants do the ratings.

“It’s quickly becoming something that needs to be more than a research project,” Muench said.

The team hopes to get feedback on the system’s ease of use, choice of credits, and the point value assigned to each credit. “This first version is just a starting point. We’d like to know what industry thinks of the system and get their help in developing it further,” Muench said.

Research funding for Greenroads was provided by Transportation Northwest at the UW, the State Pavement Technology Consortium, Western Federal Lands Highway Division, and the Oregon Department of Transportation. CH2M Hill contributed staff time to the project.