Building Environmentally and Economically Sustainable Transportation Infrastructure: Green Highway Rating System

AbstractA rating system is introduced that employs life-cycle analysis techniques to provide a quantitative assessment of the environmental and economic sustainability of highway designs. Energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions, life-cycle cost, and other factors are considered. On the basis of...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of construction engineering and management Vol. 139; no. 12
Main Authors Lee, Jincheol, Edil, Tuncer B, Benson, Craig H, Tinjum, James M
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published American Society of Civil Engineers 01.12.2013
Subjects
Technical Papers
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Summary:AbstractA rating system is introduced that employs life-cycle analysis techniques to provide a quantitative assessment of the environmental and economic sustainability of highway designs. Energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions, life-cycle cost, and other factors are considered. On the basis of the score received, a design is assigned a label commensurate with the level of sustainability achieved. Analysis of a pilot project shows that relatively modest changes in a highway pavement design, such as using recycled materials, results in significant environmental and economic benefits. The system can be used to motivate material recycling, resulting in more sustainable construction and growth.
ISSN:0733-9364
1943-7862
DOI:10.1061/(ASCE)CO.1943-7862.0000742