Envision Canada and sustainable infrastructure
Communities have a responsibility to manage resources wisely, protect the natural world, and address a range of social justice concerns – and increasing population pressures and climate change impacts have only accelerated the need for more sustainable and resilient infrastructure.
The Envision Sustainable Infrastructure Framework is a comprehensive tool developed by ISI to help infrastructure professionals plan, design, and deliver more sustainable infrastructure projects of all types and sizes. The Envision framework is a decision-making tool that allows infrastructure owners, engineers, designers, architects, planners, contractors, and other stakeholders to evaluate projects across a broad range of sustainability indicators, or “credits,” that address environmental, social, and economic dimensions of sustainability to encourage systemic change. At its core, Envision is about supporting higher performance through better choices in infrastructure development.
Flexibility is a defining feature of the Envision framework: this is a versatile system of criteria and performance objectives to aid decision makers and help project teams identify sustainable, resilient, and equitable paths forward. Envision not only asks are we doing the project right, but also are we doing the right project, and it is sensitive to resource constraints, as well as the diversity of mandates, schedules, budget cycles, and funding sources that may exist. Envision is intended for use during the planning, design, and construction stages of infrastructure development, while taking into account the project’s operations, maintenance, and end-of-life phases.
ISI offers support and guidance for using Envision through education and training, and an optional third-party verification program for those seeking an independent review to calibrate Envision self-assessments.
Climate change impacts and population pressures have accelerated the need for sustainable infrastructure. Communities have a responsibility to reduce harmful emissions and protect the natural world, to manage resources wisely and create good-paying green jobs, and to effectively address a range of social justice concerns — to name only a few priorities.
That’s where Envision comes in, supporting a different kind of infrastructure development that effectively ties these strands together. Envision provides a consistent, consensus-based framework for assessing sustainability, resiliency, and equity in civil infrastructure.
At its core, Envision is about supporting higher performance through better choices in infrastructure development.
Envision History
Envision provides a consistent, consensus-based framework for assessing sustainability, resiliency, and equity in civil infrastructure, but to remain relevant, the Envision framework must be periodically updated to reflect the rapidly evolving infrastructure industry. Since the inception of Envision, significant changes in technology, industry trends, and sustainability practices have occurred, prompting the need for revisions to keep the framework at the forefront of sustainability innovation.
These updates are informed by feedback from the community of Envision users, lessons learned from years of applying Envision to billions of dollars’ worth of infrastructure projects, and ongoing developments in sustainability practices. The process for integrating these updates is driven by industry experts, ISI staff, and the Envision Review Board – a group of industry-leading professionals accountable to the ISI Board of Directors for maintaining the integrity of the Envision framework. By continually refining the framework, ISI ensures that Envision reflects the latest advancements and challenges in infrastructure, helping stakeholders maintain high standards of environmental, social, and economic performance.
Envision v1 (published in 2011)
ISI’s Zofnass Research Program (originally the Zofnass Program for Sustainable Infrastructure) was founded in 2007 at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design. Its purpose was to create tools and methods to quantify sustainability in infrastructure. In 2010, the program began partnering with ISI, which was founded by ACEC, APWA, and ASCE. Each of these founding organizations was developing a sustainable infrastructure program and saw the need for a standardized framework for classification of sustainability practices. The organizations decided to work together to form ISI to develop and manage what would become the Envision Sustainable Infrastructure Framework. The first version of Envision for industry review and comment was released in 2011.
Envision v2 (published in 2012)
The Zofnass Program continued to partner with ISI to combine academic research with industry expertise while incorporating feedback on v1. This led to the release of a second version of Envision in early 2012, filling a critical gap by providing a comprehensive sustainability framework and rating system for civil infrastructure development. Later that year, ISI launched the Envision Sustainability Professional (ENV SP) credential to demonstrate knowledge of the Envision framework, and the first project was verified for an Envision Award in 2013.
Envision v3 (published in 2018)
The third version of Envision, released in 2018, was a significant update from v2, reflecting the ongoing evolution of sustainability practices in the infrastructure industry. The revision process began in 2015, and the updated framework introduced enhanced sustainability indicators, refined criteria, improved clarity, and additional credits to better address emerging challenges and opportunities in infrastructure development. This includes a greater emphasis on resilience – especially in the wake of major natural disasters – and on evaluating the economics of infrastructure projects.
Elemental Differences Between Envision v2 and Envision v3
Envision v4 (to be published in 2028)
ISI and the Envision Review Board have initiated a process to refine and enhance the current Envision framework, with the objective of publishing a fourth version of Envision in 2028. Additional detail about this update will be added to the Envision v4 webpage as the process progresses.
On the Front Lines of Infrastructure Renewal
Infrastructure provides the foundation on which our communities live – from ensuring access to safe drinking water, to powering our homes and workplaces, to facilitating communication with one another. It handles our waste, determines how we get around, and creates public spaces for us to enjoy. These building blocks, in turn, support personal and collective safety, health, productivity, and well-being – not to mention the economic vitality of our cities.
However, gaps in infrastructure tend to be overlooked until breakdowns occur, often with profound impacts on communities. Public agencies and the AEC community are tasked with the timely renewal of these assets, supported by policies like the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which directed $1.2 trillion of federal funds towards transportation, energy, and climate infrastructure projects.
