Standards Development

Scope

This document establishes core sets of environmental, social and economic aspects and impacts as the basis of the framework for the development of sustainability indicators for assessing the sustainability performance of new or existing civil engineering works, related to their design, construction, operation, maintenance, refurbishment and end-of-life. The indicators developed from these core sets of aspects and impacts provide measures to express how the performance of a civil engineering works contributes to sustainability and sustainable development. The indicators developed based on these core sets will represent aspects of civil engineering works that potentially impact on issues of concern related to sustainability and sustainable development.

The object of consideration in this document is a civil engineering works, a part of the civil engineering works or a combination of several civil engineering works.

The common core set of aspects and impacts described in this document are intended to be used for all types of civil engineering works. In addition, specific core sets of aspects and impacts are described for different typologies of civil engineering works (industrial processes infrastructures; linear infrastructures; dams and other fluvial works; maritime works; public spaces; other civil engineering works-not contained in the previous typologies).

Further, the document gives rules for establishing a system of indicators and describes how to use sustainability indicators regarding civil engineering works.

This document adapts general sustainability principles for civil engineering works and follows the principles set out in ISO 15392 and, where appropriate, is intended to be used in conjunction with, and following the principles set out in, ISO 26000, ISO 14040 and the family of International Standards that includes ISO 14020, ISO 14021, ISO 14024 and ISO 14025. Where deviation occurs, this document goes beyond the requirements of these standards.

This document does not provide guidelines for the weighting of indicators or the aggregation of assessment results.

Purpose

This document will describe and provide rules and guidelines for the development of sustainability indicators related to civil engineering works and will establish core sets of aspects and impacts of civil engineering works to consider when developing systems or sets of sustainability indicators.

Development of sustainability indicators forms a basis for the suite of ISO/TC 59/SC 17 standards intended to address specific issues and aspects of sustainability relevant to civil engineering works. The issue of sustainable development is broad and of global concern, and, as such, involves all communities and interested parties. Both current and future needs define the extent to which economic, environmental and social aspects are considered in a sustainable development process.

Indicators are figures or other qualitative or descriptive measures that enable information on a complex phenomenon, such as, environmental impact, to be simplified into a form that is relatively easy to use and understand.

When developing and selecting indicators, the starting point is the identification of the main users and user needs. Sustainability indicators for civil engineering works are needed in decision-making by various groups of interested parties, such as:

— public bodies and policy makers;

— investors, owners and promoters;

— planners, developers and designers;

— governmental and non-governmental organizations (considering interest groups both at national and at local level);

— manufacturers of products;

— contractors;

— operators and maintainers;

— users and other stakeholders who are given service by the infrastructure; and

— local residents.