The Infrastructure Sustainability Council (ISC) is responding to the rapidly changing sustainability landscape by releasing a new, innovative digital tool to support Australian and New Zealand infrastructure projects navigating the changes and ensuring their assets are sustainable.
{alcircleadd}
IS Essentials is a game-changing extension to the ISC’s globally recognised IS Rating Scheme, a collection of third-party assured rating tools that evaluate infrastructure assets’ social, cultural, environmental, and economic performance across their life cycle.
Designed specifically for small infrastructure projects valued at $5 million to $100 million, IS Essentials is aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals to help government agencies, private asset owners, and investors measure, improve, and report on social, cultural, environmental, and economic performance.
ISC Acting CEO Patrick Hastings says the tool significantly advances the sector’s sustainability efforts. Eighty per cent of infrastructure investment across Australia occurs in projects valued at under $100 million.
“These tend to be projects closely tied to communities, such as energy generation, water treatment plants and road projects, which have the potential to deliver more for the communities they serve than just the basic utility of the asset,” said Hastings.
“We want to support project and asset owners in recognising this and helping them respond and excel in their delivery, noting IS Essentials will not only enable them to start on this journey more effectively but also accelerate it.”
With legislative requirements, national and global adoption of carbon accounting standards, and mounting pressure on organisations to collect, record, and report their sustainability efforts, the ISC wants to ensure that those delivering vital infrastructure projects have the support they need to do so efficiently and effectively.
“Are Essentials is designed to scale according to both the size of the asset and the ambition of the organisation while also providing a road map to transform their systems and processes so that these practices become business-as-usual,” Hastings said.
IS Essentials has undergone a rigorous testing process, thanks to the support of 26 pilot projects across Australia and New Zealand, as well as the Westpac New Zealand Government Innovation Fund.
Maritime Safety Queensland participated in the pilot project through its program of works to replace 30 maritime beacons in the shipping channels from Cairns to Weipa in north Queensland.
Amanda Scarpato, Director of the Maritime Program Management Office for Maritime Safety Queensland (Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads), said working with IS Essentials became more than just a one-off “tick”.
“By working with IS Essentials, we challenged many of our business-as-usual decisions to deliver safer, more sustainable infrastructure,” Ms Scarpato said. “We can now apply the IS Essentials principles to other infrastructure projects.”
Hastings said that changing mindset and practice will accelerate the decarbonisation of our assets and drive better outcomes for communities.
“Sustainability needs to be a business priority,” Hastings said. “It’s about setting strong foundations and investing in the future, not just for the organisation itself, but the infrastructure assets and networks being delivered and for the communities we’re operating in.”