Sustainable Highway Construction Guidebook (2019)

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26 Contracting is the process of establishing a legally enforceable agreement expressing the expectations, responsibilities, and protections of each party for services and materials. This agreement and the process for developing it affect how sustainability outcomes can be achieved. The contract document is also a risk allocation instrument that should identify how the risk associated with sustainability goals and requirements is shared between the contract parties. Specific language in a contract is also necessary on how payment is tied to the delivery of these goals. This section discusses how contracts address sustainability. Specifically, contracts allow, mandate, and incentivize sustainability; explain how sustainability is priced; and describe how the risks associated with sustainability are allocated. 6.1 Allowing Sustainability The passive contractual approach to sustainability is to allow certain sustainable practices but to require none. It is the least effective method to address sustainability because there is no guarantee that any sustainable practice will occur. Typically, a contractor will only imple- ment an allowed, but not required, SCP if it represents a business opportunity, meaning if the SCP can increase revenue or market share, reduce expenses, increase employee productivity, or reduce risk. It may also be that a contractor wishes to implement an SCP for reasons of goodwill (done for the greater good of society). Because Chapter 9 catalogs the motivation, which includes business opportunity and goodwill, to accomplish the SCPs in each high- way construction category, the motivations box can be used to predict SCPs which might be accomplished if sustainability is allowed but not required. An example of allowing SCPs is the use of RAP in asphalt pavements. Most state DOTs specify an allowable maximum amount, but do not mandate its inclusion. Thus, contractors use RAP when it is advantageous to their business to do so but they are not obligated to use it. 6.2 Requiring Sustainability The aggressive contractual approach to sustainability is to require specific sustainable prac- tices within the contract. One way to require SCPs in a contract is to specifically call out each one in the contract and/or specifications as any other construction practice would be. Alternatively, a performance-based metric can be identified in the contract, allowing the contractor to meet it by choosing from a list of SCPs. This provides contractors with the flexibility to meet sustain- ability requirement in the most cost-effective and efficient manner. An example of required SCPs would be to include exact SCPs from Chapter 9 as required parts of the contract and/or specifications. For example, including a requirement in the contract to use a particular acceler- ated bridge construction technique deemed most feasible for a particular project. C H A P T E R 6 Contracting Sustainability

Contracting Sustainability 27 6.3 Incentivizing Sustainability The positive contractual approach to sustainability is to incentivize its inclusion in a project. However, contractors must usually spend money to achieve an incentive, so sustainability incen- tives should not be viewed as entirely supplemental income/profit; there are associated expenses, which can be substantial. Incentivizing SCPs adds to the allowing sustainability approach by providing money to influence when the contractor might view accomplishing an SCP as a worthwhile business opportunity. Still, there is no guarantee that any identified SCP will be accomplished, since accomplishment is at the contractor’s discretion. An example of incentivizing SCPs is a payment offered by an owner to a contractor if the contractor’s project team has one or more personnel credentialed in the sustainability rating system being used on the project. 6.4 Pricing Sustainability Sustainable practices can be priced separately on a unit bid schedule (or similar). When done, it is often because the owner wants to identify how much sustainable practices cost up-front. If understanding the cost of sustainable practices is a goal, it can best be done by listing them separately as an alternate bid: a defined portion of the work that is priced separately, which provides the owner an option to include that scope. In this way, a baseline bid can be compared with a sustainable alternate bid. No matter the method, the cost of sustainability is difficult to determine from a bid because (1) bids indicate price, not cost, and (2) many SCPs have short or non-existent histories, which may make an accurate estimate difficult. 6.5 Sustainability Risks Contracts determine risk allocation between participating parties. Risks involved with sus- tainable practices may be less understood and quantifiable than other, more traditional risks. For instance, which party assumes the risk if an SCP does not function as planned, if it costs more than anticipated, or if it gets removed from the contract by change order but is needed to meet a rating system certification required by the same contract? Project delivery methods that make communication amongst parties easier, such as DB, are generally better suited to sustainable procurement and contracting because focusing on sustainability is relatively new and more communication is needed to agree on processes and details that are newly developed. Korkmaz et al. (2010) found that project delivery systems that emphasized sharing of project risks in a non-adversarial manner, such as systems based on the DB family, show an improved performance on project sustainability metrics. 6.6 Sustainability Management Plans A sustainability management plan is a documented plan that describes how sustainability will be incorporated, measured, managed, and reported within an organization or project. In the context of this guidebook, it describes a highway project’s sustainability objectives, com- mitments, measurements, and management process as they relate specifically to construction. A sustainability management plan is a way of ensuring high-level project sustainability goals are translated to construction practices in the field, and ultimately, the infrastructure put in place. If used, a sustainability management plan should be (1) required by specification, (2) part of contract documentation, and (3) a construction meeting topic to ensure it is given proper importance.

28 Sustainable Highway Construction Guidebook Currently, there are no sustainability management plan standards and few examples to follow. Therefore, this section describes the essential features of a sustainability management plan for highway construction and provides a short template for writing one. 6.6.1 Key Elements of a Sustainability Management Plan Element 1. Sustainability Objectives Clearly state the project’s sustainability objectives. Ideally, these should be stated explicitly in the project documents as sustainability objectives (e.g., RFQ/RFP, instructions to bidders, specifications, or other official documents), but they may be stated elsewhere or just gener- ally implied. If not stated explicitly, the owner should provide clarification through a formal process. When not explicitly stated, it may be possible to gather them from other project documentation. For instance, while there may not be a sustainability section in a DB RFP, there may be sections describing community impacts, mobility, and/or environmental com- pliance that encourage/require construction practices beyond regulatory compliance and standard practice. By this guidebook’s definition, these are sustainable highway construction practices. In other cases, with no explicit statement, they may have to be gleaned from the owner’s general sustainability objectives or statements that are not specific to any project but are often written as official documents and are generally applicable to the owner’s mission or objectives. Even owners who have comprehensive sustainability plans, policies, or guide- lines may focus on planning and design while effectively omitting construction actions. This guidebook can be used to help choose meaningful language to describe sustainability objec- tives: the sustainability framework offers 10 categories that can be used in whole or in part to describe sustainability objectives. Element 2. Sustainability Roles and Responsibilities Identify the project staff responsible for managing the construction sustainability effort throughout the project. Ideally, this should result in a single point of contact for sustainability information. As a minimum, the contractor team should have a sustainability manager who manages (tracks, coordinates, and reports) sustainability efforts, and a management-level sustainability sponsor who has the power to prioritize sustainability efforts. Management- level commitment to sustainability matters because sustainability is traditionally lower in priority than schedule and budget. Without strong advocacy, sustainability commitments may be dropped when faced with schedule and budget trade-offs. Review and approval pro- cesses should be like those of other management plans for the sake of consistency (e.g., safety and quality management plans). It may be useful to require the sustainability manager to hold qualifications/credentials with relevant rating or evaluation systems (e.g., Greenroads credentials individuals as Sustainable Transportation Professionals and Envision credentials individuals as Envision Sustainability Professionals). Element 3. Key Deliverables Identify key deliverables (submittals) associated with the sustainability management plan. As a minimum, these are recommended: – An approved sustainability management plan that is reviewed and updated on a periodic basis. – Monthly submittals reporting metrics, progress, and issues associated with sustainability commitments (Element 4) and measurements (Element 5). – A final report that reports summary metrics and sustainable construction commitments accomplished and not accomplished. This serves as a final review of a project’s SCPs and a lessons-learned narrative. Element 4. Sustainability Commitments A sustainability commitment is an SCP or metric that the project team has promised to deliver as part of the construction project. This section should identify and discuss each sus- tainable construction commitment made. Each commitment should support one or more

Contracting Sustainability 29 of the sustainability objectives (Element 1). Document this relationship. Commitments can vary based on project objectives. Objectives can be (1) sustainability metrics associated with project work or (2) specific sustainable highway construction practices. This guidebook (Chapter 3 and Table 3) can be used to (1) relate construction practice categories to sustain- ability objectives and (2) identify potential sustainable highway construction practices to include as sustainability commitments. The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) produces a set of sustainability reporting standards for organizations (GRI Standards) that can provide ideas for reportable project sustainability metrics. Relevant metrics are the following: – Fraction of project budget spent on local materials; – Total weight or volume of renewable and/or non-renewable materials used; – Energy consumption associated with construction activities; – Total volume of water consumption and discharge, including stormwater discharge; – Direct (Scope 1) greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions: associated with the project’s fuel consumption; – Indirect (Scope 2) GHG emissions: associated with purchased electricity, heating, cooling, and steam; – Other indirect (Scope 3) GHG emissions: associated with the project’s activities but not spe- cifically part of the project (e.g., materials such as asphalt, concrete, and steel; production); – GHG emission intensity: GHG emissions per unit of activity, output, or other metric (e.g., project GHG emissions per lane-mile of highway); – Reduction of GHG emissions resulting from reduction initiatives (e.g., using warm mix asphalt or fly ash in concrete to reduce GHG emissions); – Emissions of ozone depleting substances; – Nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides, and other significant air emissions (e.g., particulate matter); – Total weight of waste (hazardous and non-hazardous) generated, and disposal method including reuse, recycling, landfill, and on-site storage; – Number and nature of significant fines, sanctions, and citations for non-compliance with environmental laws and regulations; – Use of an occupational health and safety management system and the execution of its key components including hazard identification, risk assessment, incident investigation, occupational health services, worker participation/consultation/communication, worker training, worker health promotion, covered workers, and OSHA-reported statistics; – Worker training including average hours of training and available training programs; – Diversity including gender, age, and under-represented minorities; – Nondiscrimination policy and number of discrimination complaints; – Existence of freedom of association and collective bargaining; – Local community engagement, impact (including negative impacts), and programs; and – Health and safety of project users and neighbors. The above are metrics; they do not identify any goals associated with the measurements. In other words, if these metrics are used in a sustainability management plan as written, they are commitments to measure rather than commitments to achieve a specific value of those measurements. Goals for achieving certain values of the metrics must be developed at the project or organizational level. Currently, it is difficult to set standards of achievement for these metrics since there is little information on typical values for highway construction, or what values constitute good or poor performance. Current best practices are to commit to specific sustainable highway construction practices, measure and document their impact, and then adjust practices to improve performance as needed. Element 5. Sustainability Measurement Measure, document, and report key project parameters that indicate progress toward or achievement of sustainability commitments. For any metrics chosen, measurement can be

30 Sustainable Highway Construction Guidebook documented and reported in the sustainability management plan monthly submittal. For sustainable highway construction practices, progress, difficulties encountered, changes in orders and submittals, and completion should be reported. Element 6. Plan for Reporting Issues with Sustainability Commitments Have a documented process to identify, report, and resolve issues with sustainability com- mitments. When issues arise that may lead to breaking or modifying a commitment, reso- lution should happen through this documented process. Adding, dropping, or modifying sustainability commitments may occur over the course of a project; recording these issues and their resolution contributes to sustainability understanding and learning. Element 7. Adjust the Plan as Necessary to Keep It Functional It may be that elements of the plan (e.g., a metric is not possible to measure or an SCP cannot be accomplished) are found to be inaccurate, inappropriate, or unworkable once implemented. In such cases it is appropriate to adjust the plan to keep it functional and be an accurate representation of what is happening on the project. 6.6.2 Sustainability Management Plan Template This section provides a standard template for a contractor sustainability management plan (SMP) that can be customized for a project. This template is intentionally short and provides the minimum elements. Other elements can be added as needed. Specification Language if a Contractor Sustainability Management Plan is Required Develop, implement, and maintain a sustainability program. The program shall be described in a Sustainability Management Plan and it shall address all seven key elements as described by NCHRP Research Report 916. The sustainability management plan shall be approved by the project engineer [or equivalent title] and be updated as necessary. Sustainability Management Plan Template Introduction This Sustainability Management Plan (SMP) describes the sustainability objectives, commitments, measurements, and management process for the construction of [name of project]. It specifically addresses construction practices. Other practices, such as planning, design, and operations are not addressed. Sustainable Highway Construction Definition Sustainable construction practices (SCPs) are those that (1) go above and beyond standard practice and/or required national regulatory minimums, or (2) show innovation in meeting these standards and minimums in support of people and the environment. In other words, sustainability means doing more than is already required by standard or law. Therefore, the sustainability commitments described in this SMP go beyond standard practice or regulatory requirements, or show innovation in meeting these minimum standards. (continued on next page)

Contracting Sustainability 31 Project Sustainability Objectives This project has the following sustainability objectives: • [objective #1 followed by a brief description of why it is an objective] • [objective #2 followed by a brief description of why it is an objective] • [continue for all objectives] Sustainability Roles and Responsibilities • Sustainability manager: [Name and contact information]. Responsible for managing the contractor team’s overall sustainability efforts including tracking, reporting, and coordination. [Describe the credentials and qualifications of the sustainability manager.] • Sustainability management sponsor: [Name and contact information]. Responsible for sustainability within the project’s upper management team. This is to ensure that sustainability receives the high priority desired by the owner. • [Other positions as needed]. [For instance, there may be sustainability leads for subcontractors, trades, phases, and areas.] Key Deliverables • Sustainability Management Plan. Shall be read, understood, approved and signed by the owner’s representative, the project team’s manager, and each of the listed sustainability roles herein. If personnel for these roles change during the project, the new personnel must also read, understand, and sign the SMP. This SMP will be reviewed and updated every 6 months or when key personnel change. • Monthly submittal. A monthly submittal from the project team to the owner reporting metrics, progress, and issues associated with sustainability commitments and measurements. This serves as a monthly status update on sustainability efforts. • Final report. Report submitted at substantial completion or later that summarizes metrics and sustainable construction commitments accomplished and not accomplished including a brief narrative of how/why commitments were or were not met, and recommendations for future projects. This serves as a final review of a project’s SCPs and a lessons-learned narrative. All commitments from the original SMP must be addressed whether met or not. Sustainability Commitments and Measurement Sustainability Commitment Description Related sustainability objective Metric [short phrase describing each one] [1 to 3 sentence description of the commitment including where to find associated specifications, plans, or other contractual information about it] [list the sustainability objective associated with the commitment, there can be more than one] [metric by which progress toward the sustainability commitment can be tracked] Sustainability Management Plan Template (Continued) (continued on next page)

32 Sustainable Highway Construction Guidebook Plan for Reporting Issues An issue is defined as (1) a project change that significantly alters project sustainability commitments, or the ability of the project to achieve a sustainability commitment, or (2) information or data that suggest the project is not on track to meet its sustainability commitments. Project decisions that affect sustainability commitments shall be acknowledged by the sustainability manager. Typically, this will consist of [list types of documents that affect sustainability— typically these will be requests for information (RFIs) and change orders]. Issues will be communicated to the project team by [insert methods of communication, such as weekly meetings]. Issues and their resolution shall be documented in the monthly SMP submittal. Sustainability Management Plan Template (Continued)