Sustainable Wastewater Treatment Plant Improvements Using EnvisionTM

This study will present the use of EnvisionTM for sustainable wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) improvements. The reliability improvements for this project include addition and modifications to the WWTP’s preliminary treatment and solids handling facilities. This project is intended to increase reliability of the preliminary treatment and improve flow distribution at the plant. Based on the inherent nature of the work to increase infrastructure resiliency and the robust sustainability codes in effect by the owner, the designers recommended a solution that was holistically sustainable with respect to the triple bottom line (addressing the social and environmental impacts as well as the economic impacts of the project). The EnvisionTM rating system developed by the Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure (ISI) was selected for evaluating and improving the project’s sustainability.The EnvisionTM Checklist was integrated early into the design process to identify and increase the number of sustainable features, such as preference for manufacturers with sustainable policies and practices, energy efficiency and reduction in consumption, reuse of existing structures, incorporation of emergency operations, reduction of risks, accommodations to changing operating environment throughout the project life cycle, and specifying indigenous and non-invasive landscaping. The EnvisionTM Score Card herein illustrates the anticipated checklist scores by each category at 90% design. The EnvisionTM Rating System was utilized during detailed design to aid in evaluating and selecting levels of achievement for individual project features. This allowed for benchmarking the sustainable performance and identification of potential incremental improvements. The resulting design achieved an impressive self-assessment rating system score in the Gold award spectrum. The owner is considering submitting the final Envision assessment for verification and award. The EnvisionTM tools provide a system for an organized and comprehensive evaluation of project features, aid in the decision process for selecting alternate features, and encourage documentation of decisions resulting in resilient, high performance infrastructure that improves the community quality of life.