• Home
• About Us
  • University of Washington
  • CH2MHill
• Manual
• Resources
• Sponsors
• FAQ

FAQ

Some of the more commonly asked questions we get.

What is Greenroads?

Greenroads is a sustainability performance metric for roadway design and construction. It is applicable to new and reconstructed/rehabilitated roadways. It awards credits for approved sustainable choices/practices and can be used to assess roadway project sustainability. This assessment can, if desired, include four different dertification levels depending upon total points earned.

Who is developing Greenroads?

The University of Washington and CH2M HILL are creating a sustainability rating system for roads. Initial steps were taken at the University of Washington in 2007 by Martina Soderlund, a Valle Exchange master's student in Civil and Environmental Engineering. Since then the UW and CH2M HILL have teamed up to fully develop the Greenroads rating system.

Who is funding Greenroads?

See the Sponsors section of this website.

Any relation to the Green Highways Partership?

Not directly. Both Greenroads and Green Highways are working towards what we consider a common goal: incorporating sustainability and environmental stewardship into our roads. Green Highways emphasizes "..active cooporation and regulatory progressiveness..." (according to their website) to achieve this goal. Greenroads is a ratings system used to assess and inform on roadway project sustainability. It operates in addition to or outside existing regulations and makes no effort to change existing regulations. The best take would be that Greenroads is one of many/several tools that can be used to achieve what Green Highways is after.

In March 2008, Steve Muench (UW) and Kim Willoughby (WSDOT) attended the 2008 Resource Conservation Challenge (RCC) National Workshop in Washington, D.C. and spoke on Thursday, 6 March 2008, in the Industrial Materials Recycling (IMR) session on "Growing the Green Highways Partnership". Also, several Green Highways contacts were made at the 2008 Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting. They have nice lapel pins. Perhaps we need nice lapel pins or hats.

November 2008 update: we have a bunch of slick business card handouts that look like the logo at the top left and we also have 2 T-shirts and 1 hat. Our marketing department is off and running. You can order Greenroads merchandise through Cafe Press!

Any relation to GreenLITES from the New York State DOT?

Yes. Actually, GreenLITES owes a fair amount of its ideas and existence to Greenroads. A good amount of the credit ideas and wording (but certainly not all) was taken directly from Greenroads version 0.5. Since then, Greenroads has moved on to what we consider a better collection and arrangement of credits and GreenLITES has further refined their system for the NYSDOT.

GreenLITES acknowledges that Greenroads helped in its creation. We believe it is good to have more people actively pursuing more sustainable roadways no matter what the system.

Aren't our roads already green?

Not really, however they are off to a good start. Many people, and rightfully so, point to the high use of reused and recycled materials in the roadway structure as evidence that roads are sustainable and/or environmentally responsible. While reused and recycled material use in roads is high (80% of old hot mix asphalt is recycled - one of the highest recycling rates of any material) there is much more we can do. For instance, the recycling rate could be much higher however most agencies limit the amount of reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) allowed in hot mix asphalt (HMA) to levels between 10 and 30%. While this is based on legitimate concerns, it is possible for the industry to increase this allowable amount through better RAP stockpiling, fractionating and tracking. Also, other aspects can be addressed or improved such as alignment to protect ecologically sensitive areas, construction waste reduction, diesel emission reduction during construction, noise mitigation (both during construction and during road use), stormwater control, life cycle assessment, urban heat island effects and low impact development techniques. In sum, improvement is a continuous and life-long process. There is no "good enough".

One should also consider the basic assumption we use in design and construction. Currently, the typical thought is to try and be "less bad" while we ought to be thinking how to actually be good; one of the points from William McDonough and Michael Braungart's Cradle to Cradle (2002).

Does the Washington State DOT use this standard now?

There is no official program or endorsement of Greenroads by WSDOT. Here at UW, we have always had a great working relationship with WSDOT and the Materials Laboratory and that continues through this project where help has been valuable yet unofficial.

What is special about Greenroads vs. other potential standards?

We are aware of other ideas on sustainability and roads. We believe we stand out because:

• We strive to make each best practice defensible through empirical evidence and sound engineering. If a credit is not defensible then we consider eliminating it. We would like to make the system more than just our opinion on what is and is not more sustainable. Thus, we expend great effort in tracking down empirical evidence that will guide us to what the best credits should be and how important they are.
  
• Greenroads is weighted. Points are awarded for best practices that are commensurate with their impact on sustainability. We have submitted a paper to a respected journal discussing our weighting process.  
  
• We desire to produce an online life cycle assessment tool for roadways that can be completed in 10 minutes or less. This is a long-term goal but we think we can do it and we've started work.
  
• We desire to make the submission and tracking process entirely online. Thus, this website.
  

What's up with the name? Greenroads or Green Roads?

Yes, we originally called it "Green Roads", which we all liked but enough feedback has come through to suggest that this could be interpreted as roads that are colored green or something like that. So, to put a bit more of a branding spin on things...(wait for it)...

...we removed the space and switched the "R" to lower case. Ahh, much better. So, we are now in the process of shifting all references to the system to "Greenroads". This name shall remain and we probably won't mess with it again. 

Does a Greenroad cost more?

Good question. The short answer is "we don't know". But, we are trying to find out. Taking a cue from Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), a highly successful building rating system from the U.S. Green Building Council, we think the answer is probably that a Greenroads certified roadway actually costs less over its lifetime. This is essentially what others and the USGBC say about LEED certified buildings. And it's not too hard to believe considering LEED encourages things like energy efficiency, water conservation and creating a better working environment (that would lead to happier, more productive people).

Throughout 2009 and beyond we will attempt to gather data on pilot projects that documents what Greenroad credits do or could potentially cost vs. what their benefits are. We suspect things such as quality construction, designing pavement for long life, life cycle concepts, recycled materials and improved safety could show an overall lower life cycle cost. But the proof is in the data so we will just have to wait and see.

What's up with "rating system" vs. "performance metric"?

Yes, we used to call Greenroads a "rating system". However, upon further reflection, it is more than that. Fundamentally, it is a metric by which an organization can assess their project-level roadway sustainability efforts. Thus, "sustainability performance metric" is what it's called. Plus, "rating system" sounds like we would like to judge you but that's not what Greenroads is about. Rather, it is a tool that can be used as part of a greater organizational sustainability effort. That tool can help assess project-level roadway sustainability.

Can I get my project as a Greenroads pilot project?

We'd love to do every pilot project that asks. However, we, like everyone, have limited funds with which to reserach pilot projects. Right now, all those funds are committeed. If you can help us fund our work on your pilot project please contact us - we'd love to help. If not, we recommend signing up on the home page contact list and we will contact you when Version 1.0 comes out as official. Then you can sign up as any project could and get your project assessed. It is likely, though, that there will be a fee associated with this to cover costs.

I would like to participate in reviewing and commenting on Greenroads version 1.0

We are starting to get this request more frequently, and it's a good request. Our plan is to finish Version 1.0 and put that version out for review. Anything sooner and you would be reviewing an incomplete piece of work, which would not be fair to anyone willing to spend their time and effort on a review. If you would like to review Version 1.0 either as a company, government agency, trade organization or any other advocacy group please go to this website's homepage and sign up - in the comments section let us know that you are interested in reviewing Version 1.0. When we get Version 1.0 out we will notify everyone who signed up and we will also have a list of everyone who volunteered to review it. You'll know the moment it comes out and we'll be able to pass out review instructions to you too. Thanks.

Who uses Greenroads and how many projects have been rated?

We just came out with Version 1.0 in January 2010. There is no organization that has officially adopted Greenroads and there are no completed certified projects. However, we are working on several case studies nationwide. These are projects where we are testing out Greenroads to see how it works and how it can be made better.So the bottom line is that Greenroads is brand new; we need some time to develop the infrastructure for review and certification. We are doing some project certifications now but in a limited manner. If you are interested, please drop us a note at info@greenroads.us.

Where is most of the interest in Greenroads coming from?

Everywhere. Owner agencies from all levels of DOTs in the United States, Canada and even internationally have expressed interest in using Greenroads on their projects. Interest is also coming from people in all different walks of life, from planners, to contractors, architects, and the public.

Is there a way to become a Greenroads Professional like the LEED Accredited Professional?

Not yet. We are working on it. Pilot classes are starting at the University of Washington this Spring 2010.