The University of Washington got together with construction industry giant CH2M Hill to launch Greenroads, a green rating program for roads modeled after the ubiquitous LEED program for buildings.
If you look at it from an annual construction spending standpoint (where we spend $80B on roads and $900B on buildings in the US each year) you get a nearly ten percent jump in green building by adding roads to the mix. What's more, Greenroads could spread quickly, given that the LEED methodology has paved the way, preparing minds for this type of program.
Here's a sampling of some of the things Greenroads will address:
- Make roads quieter
- Do life cycle analyses and life cycle inventories for materials used in construction
- Reduce stormwater runoff, and treat what remains
- Allow for passage of fish and wildlife across roadways
- Make roads last longer
- Make roads cooler to mitigate urban heat island effects
See a full description of the program here.
Photo: Rusty Russ on flickr
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