Envision Case Study: Seaport Dolphin Berth Improvements

The sustainable performance of a typical small marine capital improvement project was measured using the Envision 2.0 guidance manual and rating system during fall 2012. The Port of Everett project team used Envision to gauge the effectiveness of its sustainability programs, community outreach, and commitments to environmental stewardship. Through this project, the port has a new roll on-roll off (RO-RO) facility that increases operational capacity for supporting the international construction and manufacturing industries. Using a minimal impact design strategy of integrating with an existing marine facility, construction costs and environmental impacts were reduced. The strategy included installing new—and repairing existing—mooring structures, as well as upgrading the existing fender system and removing creosote-treated timber piles. The study shows how parts of the project relate to each Envision category and how points were achieved. With this study, the project team was able to determine the compatibility and functionality of Envision with seaport infrastructure projects. Involved in multiple sustainability programs, the port project team welcomed the chance to continually improve their performance across different applications using Envision, such as in capital improvement projects. Opportunities for the team to improve its sustainability planning and design practices are outlined in the report. Although this project was evaluated at the end of the 100% design phase, the port team came away with multiple examples that will improve its sustainability performance on future projects by using Envision as a guideline. Those include but are not limited to performing a life-cycle analysis, setting sustainability goals in the project design phase, and further developing a sustainable procurement policy for contractors and vendors.