Experience and Lessons Learned Leveraging the Envision Sustainability Framework for the Planning, Design, and Construction of a Replacement Pump Station and Force Main in Coral Gables, Florida

The City of Coral Gables has pioneered myriad sustainability practices throughout its municipal government and individual departments, including the City’s Department of Public Works (DPW). DPW vetted multiple sustainability strategies for deployment on their capital projects and elected to use the Envision sustainability framework in 2016, which was relatively new at the time, on a pump station and force main replacement project—a first for the City. The DPW recognized the significance of sustainable planning and design on this specific project due to its presence within a dense residential neighborhood and direct adjacency to a waterway with connectivity less than a mile from Biscayne Bay. The use of Envision framework required significant commitments from the DPW, the City’s internal support staff, its consulting engineer, and ultimately the general contractor. These project stakeholders leveraged the continuum of sustainability principles within the Envision system to achieve multiple objectives such as stakeholder communication and engagement, resilient and reliable siting/design, enhanced connectivity to nearby sewer conveyance systems, long-term impacts to the surrounding neighborhood consciousness of environmental impacts and benefits, and resource consumption during construction and long-term operation. The City was awarded an Envision Bronze certification by the Institute of Sustainable Infrastructure in July 2022, which has supported the City’s demonstrated commitments to its citizens and utility ratepayers. The DPW has learned numerous lessons and considered new practices through its use of Envision on this project. This presentation will provide an overview of the use of Envision throughout the planning, design, and construction periods and share lessons learned and suggestions for other entities evaluating the use of Envision for the application of sustainability principles or pursuit of ISI certification. After this session, participants will be able to:
• Describe the Envision sustainability framework and its major components.
• Recognize how the Envision sustainability framework can be practically applied to civil infrastructure, particularly in residential areas and zones vulnerable to flooding and rising sea levels.
• Apply lessons learned to their own current or future infrastructure projects.