Phase 2: sustainability assessment method

During the second phase, the selected sustainability assessment methods used by the clients, for assessing the sustainability performance of an offer during the tender phase of projects, will be identified and discussed.

In the infrastructural sector there exist three predominant methods to assess the sustainability performance of an offer during the tender phase, namely: using a sustainability plan, the CO2 Performance Ladder and by using the Environmental Cost Indicator (ECI). In the built sector there are less predominant and uniform sustainability assessment methods. Moreover, in the built sector many projects are privately tendered and therefore sustainability is not necessary assessed during the tender phase. One of the most widely used assessment methods in the utility sector for new construction and renovation is the BREEAM-NL method.

Sustainability plan

One method to incorporate sustainability during tenders is requiring bidders to construct a sustainability plan. In a sustainability plan the contractor is required to provide a plan on how they plan to reduce the environmental impact of the project. Most often the client selects a couple of sustainability topics which they find the most important during a specific project, and requires the bidders to make a plan on how the bidders will ensure that they will deliver sustainable solutions for the selected themes. The sustainability plan is rated by the client who can provide a fictional discount to a bid.

CO2 Performance ladder

The CO2 performance ladder is a tool used by clients and contractors during tenders. The CO2 performance ladder stimulates CO2 reducing initiatives of companies by providing a fictional discount during tenders. The higher the effort of a company to reduce CO2 emissions, the higher the fictional discount during tenders. The CO2 performance ladder consists of five levels, and is divided in three scopes.

Table 16. CO2 performance ladder certification scheme (SKAO, 2015)

Level Description

1 The company has mapped its energy flow qualitative, and is aware of possibilities for energy saving and for using renewable energy. The company communicates its policies regarding possibilities for energy saving and the use of renewable energy both internal and external. Lastly, the company is aware of sector and supply chain initiatives regarding CO2 reduction.

2 The company has mapped its energy flow quantitative, and set itself qualitative goals regarding energy saving and the use of renewable energy. The company communicates its policies and goals regarding possibilities for energy saving and the use of renewable energy both internal and external.

3 The company has inventoried its own CO2 emissions (scope 1 and 2) according to the ISO standard. The

company has set quantitative goals for its own CO2 emissions (scope 1 and 2). The company communicates its

CO2 footprint and quantitative goals regarding possibilities for energy saving and the use of renewable energy

both internal and external. Lastly, the company is actively involved in at least one sector or supply chain initiative related to CO2 reduction

4 The company has roughly inventoried its supply chain emissions (scope 3), and has conducted supply chain analyses for at least two supply chains. The company has set quantitative goals for its supply chain emissions (scope 3). The company can prove it takes initiative in sector and supply chain related CO2 reductions.

5 The company possesses CO2 inventories of its most important suppliers. The company can prove that the

formulated goals in the third and fourth level have been realised. The company is committed to participate in public CO2 reduction programmes of the government and societal organisations, and the company can prove

that it significantly contributes to these CO2 reduction programmes

As stated in Table 16 the CO2 performance ladder is divided in three scopes which are visualised in Figure 22 and discussed in Table 17.

Table 17. Three scopes CO2 performance ladder (SKAO, 2015)

Scope Description Includes

1 Direct emissions of the organisation Gas-use: offices and projects

Fuel-use: person transport and projects

2 Indirect emissions of the organisation Energy-use: offices and projects

3 Other indirect emissions outside the

organisation Material production, recycling and all other work, services and deliveries Personal transport (car and plane)

Figure 22. Three scopes of the CO2 performance ladder (MVO, 2017) Environmental cost indicator

The Environmental Cost Indicator (ECI) is used during tenders to quantitatively determine and compare the sustainability and environmental cost of different bids. The ECI can be used as an absolute requirement by the contractor or as an award criterion which can lead to a fictional discount on the tender price. To determine the ECI, a tool is used named DuBoCalc (Dutch=DuurzaamBouwenCalculator), which expresses the sustainability performance of a bid by calculating its environmental impact and translating the impact to cost in euros. DuBoCalc is based on the methodology of the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), and calculates all material and energy use over a product its life-time. The aim of DuBoCalc is to achieve a significant reduction in environmental impact during design, tenders and construction of infrastructural projects. The great advantage of DuBoCalc is that the amount of required data is relatively low, because many data can be subtracted from an environmental database. The data which can be used to calculate a specific project its ECI include: type of material, quantity of material, transport distances of materials, quantity of dischargeable material, lifetime expectation of material and expected energy use during exploitation. This national environmental database holds many environmental values of materials and energy use during all life cycle phases: production and installation (A), use and maintenance (B) and demolition and waste-processing (C) (DuBoCalc, 2017).

BREEAM-NL

The BREEAM-NL assessment method for the construction and renovation of buildings. A BREEAM-NL assessment cover issues in categories of sustainability such as: management, health & well-being, energy, transportation, water, materials, waste, land use & ecology and pollution. Each category and theme has its own sustainability targets and requirements. The degree of sustainability measures taken to reduce the environmental impact will result in a specific score for each category.