The Sustainable Infrastructure Guidelines for Chinese International Contractors (SIG) are a voluntary guidance document developed by the China International Contractors Associations for Chinese enterprises engaged in infrastructure projects overseas to enhance sustainability performance across economic, social, environmental and governance aspects. The guidelines propose a broad set of sustainability indicators covering the entire life cycle from funding, planning, design, building, operation and maintenance to closure. The SIG may also serve as a tool for evaluation of sustainability on completed projects.

SuRe® – the Standard for Sustainable and Resilient Infrastructure is a third-party verified, global voluntary standard to drive the integration of sustainability and resilience aspects into infrastructure development and upgrade projects by providing guidance. The tool also serves as a globally applicable common language tool for infrastructure project developers, financiers and public sector institutions. Infrastructure projects wishing to undergo SuRe® certification are subject to independent third-party audits provided by an independent accredited Certification Body. After initial certification, surveillance audits are carried out annually.

SITES is a sustainability-focused framework that ushers landscape architects, engineers and others toward practices that protect ecosystems and enhance the mosaic of benefits they continuously provide to communities, such as climate regulation, carbon storage and flood mitigation. By providing performance measures rather than prescribing practices, SITES supports the unique conditions of each site, encouraging project teams to be flexible and creative as they develop beautiful, functional and regenerative landscapes. SITES is complementary with the LEED system. There is a pre-certification option available.

The Zofnass Economic Process Tool is a self-assessment platform that offers a fast and easy way to achieve preliminary quantification and monetization of sustainability externalities in infrastructure projects based on the Envision™ rating system. The tool provides information on the costs and benefits of (sustainable) infrastructure solutions and their externalities, which can be used to inform the design process of infrastructure projects and promote the implementation of sustainability strategies. Users introduce the values for evaluation themselves, using a comprehensive online form.

The Environmental and Social Performance Standards of the International Finance Coalition (IFC) define IFC clients’ responsibilities for managing the environmental and social risks of their projects. The Performance Standards provide guidance on how to identify risks and impacts and are designed to help avoid, mitigate and manage risks and impacts as a way of doing business in a more sustainable way. Since 2012, the Standards apply to all IFC clients whose projects go through IFC’s initial credit review process.

PEER is a rating-system that drives market transformation in the power and energy sectors. Through certification, PEER recognized industry leaders for improving efficiency, day-to-day reliability and overall resilience when it comes to severe climate events. The point-based assessment leads to a sustainability certification. A separate pre-certification option is available. PEER certification requires one year of operational performance data. And PEER precertification enables projects to map their design and construction requirements for optimal resilience, while obtaining recognition for their work while it is underway.

Parksmart is a rating system that defines, measures, and recognizes high-performing, sustainable garages. The system does not only measure performance but also offers a roadmap for innovative and solution-oriented strategies that advance sustainable mobility through smarter parking structure design, reduction of operational costs, improved energy efficiency, and better lighting and ventilation. The tool is available for new projects and existing structures. A pre-certification version is available to guide decision making on projects that wish to be certified in the future.

The IS Rating Scheme is Australia and New Zealand’s rating framework to assess the sustainability of the planning, design, construction and operation phases of infrastructure programs, projects, networks and assets. IS evaluates the sustainability performance of the quadruple bottom line (governance, economic, environmental and social) of infrastructure development. Several manuals and resources are available, covering different phases of the infrastructure cycle, being the main ones IS Design & As Built v2.0 and IS Planning v2.0. The total score is calculated based on the points achieved in the different credits. Verification of the assessment result is undertaken by an independent third-party verifier.

The Infrastructure Voluntary Evaluation Sustainability Tool (INVEST) is a web-based self-evaluation tool to assess and enhance the environmental, social and economic sustainability of transportation projects. The tool aims to support a sustainable construction and maintenance of highways and other transportation projects to satisfy societal development and economic growth while enhancing the natural environment and reducing natural resource use. The tool offers four different modules throughout the life cycle: System Planning for States (SPS), System Planning for Regions (SPR), Project Development (PD) and Operations and Maintenance (OM). Each module is independent, measures sustainability across individual criteria and is evaluated separately.

The Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment (GRIHA) is India’s national framework for the assessment of environmental impacts of built environments with an individual version applying to large developments (>50Ha) (GRIHA-LD) and one for Cities. For both versions, the net impact of built environments on quantitative and qualitative parameters is totaled and compared against a rating table, resulting in a sustainability certification. Thereby, the tool aims to support the reduction of detrimental impacts of built environments on ecological cycles and surroundings.