The National Australian Built Environment Rating System (NABERS) is a performance-based environmental impact rating system for existing buildings. Based on the analysis of real data, the tool allows to understand the environmental performance of any building – from offices over hotels to hospitals, from retail establishments over data centers to apartment buildings. The assessments are undertaken by independent assessors and audited by the government. Thereby, the tool facilitates smart and informed environmental decision making of developers, asset managers, and even tenants.

Sector(s): Buildings
Lifecycle Phase(s): Operation and MaintenanceInfrastructure assets are managed and maintained during their use time.
Type(s) of Tool: Rating SystemsProvide quantifiable sustainability ratings and / or certification for projects or assets.
Organization: NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment

The Toolbox and Guidance for Human Rights Impact Assessments (HRIA) aims to guide HRIA – which serve to identify, understand, assess and address the impact of business activities on human rights holders – for large-scale business projects and activities conducted at project or site level. The tool provides individual guidance documents for the different project lifecycle phases from planning and scoping to reporting and evaluation as well as case studies. Thereby, the tool supports human rights practitioners and businesses alike in conducting HRIA.

Sector(s): Tools applicable to all sectors
Lifecycle Phase(s): Enabling EnvironmentConditions that enable the integration of sustainability practices (regulation, laws, frameworks etc.)., Strategic PlanningPublic authorities identify the needs and long-term vision for infrastructure development., Project PlanningGeneral strategy for a project’s delivery is developed.
Type(s) of Tool: GuidelinesOperationalize sustainability principles, less specific than Benchmarks or Rating Systems., Impact AssessmentsEvaluate the impacts of assets or policies on the environment and local livelihoods.
Organization: The Danish Institute for Human Rights

The Practical Guide describes how human rights aspects can be integrated into the routinely Guide Environmental, Social and Health Impact Assessments (ESHIA) undertaken by the oil and gas industry. In three parts, the Guide (1) defines the industry’s potential human rights impacts, (2) provides practical guidance on applying a human rights lens to the industry’s activities and to the content of each step of the ESHIA process, and (3) looks at the human rights issues that are applicable across the ESHIA process.

Sector(s): Energy
Lifecycle Phase(s): Enabling EnvironmentConditions that enable the integration of sustainability practices (regulation, laws, frameworks etc.)., Strategic PlanningPublic authorities identify the needs and long-term vision for infrastructure development., Project PlanningGeneral strategy for a project’s delivery is developed.
Type(s) of Tool: GuidelinesOperationalize sustainability principles, less specific than Benchmarks or Rating Systems., Impact AssessmentsEvaluate the impacts of assets or policies on the environment and local livelihoods.
Organization: The Danish Institute for Human Rights

NISMOD (National Infrastructure Systems Model) is a system-of-systems modelling platform that works in three main domains: (1) long-term strategic infrastructure planning, (2) infrastructure for sustainable development and (3) risk and resilience assessment. It serves to develop interdependent infrastructure systems models based on different development scenarios and strategies for infrastructure provision and to develop and measure the metrics of (future) infrastructure performance. The platform comprises simulation models of (1) infrastructure systems, (2) integration frameworks and libraries to enable analysis, and (3) databases and systems to manage datasets, model configuration, inputs and outputs, all contributing to evidenced-based and integrated decision-making at upstream level.

Sector(s): Tools applicable to all sectors
Lifecycle Phase(s): Strategic PlanningPublic authorities identify the needs and long-term vision for infrastructure development.
Type(s) of Tool: Modelling ToolsSimulate economic, social, and physical systems to help planners optimize outcomes from different decisions.
Organization: UNOPS, ITRC

The African Development Bank’s Environmental and Social Assessment Procedures (ESAP) support the integration of environmental, climate change and social considerations in projects and programs of the Bank and its borrowers. The ESAP describe the assessment procedure for different project types and across the full lifecycle from country programming to post completion. Thereby, the ESAP support decision-making and improvement of project results, ensuring that Bank-financed operations conform to the requirements laid out in the operational safeguards (OS) and are thus sustainable.

Sector(s): Tools applicable to all sectors
Lifecycle Phase(s): Enabling EnvironmentConditions that enable the integration of sustainability practices (regulation, laws, frameworks etc.)., Strategic PlanningPublic authorities identify the needs and long-term vision for infrastructure development., PrioritizationAuthorities decide which projects to realize and how to allocate resources., Project PlanningGeneral strategy for a project’s delivery is developed., Concept DesignTechnical experts broadly outline the project’s basic characteristics., ProcurementThe provision of goods and services to realize a project are tendered and closed., FinanceDevelopers decide how to pay for their project., Detailed DesignTechnical experts further elaborate the Concept Design., ConstructionThe asset is constructed in line with design, budget and timeline., Operation and MaintenanceInfrastructure assets are managed and maintained during their use time., Decomissioning/RepurposingObsolete infrastructure assets are repurposed, recycled or removed and the land is reused or restored.
Type(s) of Tool: GuidelinesOperationalize sustainability principles, less specific than Benchmarks or Rating Systems.
Organization: African Development Bank (AfDB)

The Infrastructure Transparency Index (ITI) can be used to measures the level of transparency of the infrastructure sector and the quality of related participation and accountability processes at national or sub-national level. Thereby, the tool aims to assess the state of infrastructure transparency and the capacity to improve transparency among procuring agencies, to track process and facilitate peer learning and to raise awareness of transparency. The ITI sets out the methodology for score calculation to evaluate procuring entities. Individual scores are then used to generate an index that allows for performance comparison.

Sector(s): Tools applicable to all sectors
Lifecycle Phase(s): Enabling EnvironmentConditions that enable the integration of sustainability practices (regulation, laws, frameworks etc.)., Strategic PlanningPublic authorities identify the needs and long-term vision for infrastructure development., Project PlanningGeneral strategy for a project’s delivery is developed., ProcurementThe provision of goods and services to realize a project are tendered and closed., ConstructionThe asset is constructed in line with design, budget and timeline.
Type(s) of Tool: Rating SystemsProvide quantifiable sustainability ratings and / or certification for projects or assets.
Organization: Infrastructure Transparency Initiative (CoST)

The Environmental, Health, and Safety (EHS) Guidelines contain the EHS performance levels and measures that The World Bank Group requires its clients and borrowers of to apply to their projects. This implies the identification of EHS project hazards and associated risks across all the Guidelines’ dimensions, involvement of EHS professionals in project preparation, priorization of risk management strategies that eliminate the causes of hazards or, if not feasible, of consequence-minimizing controls, and monitoring and community preparation activities, among other. When host country regulations differ from the EHS Guidelines, projects will be required to achieve whichever is more stringent.

Sector(s): Tools applicable to all sectors
Lifecycle Phase(s):
Type(s) of Tool: GuidelinesOperationalize sustainability principles, less specific than Benchmarks or Rating Systems.
Organization: IFC International Finance Corporation

The SEEA Experimental Ecosystem Accounting is a measurement framework for biophysical data, tracking changes and linking them to economic and other human activity from the perspective of entire ecosystems, considering how individual environmental assets interact as part of natural processes within a given spatial area. To do so, the tool applies the accounting concepts and rules to the emerging field of ecosystem assessment and measurement in response to demands for integrated information on environmental sustainability, human wellbeing and economic growth and development. It offers a system of five accounts that together present comprehensive view of ecosystems and their services.

Sector(s): Tools applicable to all sectors
Lifecycle Phase(s): Strategic PlanningPublic authorities identify the needs and long-term vision for infrastructure development., Project PlanningGeneral strategy for a project’s delivery is developed.
Type(s) of Tool: GuidelinesOperationalize sustainability principles, less specific than Benchmarks or Rating Systems.
Organization: UN, EC, FAO, OECD, World Bank

The Cumulative Effects Assessment (CEA) Practitioners’ Guide aims to support practitioners of CEAs in their work and submission processes to regulatory bodies. The tool gives practitioners an overview of current understanding about the CEA practice, suggests practical approaches to complete CEAS based on statutory requirements and best practice and provides case studies. Furthermore, the Guide defines key terms and an exemplary assessment framework and recommends good practices in for data collection and cases of lacking data, among other useful orientations.

Sector(s): Tools applicable to all sectors
Lifecycle Phase(s): Strategic PlanningPublic authorities identify the needs and long-term vision for infrastructure development., Project PlanningGeneral strategy for a project’s delivery is developed.
Type(s) of Tool: GuidelinesOperationalize sustainability principles, less specific than Benchmarks or Rating Systems.
Organization: Cumulative Effects Assessment Working Group for the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency

The EU Taxonomy sets out the overarching conditions that an economic activity has to meet to qualify as sustainable. In order to ensure that investments and financial market activities support those sustainable economic activities, financial market participants active in the EU and companies subject to non-financial disclosure requirements must now incorporate disclosures with reference to the Taxonomy. This way, the Taxonomy aims to help channel capital flows toward sustainable investments in a harmonized and consistent manner across the EU single market, thereby supporting the EU Green Deal and the Paris Agreement, and guide the transition of companies toward sustainable economic activities.

Sector(s): Tools applicable to all sectors
Lifecycle Phase(s): Strategic PlanningPublic authorities identify the needs and long-term vision for infrastructure development., PrioritizationAuthorities decide which projects to realize and how to allocate resources., FinanceDevelopers decide how to pay for their project.
Type(s) of Tool: Sustainability BenchmarksCompare the sustainability performance of assets or funds., Economic / Financial ValuationsAnalyses the economic/financial value and risks related to projects.
Organization: Technical Expert Group (TEG) on Sustainable Finance/EC
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