Climate change guidance for Ireland roads from Aecom

Infrastructure developers should assess a project’s impact on climate resilience
By David Arminas March 23, 2023 Read time: 2 mins
Previously, there had been no specific climate impact assessment guidance for roads, light rail and greenways in Ireland (© Artjazz | Dreamstime.com)

The guidance documents developed for Ireland set out a range of designs that can be assessed in order to support decision-making to minimise climate impact on roads and cycleways.

Aecom, a global infrastructure consulting firm, has delivered what it says are the first climate guidance documents for Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII).

The guidance sets out how infrastructure developers should approach assessment of a project’s impact on the climate, in terms of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and climate resilience, in both design and operation. Previously, there had been no specific climate impact assessment guidance for roads, light rail and greenways in Ireland.

Aecom has also developed a custom carbon emissions assessment tool for TII as part of the project. The tool can assess carbon emission sources from early design through to construction, operation, and decommissioning. A range of designs can be assessed, supporting decision-making to minimise climate impact on national roads, light rail and rural cycleways (offline and greenways) projects.

The tool also provides the ability to record carbon saving measures considered and implemented at each lifecycle stage and project phase. It aligns with PAS 2080 for carbon management in infrastructure. PAS 2080 is a global standard for managing infrastructure carbon designed to meet World Trade Organisation requirements. The framework looks at the entire value chain, aiming to reduce carbon and reduce cost through more intelligent design, construction and use.

Ireland has already experienced a significant level of damage to infrastructure and disruption to services. This has been caused by multiple extreme weather events such as the floods of winter 2015/16 and storms Ophelia and Emma in 2017 and 2018 respectively, said Ian Davies, technical director at Aecom.

“Both carbon mitigation and climate change adaptation of Ireland’s infrastructure is required to enable the development of a net zero and resilient future that is aligned with Ireland’s national ambitions,” he said.

The tool’s use is now listed as a requirement in TII’s Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) tenders. Transport Infrastructure Ireland is the state dealing with road and public transport infrastructure. It was set up 2015 by merging the former National Roads Authority and Railway Procurement Agency.

Air Quality & Weather Systems

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • IRF takes politicians to task on road safety
    January 7, 2013
    The International Road Federation has issued a wake up call to government ministers, in the form of its Vienna Manifesto on ITS. Four years on from coming to a key decision on ITS, the International Road Federation (IRF) now faces a further question – how can it ensure its Vienna Manifesto on ITS achieves maximum impact? This is a challenge the organisation is not taking lightly. Issues the manifesto has been drawn up to address have become more acute in the time taken to publish it and are forecast to wors
    Read More
  • Saving the smartphone zombies from themselves
    October 15, 2020
    As roads – particularly in cities – become busier, companies are fielding a steady trickle of products to keep pedestrians safe and vehicles flowing
    Read More
  • Emissions ‘rising too high despite the reduction targets’
    December 4, 2015
    An analysis by the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland of the emission targets from 159 countries indicates that, although nearly all the world’s countries have announced targets for reducing their greenhouse gas emissions, more ambitious emission reductions are needed in order to limit global warming to two degrees. In addition, developing countries have recently joined the effort to slow down climate change by setting targets for reducing emissions. However, despite those targets, VTT says emissi
    Read More
  • Substantial savings from smarter street lighting
    February 25, 2015
    As authorities strive to reduce expenditure and carbon emissions, Colin Sowman looks at some of the smart ways of managing street lighting while containing costs and maintaining safety. Street lighting can account for 40% of an authority’s energy consumption. So, faced with the need to reduce outgoings, some authorities are looking for smart ways of managing street lighting or even turning off swathes of street lights in the small hours. Back in 2008 the E-street Initiative report concluded that authorities
    Read More

Highlighted Content