Skip to main content

Creating the world’s first sustainable highway

The Mission Zero Corridor Project in West Georgia, US, believes that it is possible to have a ‘green highway’. To this end, it has appointed breakthrough innovation consultancy Innovia Technology to help create a ‘travel corridor’ and rethink the purpose and function of this infrastructure to generate social, environmental and economic value. The project aims to be a fitting legacy for the late Ray C. Anderson, ‘the greenest CEO and founder of Interface, the global manufacturer of modular carpet. A
August 10, 2015 Read time: 2 mins
The Mission Zero Corridor Project in West Georgia, US, believes that it is possible to have a ‘green highway’. To this end, it has appointed breakthrough innovation consultancy Innovia Technology to help create a ‘travel corridor’ and rethink the purpose and function of this infrastructure to generate social, environmental and economic value.
 
The project aims to be a fitting legacy for the late Ray C. Anderson, ‘the greenest CEO and founder of Interface, the global manufacturer of modular carpet.
 
Anderson developed the Mission Zero framework to eliminate Interface’s environmental impact while maintaining productivity and still turning a profit. The aim was a promise to “eliminate any negative impacts the company may have on the environment by 2020” and the framework created a blueprint for business sustainability.
 
As a memorial to Anderson, the Ray C Anderson Foundation is using a 16-mile stretch of the Interstate 85 in Troup County, West Georgia, as a living experiment to demonstrate that it is possible to build a ‘regenerative, restorative and sustainable highway’.
 
To get the project started the Foundation and Interface funded a vision study through The Georgia Conservancy’s Blueprints for Successful Communities program. Using Interface’s Mission Zero framework as a roadmap, graduate students in the School of Architecture at the Georgia Institute of Technology, with studio instruction from a team of architects from Perkins+Will in Atlanta, explored how a highway could be a tool of change.
 
The outcome was an inspirational report that identifies a broad range of potential technologies and opportunities.
 
Innovia will provide a creative exploration of new opportunities, evaluate the technologies for viability and scalability and propose a strategy to bring the vision to life by attracting the engagement and support of key stakeholders.

Related Content

  • April 12, 2013
    Connected vehicles - potential to transform US transportation
    There’s a new face in the driving seat at the US Department of Transport’s ITS Joint Program Office. Fortunately, as Robin Meczes finds out, he’s no learner driver… Ask Kenneth Leonard why he wanted his new job as director of the ITS Joint Program Office, and his answer comes back without a second’s delay. “The potential to save lives, reduce injuries and help people enjoy a more efficient transportation system is the kind of challenge that makes me want to come to work each morning,” he says. “In my opinio
  • December 8, 2021
    Carlos M Braceras inducted into ITS America Hall of Fame
    Carlos M. Braceras, executive director of the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) has been inducted into the ITS America Hall of Fame
  • February 18, 2020
    Q&A: Samuel Johnson, IBTTA
    Samuel Johnson, chief operations officer for the Transportation Corridor Agencies in Orange County, California - and 2020 IBTTA president - talks about his background and career...
  • October 28, 2015
    Emissions reductions targets to have major impact on transport
    As bold moves aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions have been introduced in California, David Crawford looks at the ramifications for transportation. California Governor Jerry Brown’s recent dramatic raising of the bar on emissions reduction policy for the state has won him praise from Japan, Australia, Europe and the secretariat of the critical UN conference on climate change being held in Paris in November/December 2015. His April 2015 executive order aimed at bringing emissions to 40% below 1990 lev