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PUBLICATIONS
BOOK CHAPTERS
Sustainable Public Procurement of Infrastructure and Human Rights. Beyond Building Green.
Editors: Olga Martín-Ortega, Professor of International Law and Director of the Business, Human Rights and the Environment Research Group (BHRE) School of Law, University of Greenwich & Laura Treviño-Lozano, Early Stage Researcher of SAPIENS Network, University of Greenwich, UK
Chapter 3: A 360-degree approach to women's inclusion in infrastructure
Author: Cristina Contreras Casado.
Acknowledging that women are not a monolithic group with the same needs and interests, this chapter focuses on how public procurement can be a powerful tool to ensure gender mainstreaming in infrastructure projects. The author provides a 360º view of gender mainstreaming in infrastructure, including three different angles (i) women as decision-makers, (ii) women as users, and (iii) women as a beneficiary of economic opportunities (either employment or businesses), and how all these groups would benefit from gender-responsive procurement. Some of the strategies presented describe the role of Women-Owned Businesses (WOB) in the procurement process, the integration of gender experts into the technical teams, the importance of meaningful stakeholder consultation, and gender-responsive budgeting, among others.
© Edward Elgar Publishing
Engineering for Sustainable Communities : Principles & Practices
Editors: William E. Kelly, Ph.D., P.E.; Barbara Luke, Ph.D., P.E., D.GE; and Richard N. Wright, Ph.D.
Chapter 31: Cerro Dominador Concentration Solar Plant
Author: Cristina Contreras Casado.
The Cerro Dominador project is one of the most innovative in Latin America, where solar concentration energy technology is seen as a possible energy supply solution for the future. Upon completion, the Cerro Dominador Concentration Solar Plant will generate 110 MW of energy by concentrating solar power, supplying it almost continuously, 24 hours a day, and will create an additional 110 MW by a photovoltaic plant located nearby. A highlighted benefit of the Cerro Dominador project is site accessibility through existing roadway and transmission line infrastructure. This accessibility also helps facilitate linkages between existing and new access to the area and reduces the need to build new infrastructure.
© American Society of Civil Engineers
Lifelong Learning and Education in Healthy & Sustainable Cities
Editors: U.M. Azeiteiro, M. AKERMAN, W. Leal FilhoA.F.F. Setti, L.L. Brandli
Chapter 32: Yueqing’s Healthy Future: A Case Study in Design Planning for Healthy Urbanization
Authors: Powers Tomasso L., Cristina Contreras C., Rodriguez J., Yin J., Kane Africa J.
Yueqing’s Healthy Future begins as sustainable infrastructure design within a framework of measurable standards to intentionally redress China’s environmental health crisis and resulting urban health problems. Key determinates for urban livability are amply addressed: urban infrastructure design, the built environment, the incorporation of nature, quality of life, and health and wellness. Prescriptive guidance to optimize urban health and long-term sustainability in the process of urban growth and development accompanies this case study: urban climate change resilience, urban mobility, and strategies for healthier buildings. This assessment includes recommendations by a joint research team from the Harvard Graduate School of Design and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Although these proposals reflect actual climatic, ecological, and environmental policy conditions of Yueqing, China and thus are tailored to improve that city’s sustainability profile, the recommendations may inform urban projects elsewhere with similar urban infrastructure and ecological conditions already in place.
© Springer
Sostenibilidad y Resiliencia de las Infraestructuras.
Una visión operativa desde el mundo de la ingeniería, de los negocios y del cambio climático
Editor: Mauricio Gómez Villarino
Chapter 2: Methods and tools to quantify sustainability in infrastructure (published in Spanish)
Author: Cristina Contreras Casado.
Several comprehensive rating schemes have been developed in different regions of the world in the last decade, aiming to provide sustainability indicators to guide infrastructure design, construction, and operation. The earliest initiative created was the Civil Engineering and Environmental Quality Assessment and Award Scheme (CEEQUAL) released in the United Kingdom in 2003. In 2012, the Envision rating system was announced in the US, followed by IS-Scheme developed in Australia. The newest system is the Standard for Sustainable and Resilient Infrastructure also called SuRe®, developed in Switzerland and published in 2015.
This book chapter explores the differences and similarities among them as well as international trends that we are seeing in the integration of infrastructure sustainability and its tools.
© Colegio de Ingenieros de Caminos Canales y Puertos de Madrid.
REPORTS & PAPERS
Upstream Planning For Sustainable Infrastructure Policy
The main objective of this work is to identify the main challenges that local and national governments face when integrating sustainability practices at the upstream planning (project prioritization, screening, and procurement). This paper provides recommendations for policymakers and local governments to address those challenges. This work will be published by the U20 as part of the agenda of the G20 group.
Edited by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) for the Urban 20 (U20)
Authors: Contreras Casado C., Silva Zuniga M.
Attributes and Framework for Sustainable Infrastructure
Sustainable Infrastructure (SI) is now recognized as an essential foundation to achieve inclusive and sustainable growth, deliver on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and meet the targets of the Paris Agreement of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The world needs to ramp up investments in sustainable infrastructure to tackle large deficits in infrastructure services especially in emerging markets and developing countries, respond to the structural changes that are underway —especially urbanization—, and accelerate the replacement of aging and polluting infrastructure.
Authors: Bhattacharya A., Contreras C., Minji J., Amal-Lee A., Graham W., Silva Zuniga M.
SUSTAINABLE INFRASTRUCTURE AND THE SDG
Creating a Common Language. How Does the Sustainable Infrastructure Criteria Compare to the SDGs?
Author: Cristina Contreras
Sustainable infrastructure (SI) is central to achieving the 2030 UN Development Agenda and securing strong and sustainable growth. The access to basic services such as good health and well-being (SDG 3), quality education (SDG4), clean water and sanitation (SDG6), and affordable and clean energy (SDG 7) can only be achieved by environmentally responsible, socially equitable, and economically viable infrastructure projects. Despite the importance infrastructure plays in achieving sustainable growth and development, there is no clear understanding of how well-known sustainable infrastructure tools such as Envision rating system relate to the SDGs. Therefore, this paper provides a cross-comparative analysis between the Envision rating system criterion and the SDG targets to understand the overlaps and key differences, as well as the potential synergies. According to the analysis, out of the 169 total targets in which the 17 SDGs are divided, 67 of them were identified to be in alignment with the Envision rating system. From the 67 related SDG targets, 34 were identified as directly aligned with Envision, while 33 were determined as having an indirect correlation.
© American Society of Civil Engineers
