| CEEQUAL | |
|---|---|
Assessment & Award Scheme for improving sustainability in civil engineering, infrastructure, landscaping and the public realm |
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| Purpose/focus | Environmental assessment and awards |
| Headquarters | London, Loughborough, Surbiton |
| Website | http://www.ceequal.com |
CEEQUAL, is the Assessment and Awards Scheme for improving sustainability in civil engineering, infrastructure, landscaping and public realm projects, based in the United Kingdom. It is promoted by the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) and a group of civil engineering organisations including CIRIA, CECA and ACE. Its objective is to encourage the attainment of environmental excellence in civil engineering, and thus to deliver improved environmental and social performance in project specification, design and construction[1].
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CEEQUAL was developed by a team led by the ICE, with government financial support from the DETR and DTI Partners in Innovation schemes, and from the ICE's Research & Development Enabling Fund. The development of CEEQUAL was managed by Crane Environmental Ltd, and received support and participation from relevant government departments and agencies, professional and industry associations, and civil engineering consultants and contractors.
Following industry-wide consultation and trialling, the scheme was launched in September 2003 and the first eight Awards presented at the ICE.
Since then, CEEQUAL has become the UK industry scheme for assessing environmental and sustainability performance in civil engineering and public realm projects, and is now widely used by major civil engineering clients, designers and contractors. In June 2008 CEEQUAL was recognised by HM Government's report, Strategy for Sustainable Construction as an initiative helping to 'drive forward' the Government’s design agenda for civil engineering and infrastructure projects[2].The total construction value of all projects assessed or in process of being assessed under CEEQUAL reached the £6 billion mark in autumn 2008 [3].
The scheme uses a points-scoring-based assessment, which is applicable to any civil engineering or public realm project. The scheme is made up of 200 questions within the CEEQUAL Manual relating to environmental and social aspects of a project such as the use of water, energy and land, impacts on ecology, landscape, neighbours, archaeology, as well as waste minimisation and management, and community relations and amenity. Awards are made to projects in which the clients, designers and constructors have gone beyond the legal and environmental minima, to achieve distinctive environmental standards of performance.
Project assessments are self-assessments carried out by an Assessor from within any part of a project team, or contracted in, who must have been trained by CEEQUAL. CEEQUAL also appoints a trained Verifier to the project, who is independent of the project team and acts to support the Assessor and provide validation of the completed assessment and subsequent Award. The first step involves the Assessor and Verifier agreeing which questions are not relevant to the project and should be scoped out. The project is then assessed against the remaining question set. The Assessor completes the assessment by gathering the appropriate supporting evidence and completing a Scoring Spreadsheet. This is then submitted to the Verifier, together with the supporting evidence, for review and approval. Once the Verifier is satisfied with the assessment, the Scoring Spreadsheet is submitted to CEEQUAL for ratification, and a CEEQUAL Award certificate is issued[4].
There are several different CEEQUAL Award levels that a project can achieve, depending on the percentage number of points scored against the scoped-out question set. These are:
Five types of award can be applied:
For larger or long-term projects an Interim (Client & Outline Design) Award is assessed en route to a final Whole Project Award.
The CEEQUAL Assessment Manual for Projects contains the 200 questions that comprise the CEEQUAL scheme and against which projects are assessed. The Manual also contains background information and references, guidance on scoring and scoping out, and examples of what is considered appropriate evidence. The question set is split into the following 12 topic areas:
In November 2008, Version 4 of the CEEQUAL Manual was launched. This provided a significant update to previous versions, including new questions specifically targeting carbon emissions and whole-life-cycle carbon analysis[5].
The CEEQUAL Manual should be read in conjunction with the Scheme Description and Process Handbook, which introduces the process of a CEEQUAL assessment and acts as a 'how to' guide for the Manual.
Some of the civil engineering projects to have achieved CEEQUAL Awards
Bridges
Public Realm
Rail
River/Coastal Defence Structures
Roads
Water Supply & Sewerage