IS Rating Scheme Return on Investment – Cost benefit analysis of the Infrastructure Sustainability (IS) Rating Scheme

The Infrastructure Sustainability Council (ISC) has been supporting the infrastructure industry to drive best practice through the Infrastructure Sustainability Rating Scheme (IS Rating Scheme) since 2012. In this time, the scheme has actively contributed to capacity building and transparently measuring the social, environmental, governance and cultural outcomes delivered by more than $160 billion worth of infrastructure under rating. To help quantify the future benefits the scheme can deliver, ISC engaged RPS to assess the net benefits that IS Ratings provide to Australians. The study used a cost benefit analysis (CBA) or ‘welfare economics’ framework supported by stakeholder engagement. A CBA framework assessed the costs and benefits to all impacted parties within Australia including not only the project proponents, but also the environment, community members and government. Targeted stakeholder engagement added to the robustness and richness of the findings because, consistent with the principles of Social Return on Investment (SROI), this reveals how stakeholders that are actually engaged by the program are affected.