Resilience valuation
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Recognising the intangible benefits of investing in resilient infrastructure
Investment in resilient infrastructure has many benefits. Intangible benefits are often harder to measure so can be overlooked when considering the costs and benefits of an investment. The intangible benefits of resilient infrastructure can include continuity and connectedness of disaster affected communities, and other social, economic and environmental benefits. For example, resilient infrastructure can result in continuity of telecommunications, road networks and other essential services. These types of benefits can make a huge difference to the resilience and speed of recovery of communities following a disaster.
Supporting investment in resilient infrastructure
A key challenge to date has been the lack of an available tool to capture and value the intangible benefits of resilient infrastructure investment for a community. A tool that enables the full extent of the complex and unique disaster effects and challenges communities face to be valued, would greatly benefit effective investment decision-making.
Through the Queensland Betterment Fund, Queensland had already successfully demonstrated that upfront investment in stronger, more disaster resilient infrastructure creates stronger and more resilient communities. The ‘avoided reconstruction costs*’ had been calculated for betterment projects re-impacted by disasters, to demonstrate that Betterment investment saves money for all levels of government in future disasters. However, the full cost to communities that we begin to consider through recognition of the intangible benefits for these betterment projects, had not yet been captured or valued, and there was no suitable tool available to complete this calculation that meets all the needs identified.
To address the challenge of capturing and valuing intangible benefits, the Queensland Reconstruction Authority (QRA), as a member of the Resilient Futures Investment Roundtable partnered with the International Institute for Sustainable Development to undertake a pilot project to customise their Sustainable Asset Valuation initiative Tool.
Note: *Avoided costs are estimates only, based on data provided by councils on impacts or likely impacts, and calculated on eligible reconstruction costs under Category B of the DRFA/NDRRA at the time of project approval.
About the SAVi Tool Pilot Project
The pilot project for the Sustainable Asset Valuation initiative Tool (known as the SAVi Tool) considers the value of indirect and intangible benefits and has been tested on the Queensland Betterment Funds case studies. Being able to generate evidence-based results through the use of the SAVi Tool enables resilience practitioners to strengthen business cases for investing in resilient infrastructure.
The SAVi Tool is an Excel based cost-benefit analysis that enables consideration of otherwise intangible benefits by using 15 indicators, such as road disruption, market access for crops, fruit and livestock, and mental health, to explore the full benefits of the investment.
QRA has used the SAVi Tool to retrospectively analyse a sample of road infrastructure betterment projects. The aim of the pilot project is to test the considerations against projects with known success, and further explore the indirect and intangible benefits to provide a more holistic view of community benefits from investments in resilient infrastructure.
Case studies
Refer to the following case studies for the outcomes of the assessment of indirect benefits from the SAVi Tool pilot project:
Technical Report
The technical report for the SAVi Tool Pilot Project outlines the initial development of the tool and includes a detailed breakdown of the indicators, and summary of processes undertaken throughout the project. The Technical Report is available on the IISD website at:
(External link to the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) website at: https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2023-04/savi-queensland-australia-road-infrastructure.pdf)
Next steps for the SAVi Tool Pilot Project
Following the completion of the SAVi Tool pilot project, QRA further explored embedding SAVi within current CBA processes for Betterment projects and undertook broader user testing with key stakeholders to explore further applications for the tool and identify refinements.
While the pilot project and user-testing highlighted some limitations to the application of the tool, it also highlighted potential future applications and enhancements of the tool.
The SAVi Tool has the potential application:
- to support decision makers to prioritise future investments in resilient infrastructure
- to advocate for increased investment in resilience programs, such as Betterment
- for embedding resilience in all infrastructure decision-making, beyond disaster-related infrastructure reconstruction
- further quantify the indirect/intangible benefits of investing in resilience.
QRA is collaborating with Partnerships for Infrastructure (P4I), an Australian Government initiative partnering with Southeast Asia to drive sustainable, inclusive, and resilient growth through quality infrastructure, to extend the functionality of the SAVi Tool and assess the tool’s applicability to the Southeast Asia context.
QRA will continue to work with stakeholders to further test and refine the SAVi Tool and explore opportunities for others to use this tool or aspects of it in their work.
Disclaimer
The SAVi Tool Pilot Project analyses were based on estimations only for the purpose of testing the SAVi Tool developed for QRA by IISD, using qualitative and quantitative data available at the time.
Contact
Practitioners interested in learning more about the SAVi Tool can contact QRA via email to:
grants@qra.qld.gov.au
Definitions
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Tangible benefits | Tangible benefits can be measured in financial terms, e.g., access to crop, meat and fish markets, and the cost of fuel saved by direct access to services.
|
| Intangible benefits | Intangible benefits cannot be easily quantified directly in economic terms, but still have a significant social, economic, and environmental benefits, e.g., the cost of mental health, pollution, greenhouse gas emissions and the impact on the environment. |
| Net Present Value (NPV) | The Net Present Value (NPV) is the difference between the present value of cash inflows and outflows. When the NPV is positive it means the investment will generate positive returns. |
| Internal Rate of Return (IRR) | The Internal Rate of Return (IRR) is an indicator that can be used to determine whether there is a profitable return on investment and is considered as the discount rate that brings the NPV to zero. Generally, a higher IRR denotes a more desirable investment and therefore can be used to compare investment options. |
| Benefit Cost Ratio (BCR) | The Benefit Cost Ratio (BCR) shows the relationship (ratio) between the costs and benefits of a project or investment. When or if an investment offers a BCR of greater than 1, it generates more benefits than costs, and is expected to deliver a positive NPV. |
Last updated: 18 July 2025. QRA Reference: DOC/25/41560.