Promoting Sustainable Communities and Practices
by
Anna Read
Image source: flickr.com
November 16, 2009
This Monday afternoon round-table session was led by a group of seven state and local government brownfield professionals. It began with a discussion of five sustainable practices that can be incorporated into brownfield redevelopments: zoning ordinances that support green building and sustainable practices, stormwater management, transit-oriented development (TOD), green roofs, and sustainable landscaping.
Panelists and session participants shared stories about redevelopments and sustainability regulations in their communities and raised questions about how other communities are funding and evaluating projects. In Portland, Oregon, stormwater management is a high priority, due to the amount of rain the city receives every year. Local ordinances promote managing stormwater onsite, but this became an issue with brownfields, where onsite management would require the infiltration of water through contaminated soils. The city first considered working around the ordinances for these sites but many developers expressed an interest in finding a way to comply with the regulations. One site where this issue is currently being addressed is a former gas station. The site has been redesigned as Portland’s first “living building” – a new green certification standard. The city has worked with the non-profit developing the site to ensure a very thorough soil sampling and address the issues of infiltration and potential groundwater contamination.
In Grand Rapids, Michigan – the city with the highest per capita number of LEED certified buildings – the city has established ordinances that promote green building. Both new buildings and renovation projects are required to incorporate green elements. The city has recently had to scale back some the green space requirements outlined in these ordinances. It required a minimum amount of green space be provided on all new development sites. However, for infill projects, intensive green roofs, which are very expensive to install and maintain, were the only way to meet these requirements. Though the requirement has had to be scaled back, it has resulted in an increased amount of green space in the more densely developed areas of Grand Rapids.
What sustainable practices are being integrated into brownfield redevelopments in your communities? What evaluation tools are you using to measure the impacts of these practices?
Comments
No comments have been posted. Post the first comment below!