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Sustainable Redevelopment of Brownfields
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- Partnership for Sustainable Communities: Brownfields Pilot Projects
- Environmental Impacts of Brownfields Redevelopment
- Brownfields Sustainability Pilots & Reports
- Green Buildings on Brownfields Initiative
- What Is Smart Growth?
Environmental Impacts of Brownfields Redevelopment
Case studies indicate that brownfield redevelopment can offer significant environmental benefits when compared with alternative development scenarios. Estimates of air and water quality impacts of brownfields reuse for multiple revitalization projects in five municipal areas indicate that daily vehicle miles traveled per capita are 32 -57% lower and stormwater runoff is 43 - 60% lower for brownfields than conventional alternative or greenfield sites.
- Air and Water Quality Impacts of Brownfields Redevelopment: A Study of Five Communities
- Fact Sheet (PDF) (4 pp, 680K about PDF)
Publication Number: EPA-560-F-10-233
April 2011 - Full Report (PDF) (100 pp., 6.6M about PDF)
Publication Number: EPA-560-F-10-232
April 2011
- Fact Sheet (PDF) (4 pp, 680K about PDF)
Green Buildings on Brownfields Initiative
The Green Buildings on Brownfields Initiative is an EPA effort designed to promote the use of green building techniques at brownfield properties in conjunction with assessment and cleanup. Through several pilot projects, EPA is providing communities with technical assistance to facilitate the development of green buildings on their brownfields. Building environmentally-friendly buildings on what was once contaminated (or perceived to be contaminated) land can be symbolic of a new, environmentally-sound direction for communities, as well as tangible growth for their economies.
- EPA Press Advisory
September 25, 2002 - More information on Green Buildings...
Smart growth is development that serves the economy, the community, and the environment. It changes the terms of the development debate away from the traditional growth/no growth question to "how and where should new development be accommodated."
Brownfields redevelopment is an integral component to smart growth. By redeveloping a brownfield in an older city or suburban neighborhood, a community can remove blight and environmental contamination, create a catalyst for neighborhood revitalization, lessen development pressure at the urban edge, and use existing infrastructure.