Sustainable Land Development Today - June 2008 - (Page 18)

Green building at Terramor Village in Ladera Ranch in Orange County, California, used energy-conserving building construction techniques, natural lighting and ventilation, low VOC paints, low E windows, and other sustainable building practices. solutely necessary. But integrated design means connecting upfront with the larger social and community context of a project in order to achieve the so-called “triple bottom line” of social, economic, and physical sustainability. The word sustainability suggests long-term viability. If a community is not prepared to nurture and sustain a new addition, its innovations and low-impact practices may deteriorate. If the regional and community context are to be seriously considered, the site selection or location is relevant. A site next to a transit corridor will generate less pollution; a project adjacent to a wildlife corridor may provide the means to preserve it in perpetuity; locating housing close to jobs will reduce vehicle miles traveled. An integrated design process understands and optimizes its relationships to its surroundings. influenced by it. Opportunities to link into or preserve subregional green infrastructure networks, natural lands, wildlife corridors, drainage systems, and subsurface water networks should be identified and exploited. The regional transportation system may provide prospects for transit in the future, or joint public/private partnerships for accelerated multimodal development. Although water quality is highly regulated, permit requirements should be seen as minimal thresholds for protecting or enhancing downstream waterways. Create a Preliminary Sustainability Program The sustainability program addresses key components such as energy, water, mobility, indoor environmental quality, green infrastructure, education, and urban form. The integrated planning team works together to achieve highperformance solutions for each component, keeping in mind that those solutions that align with market preferences, reduce costs, and/or achieve maximum environmental benefits have priority. Interrelate Site Systems An integrated planning team includes biologists, hydrologists, geologists, landscape architects, and ecologists, who can inventory and discover the interconnections among the natural systems of a site. On a project in Rancho Mission Viejo in Orange County, California, development was to be restricted to side slopes in order to preserve a major adjacent creek corridor. However, soil specialists, who were included in the planning process, discovered that porous soils under the proposed development area fed the creek corridor its water and kept it healthy. Development was thus moved to less porous areas. Optimize Interrelationships The crux of integrated planning is in the identification of interrelationships between natural and human-made systems. Specific cause and effect interconnections that can be leveraged to increase benefits and reduce costs are known as “solution multipliers,” and often involve more than one step to be maximized. For instance, daylight drainage swales that improve storm water quality will not be optimized unless the size of underground storm drains is reduced. A local shuttle/transit system concurrently requires a reduction in travel lanes in order to provide more Develop a Market Context For sustainable projects to succeed, they must respond to real-time market dynamics and opportunities. An integrated process acknowledges the importance of the marketplace and is realistic about the extent to which increased costs can be absorbed by higher pricing. Also, buyers and tenants may have priorities that could result in a strengthened economic upside if they are included in the products and master plan. This would be one of the benefits of bringing in at the beginning a market analyst and consumer research expert as part of the team. Establish Environmental Targets Without goals, no mechanism exists for measuring success. Whether the goals are a 50 percent increase in water conservation, a 30 percent reduction in off-site vehicle trips, a post-development wildlife corridor system superior to what existed before development, or a net-zero energy-consuming community, goals energize the process and provide tangible targets. Tie into Regional Systems The integrated planning team establishes an understanding of the natural systems that surround a project and are At Rancho Santa Margarita in Orange County, California, the connection of trails and housing to a neighborhood retail center allowed the parking lot to be built with 5 percent less space, reducing runoff and heat island effect while allowing more land to be put into an adjacent lake park. 18 June 2008 Sustainable Land Development Today

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Sustainable Land Development Today - June 2008 Contents Our Voice Editorial Board SLDT Resources Where Rubber Meets the Road Integrated Planning: The Key To Developing Sustainable Planned Communities Win-Win For College and Community Industry Spotlight: Transoft Unique Organization, Unique Opportunity New Preferred Provider Comments from the Austin Conference Welcome New Members New Knowledge Project Articles Books Going Green Business Management Risk Management Surveying and Mapping Industry News Products/Services Showcase Advertiser Index Classifieds The Last Word

Sustainable Land Development Today - June 2008

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