Sustainable Land Development Today - June 2008 - (Page 19)

green space, improve stormwater quality, or reduce heat gain. Refine with a Cost/Benefit Analysis Few projects can afford to do it all. Integrated methodologies can help developers get more bang for their buck, but at some point tough decisions need to be made, and they should not be made arbitrarily or based on only the highest initial cost. A cost/benefit analysis step helps identify those elements that achieve the highest environmental benefit—the actual improvement a sustainable practice makes over a conventional practice in a project, measured in energy and water usage, natural systems impact, green house gas emissions, vehicle miles traveled, waste generated, and other appropriate metrics—at the lowest monetary cost. The methodology for taking this step with large projects is relatively new and uses computer software programs to compute and chart cost/benefit ratios on each high-performance proposal. The cost component includes both “first costs” and longer-term “lifecycle costs.” Environmental benefit can be calculated by a good sustainability engineer. Such an analysis allows a numerical ratio of cost to benefit to be established for each component, which leads to informed decisions. formance machine that is their community. In the final analysis, an integrated systems planning approach is the surest way to go green without breaking the bank. A developer using an integrated process will achieve a higher standard of sustainable design, save money, enhance the quality of consumers’ lives, and— last but certainly not least—enjoy a high return on investment. SLDT Photos Courtesy of EDAW About the author: Steven Kellenberg is a principal with the Irvine, CA offices of EDAW, an international planning, urban design, landscape architecture, and environmental consulting firm. He is a contributing author to the ULI book, Developing Sustainable Planned Communities. He can be reached at steven.kellenberg@edaw.com. ASPHALT PERFORMANCE WAT E R Q U A L I T Y The Sustainable Pavement ENERGY & RECYCLING CLEAN AIR & COOL CITIES Asphalt is the sustainable material for constructing pavements. Learn more at PaveGreen.com. From the production of the paving material, to the placement of the pavement on the road, to rehabilitation, through recycling, asphalt pavements minimize impact on the environment. Low consumption of energy for production and construction, low emission of greenhouse gases, and conservation of natural resources help make asphalt the environmental pavement of choice. • What industry is America’s number one recycler? • How can asphalt pavements reduce road noise? • What kinds of asphalt pavements can help manage stormwater? • How can asphalt pavements mitigate the urban heat island (UHI) effect? Finalize Sustainability Program and Implement The team can now decide which highperformance components best achieve its initial targets within cost and market parameters. Guidelines are created, and builders, contractors, and the sales force go through an educational program in order to share the vision. During construction, monitoring and testing make certain that targets are being achieved. The end users also are part of the process. In an ideal scenario, they have been asked at the outset what is most important to their quality of life. With a sustainability program in effect, they can now be informed about how to operate—over the long term—the high-per- Visit PaveGreen.com to learn more. Circle 109 • or www.SLDTonline.com/webcard www.SLDTonline.com 19 http://PaveGreen.com http://PaveGreen.com http://PaveGreen.com http://www.SLDTonline.com/webcard http://www.SLDTonline.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Sustainable Land Development Today - June 2008

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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