Examines the role that brownfields redevelopment is playing and can play in our quest for sustainability, focusing on efforts in the US and Canada. This book looks at how brownfields are used as spaces for developing an array of residential, recreational, and employment-oriented projects that have breathed new life into the urban environment.

Publisher's Note: Products purchased from Third Party sellers are not guaranteed by the publisher for quality, authenticity, or access to any online entitlements included with the product. Transform brownfields into green development projects This forward-looking resource discusses sustainable remediation methods for converting a land liability into a high-value asset. Greening Brownfields presents best practices and creative thinking on how to increase property value by viewing contaminated sites as lucrative opportunities. The book covers global trends and business drivers related to brownfields and green development, and outlines U.S. and international guidelines and incentive programs. Detailed case studies of worldwide brownfield redevelopment initiatives are included. Greening Brownfields covers: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency U.S. Green Building Council Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) BRE Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) Regulations and financial incentives Frameworks for integrating all phases of brownfield redevelopment Sustainable land planning and land use One Planet Living Green building

While industrial and chemical innovations have contributed extensively to human advancement, the darker part of their legacy has been the hundreds of thousands of polluted sites left behind. Governments at all levels have rallied to support the remediation and reuse of these land resources and put many of the nation’s brownfields back into productive use. This book presents two dozen brownfield projects in the United States that have incorporated sustainability, highlighting project features, best management practices, and lessons from the field regarding the underlying policies and practices that enabled these projects to be completed or, in some cases, stalled, altered or abandoned. The case studies represent an array of brownfield projects that aimed to go beyond conventional practice and include a range and variety of end uses (e.g., corner gas stations, industrial, office, residential, brightfields, green space, mixed-use, and transit-oriented developments). The cases investigate site histories, planning and development and examine sustainability characteristics to understand how projects overcame the barriers to brownfield reuse and the implementation of sustainability features and derive a series of lessons learned, including innovative policies, programs, and/or funding mechanisms that helped make these projects work. Sustainable Brownfield Development will be of interest to developers, planners, consultants and community representatives interested in environmental policy, urban planning, community development, ecological restoration, economic development, and parks planning by providing direction and inspiration for those eager to erase the blight of the past and build a more sustainable future.

The US. EPA defines brownfields as "idle real property, the development or improvement of which is impaired by real or perceived contamination." The authors of Principles of Brownfield Regeneration argue that, compared to "greenfields"-farmland, forest, or pasturelands that have never been developed-brownfields offer a more sustainable land development choice. They believe that brownfields are central to a sustainable planning strategy of thwarting sprawl, preserving or regenerating open space, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and reinvesting in urbanized areas. This is the first book to provide an accessible introduction to the design, policy, and technical issues related to brownfield redevelopment. After defining brownfields and advocating for their redevelopment, the book describes the steps for cleaning up a site and creating viable land for development or open space. Land use and design considerations are addressed in a separate chapter and again in each of five case studies that make up the heart of the volume: The Steel Yard, Providence, RI; Assunpink Greenway, Trenton, NJ; June Key Community Center Demonstration Project, Portland, OR; Eastern Manufacturing Facility, Brewer, ME; and The Watershed at Hillsdale, Portland, OR. Throughout, the authors draw on interviews with people involved in brownfield projects as well as on their own considerable expertise.

Sustainable Brownfield Regeneration presents a comprehensive account of UK policies, processes and practices in brownfield regeneration and takes an integrated and theoretically-grounded approach to highlight best practice. Brownfield regeneration has become a major policy driver in developed countries. It is estimated that there are 64,000 hectares of brownfield land in England, much of which presents severe environmental challenges and lies alongside some of the most deprived communities in the country. Bringing such land back into active use has taken on a new urgency among policymakers, developers and other stakeholders in the development process. Frequently, however, policy thinking and practice has been underpinned by ‘silo’ mentalities, in which integrated and multidisciplinary approaches to problem-solving have been limited. The book has two principal aims. The first is to examine the ways in which science and social science research disciplines can be brought together to help solve important brownfield regeneration issues, with a focus on the UK. The second is to assess the efficiency and effectiveness of different types of regeneration policy and practice, and to show how ‘liveable spaces’ can be produced from ‘problem places’. The Thames Gateway in the south of England and Greater Manchester in the North of England are shown as examples of how brownfield regeneration projects are developing in an era where sustainability is high on the policy agenda. From the Foreword by Paul Syms, National Brownfield Advisor, English Partnerships: ‘Ensuring the effective and efficient reuse of brownfield land is an essential part of the British Government’s land use policies in support of sustainable communities. [This book] recognises that reusing brownfield land is not just about over-coming technical issues to remove contamination or other physical problems with the ground. It highlights the importance of engaging with the many different stakeholders whose opinions and concerns need to be taken into account if sustainable outcomes are to be achieved. The authors also recognise that brownfield land reuse is not just about building new homes or places of employment – the creation of new green spaces can be just as important.’

The environmental legacy of past industrial and agricultural development can simultaneously pose serious threats to human health and impede reuse of contaminated land. The urban landscape around the world is littered with sites contaminated with a variety of toxins produced by past use. Both public and private sector actors are often reluctant to make significant investments in properties that simultaneously pose significant potential human health issues, and may demand complex and very expensive cleanups. The chapters in this volume recognize that land and water contamination are now almost universally acknowledged to be key social, economic, and political issues. How multiple societies have attempted to craft and implement public policy to deal with these issues provides the central focus of the book. The volume is unique in that it provides a global comparative perspective on brownfield policy and examples of its use in a variety of countries.

Green Issues and Debates explores the multitude of threats to sustainable life on earth and the myriad of controversies surrounding potential solutions. The grayer shades of green are deeply examined, including such heady questions as: Is ethanol production from corn a recipe for famine? Does offshore drilling pose more of a risk to the environment than the problem it solves? Is "clean coal" a viable option or is it simply polluting the energy dilemma? Are genetically modified foods helpful or harmful? Well-respected scholars present more than 150 articles presented in A-to-Z format focusing on issues brought to the forefront by the green movement with carefully balanced pro and con viewpoints. A valuable tool for students of all facets of ecology, the environment, and sustainable development, the volume fully engages the reader, inspiring further debate within the classroom. Vivid photographs, searchable hyperlinks, numerous cross references, an extensive resource guide, and a clear, accessible writing style make the Green Society volumes ideal for the classroom as well as for research.

Land use change is one of the most pervasive socioeconomic forces affecting ecological systems, economic systems, and human wellbeing. This Oxford Handbook draws on recent advances in several economic fields that investigate land use behavior, making this a must-read for those who want to understand the frontier of land economics.