[Durham INC] FW: A Citizen's Guide to (LEED for) Neighborhood Development

[Pat Carstensen]

I haven't checked this out, but it looks interesting.  Regards, pat

> Date: Fri, 27 May 2011 15:41:29 -0700
> From: John.Holtzclaw at sierraclub.org
> Subject: A Citizen's Guide to (LEED for) Neighborhood Development
> To: CONS-TRANS-CHAIRS-FORUM at LISTS.SIERRACLUB.ORG
> 
> 
> From:	"Steve Winkelman" <SWinkelman at ccap.org>
> To:	"Clean-Transportation-Working-Group"
>             <clean-trans at groups.b-team.org>
> Cc:	"Kaid Benfield" <kbenfield at nrdc.org>
> Date:	05/26/2011 06:06 PM
> Subject:	[clean-trans] FW: A Citizen's Guide to (LEED for) Neighborhood
>             Development
> 
> 
> 
> In case you haven’t seen this, check out this very useful and comprehensive
> guide from USCBC, NRDC and CNU. Even if you’re not going for LEED
> certification it’s a helpful tool for understanding how to develop
> sustainable neighborhoods. In effect, it operationalizes one of my favorite
> sayings, and the opening words of Growing Wealthier, “What we build – where
> and how – has a tremendous impact on how we sustain our communities,
> protect the environment and bolster prosperity.”   Kudos to Kaid Benfield
> for his sustained LEEDership.
> 
> (apologies for cross posting)
> 
> 
> From: Benfield, Kaid [mailto:kbenfield at nrdc.org]
> Sent: Wednesday, May 25, 2011 11:37 AM
> 
> 
> NRDC is pleased to announce the publication of A Citizen’s Guide to
> LEED-for Neighborhood Development.  The Guide is a handbook to help anyone
> interested in green practices learn, in user-friendly fashion, the
> ingredients that can make a neighborhood-scale development green.  It is
> available on the web for free.  For more about the Guide, start here.  To
> proceed directly to download, go here.
> 
> LEED-ND is a comprehensive and logical rating system that reflects the most
> current thinking about smart, green, sustainable, and well-designed
> neighborhoods.  For neighborhood-scale development to be certified by the
> US Green Building Council as environmentally exemplary, it must meet the
> criteria contained in the LEED for Neighborhood Development rating system.
> The rating system was developed by USGBC, NRDC, and the Congress for the
> New Urbanism.  It is administered by USGBC.
> 
> But the principles embodied in LEED-ND can be applied to situations other
> than those in which a development is seeking certification.  While the
> formal LEED-ND process is a technical one, the Citizen’s Guide is
> user-friendly and accessible, to help anyone learn about environmental
> standards for green land development and become an advocate for
> implementing these standards in their own communities.  NRDC hopes this
> handbook for citizens will help promote greater widespread adoption of
> sustainable practices to create more inclusive, healthy, and
> environmentally sound places for everyone.
> 
> The Guide simplifies the three major sections of the formal rating system:
> 
>       ·         Smart Location and Linkage: Where to Build
>       ·         Neighborhood Pattern and Design: What to Build
>       ·         Green Infrastructure and Buildings: How to Manage
>       Environmental Impacts
> 
> It also includes some creative suggestions to help users get started using
> LEED-ND’s diverse standards to evaluate and improve development proposals,
> to guide improvements to neighborhoods, to inform community planning and
> zoning, or to inform other policy-making.
> 
> The Guide also includes a “Sustainable Neighborhood Development Checklist.”
> The checklist is a sort of “crib sheet” for every LEED-ND credit and
> prerequisite, presenting them in an easy-to-use format for evaluating
> development proposals, assessing existing neighborhoods, and informing
> community planning and policy.
> 
> For more information about A Citizen’s Guide to LEED for Neighborhood
> Development, start here.  To proceed directly to download, go here.
> 
> Kaid
> ______________________________
> Visit Kaid's sustainable communities blog at
> http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/kbenfield/
 		 	   		  
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