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Sustainable revitalization is a holistic approach that considers more efficient use of social, economic, and environmental resources. Revitalization of potentially contaminated sites should contribute to restoration of natural productivity, native biodiversity, parent soils, water quality, air quality, and social and economic equity. This section presents the following sustainable practices resources: SMART Growth, Best Practices, Urban Growth Models, Indicators of Sustainability, Resource Conservation, and Landscape Ecosystem Restoration.

ASTM International released The Standard Guide for Process of Sustainable Brownfields Redevelopment to promote a sustainable revitalization process for potentially contaminated sites. The guide encourages private and public collaboration with meaningful community involvement for sustainable revitalization solutions. It acknowledges the need to tailor the sustainable revitalization process to individual projects. The guide focuses on the creation of a revitalization project that corresponds with the community’s sustainability needs. The guide states sustainable revitalization is “a voluntary effort that actively engages property owners, developers, government agencies, and the community in conducting corrective action, economic evaluation, and other actions to promote the long-term productive reuse of a property.”

EPA's Environmentally Responsible Redevelopment and Reuse (ER3) Initiative uses enforcement and other Agency-wide incentives to promote sustainable redevelopment of potentially contaminated sites. EPA, through ER3, will collaborate with federal, state, public, and private partners to identify, develop, and deliver incentives to encourage developers and property owners to implement sustainable practices during the redevelopment of potentially contaminated sites. A developer, state, municipality, or other entity interested in incorporating sustainability concepts into the redevelopment of contaminated property may submit a sustainable development proposal to EPA’s ER3 staff.

EPA also encourages sustainable revitalization through the Smart Growth initiative which can help communities realize the economic, community, and environmental benefits of sustainability by:

The EPA Smart Growth Network developed a set of ten basic principles for communities:

University of Louisville Center for Environmental Policy and Management has developed a practice guide, Managing Growth with Fairness: The Regulatory Takings Test of Smart Growth Policies. This Guide offers an introduction and review of current Federal and State takings law as it affects growth management and smart growth policy tools. Taking a case-by-case look at both the takings and planning legislation and implementation regulations, the Guide applies the regulatory takings test to the current growth situation and offers suggestions for developing land use policies that address both sprawl and regulatory fairness.

University of Louisville has also developed a practice guide to address 'greyfields', defined as obsolete shopping malls or commercial strips that are typical in inner-suburban and urban neighborhoods: Greyfields: The New Horizon for Infill and Higher Density Regeneration.

The Local Government Commission (LGC) provides many free resources including newsletters and publications, fact sheets, model projects, and articles on information to create healthy, walkable, and resource-efficient communities.

SustainLane is a website that provides an open-source knowledge base of best practices, combined with a secure directory of government officials, speeds research, peer network expansion and implementation. SustainLane helps government, businesses and citizens scale up the sustainability movement through two internet sites: 1. www.sustainlane.us A free, open-source knowledge base for US state and local government officials to exchange best practices in sustainability, and for networking among peers. 2. www.sustainlane.com A free site for people to rate and discuss green products and services, and for discussion about personal sustainability approaches and challenges.

SustainLane also provides sustainability rankings of the 50 largest U.S. Cities. The rankings explain how people's quality of life and city economic and management preparedness are likely to fare in the face of an uncertain future. These indicators gauge, for instance, which cities' public transit, renewable energy, local food, and development approaches are more likely to either limit or intensify the negative economic and environmental impacts of fossil fuel dependence.

The California Urban Futures (CUF) Model and the Clarke Urban Growth Model (slope, land use, exclusion, urban extent, transportation, hillshade [SLEUTH]) are two examples of urban growth models. The modeling results and created databases can guide local community planners in achieving desired smart and responsible urban growth.

CUF Contact:

John D. Landis

Department of City and Regional Planning

University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720

Tel: 510-642-5918

SLEUTH Contact:

Keith C. Clarke

Professor of Geography

University of California, Santa Barbara

3611 Ellison Hall

Santa Barbara, CA 93106.

Telephone: 805-893-7961

The Whole Building Design Guide is the only web-based portal providing government and industry practitioners with one-stop access to up-to-date information on a wide range of building-related information, criteria and technology from a 'whole buildings' perspective. The goal of 'Whole Building' Design is to create a successful high-performance building, applying the integrated design approach and the integrated team approach to the project during the planning and programming phases.

The principles of sustainable reuse are clearly applicable to all cities. Those principles were translated into 150 indicators for sustainable cities by the World Bank and United Nations Center for Human Settlements. These were later reduced to 44 indicators by students at the University of Pennsylvania and are presented in the Indicators of Sustainable Cities Exhibit. The criteria can be measured quantitatively and qualitatively on revitalization sites to help determine benefits and undesirable outcomes of revitalization and may help define reuse strategies and standard procedures.

The Indicators of Sustainable Cities Exhibit provides categories of sustainable elements and associated attributes.

The website, A Better Future, offers resources to promote the strategies for and the benefits of achieving a more healthy, humane, and environmentally sustainable world.

Sustainable revitalization can reduce the need to develop new land by satisfying the needs of the current generation without compromising the needs of future generations. Land reuse should shift development patterns of haphazard, inefficient, automobile-centered sprawl to higher density, mixed-use development that creates and maintains efficient infrastructure, creates close-knit neighborhoods and a sense of community, and minimizes both direct and indirect impacts on the environment (EPA, Region 8).

Implementation of green building techniques in the revitalization will promote resource conservation, including energy efficiency, renewable energy, and water conservation features; consider environmental impacts and waste minimization; reduce operation and maintenance costs; and address issues such as historical preservation and access to public transportation and to the community infrastructure systems (EPA, Region 8).

Ecological integrity is described in Characteristics of Sustainable Brownfields Projects (EPA, 1998) as: “in harmony with natural systems by balancing system functions with resource thresholds, reducing and converting waste into non-harmful and beneficial purposes, preserving valued physical and biological resources, and using environmental resources to fulfill human needs without reducing their ability to function over time.”

E.P. Odum, an ecologist, describes how the ebb and flow of matter and energy are inherent to an ecosystem and presents four criteria for a sustainable ecosystem (Odum, 1971):

Creating open space, restoring natural habitat, or developing recreational areas can also help to mitigate adverse environmental impacts of development, such as habitat loss and storm water runoff.

The construction and operation of buildings can have direct and indirect impacts on the environment.  Buildings not only use resources such as energy and raw materials, they also generate waste and potentially harmful atmospheric emissions.  As the economy and population continue to expand and the availability of resources declines, designers and builders face the challenge of meeting demands for new and renovated facilities that minimize their impact on the environment while maintaining function. 

The solution involves an integrated, synergistic approach that considers all phases of the facility life cycle from site selection and layout to operation.  This "sustainable" approach supports an increased commitment to conservation and environmental stewardship, and results in an optimal balance of cost, environmental, social, and human benefits while meeting the goal and function of the intended facility or infrastructure.

The primary objectives of sustainable design are to:

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. EPA is providing communities with technical assistance to facilitate the development of green buildings on their brownfields through several pilot projects.

Adaptive reuse of existing buildings, deconstruction, and the reuse or recycling of on-site materials not only diverts materials from landfills, but reduces pollution associated with the manufacturing and use of new materials, captures the embedded value of used materials, and creates revenue and more jobs than demolition methods. Many materials can often be reused in a revitalization. The Green Institute is a non-profit organization that operates a deconstruction service that deconstructs quality building materials from houses being remodeled and demolished and removes reusable building materials (such as doors, windows, kitchens, wood flooring, and plumbing fixtures) and resells them through a reuse center.

It is widely believed that limiting growth to prevent sprawl would allow the remaining ecological capacity to regenerate. Regulations involving wetlands, endangered species, and cultural or historic assets are examples of some statutes that may affect use of a property. The diversity of biological species and uniqueness of physical features that could be negatively impacted by development should be understood and appreciated. Habitat areas such as watersheds, wetlands, shorelines, prairies, mountains, and canyons are all valued assets that require consideration for sustainable resource conservation (EPA, 1998). The presence of an endangered or threatened species could limit the intended site use. Endangered species are animals, birds, fish, plants, or other living organisms threatened with extinction by anthropogenic (man-caused) or other natural changes in their environment. Requirements for declaring a species endangered are contained in the Endangered Species Act (ESA).

Requirements for dredging or filling wetlands are issued and enforced by the Army Corps of Engineers under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act. State Section 404 programs can be enforced on waters not susceptible to interstate commerce, including tidal waters and wetlands.

A green infrastructure cost-benefit calculator is a free tool available to provide information on alternative infrastructure provision. Green infrastructure is the interconnected network of open spaces and natural areas, such as greenways, wetlands, parks, forest preserves and native plant vegetation, that naturally manages stormwater, reduces flooding risk and improves water quality. Green infrastructure usually costs less to install and maintain when compared to traditional forms of infrastructure. Green infrastructure projects also foster community cohesiveness by engaging all residents in the planning, planting, and maintenance of the sites.

Establishing and restoring greenspace is also an important aspect of the revitalization effort. Greenspace uses include parks, playgrounds, trails, gardens, habitat restoration, open space, and habitat preservation. While many potentially contaminated sites become necessary tools for a community’s economic revitalization, greenspace use can provide a social asset to a community in addition to economic benefits. Greenspaces are important to a community’s psychological and emotional well-being because they enhance quality of life. Planning and implementation of open space and parks is best done on a community or regional level. Local redevelopment agencies such as Centre City Development Corporation in San Diego, California are recognizing the quality of life benefits of creating a balance of structures and open space as well as providing a sense of community by creating or improving these areas through revitalization. For more information, see www.ccdc.com/resources/resource_files/issue42.pdf.

The practice of designating revitalization sites as greenspaces can provide unexpected ecological value by increasing the attractiveness of a community. Revitalization sites located in urban areas offer the opportunity of improving the aesthetic quality to these areas. With few properties available for recreation in these communities, revitalization sites are being targeted for various types of recreational reuse. The following are examples of reuses that add ecological value:

Planting of trees is an important strategy for reducing both carbon emissions and energy expenditures for urban heating and cooling, as well as for beautifying neighborhoods, creating a human-scaled pedestrian friendly atmosphere, and increasing the acceptability of the revitalization. An innovative idea for sites with existing mature trees is to relocate them during the revitalization, then bring them back to the site and replant.

Community gardens can be an ecological and social improvement. A community vegetable or herb garden utilizing low or no use of fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides, is primarily a social improvement. A community native garden can be designed to emphasize planting native perennial vegetation appropriate for the soil and moisture conditions in the area. If the area is arid (e.g., western U.S.), then plants that require little water should be used. If the area gets lots of runoff from precipitation, they can be designed as biofiltration swales which infiltrate the storm water, addressing both water quantity and quality problems. Such gardens may require soil amendments and/or engineered subsurface drainage to allow infiltration, but when designed properly will infiltrate water in 24-48 hours, avoiding any problems of mosquito breeding.

The primary benefit of greenbelts is the preservation of open space at the urban/rural fringe. While defining a boundary for growth, greenbelts help to foster easier circulation among densely developed areas while maintaining the rural character of areas beyond. The presence of greenbelts effectively prevents the extension of public investment in infrastructure and transportation to a wide area of low-density, single use development of the type often considered synonymous with urban sprawl (EPA, 1998). The selection of areas greenbelts should be first based upon their ability to restore contiguity to native habitat, connectivity between habitats, and weighed against the complexity of connectivity.

Riparian corridors provide habitat and connectivity for approximately 85 percent of species. The establishment of greenbelts should be designed in a manner that will assist in preserving riparian corridors. Planned establishment of interconnected greenbelts protective of riparian corridors also limits development of flood plain areas.

Ecosystem Based Management (EBM) Tools Network provides an innovative management approach to consider the whole ecosystem, including humans and the environment, rather than managing one issue or resource in isolation. EBM tools include data collection and management tools; data processing tools; conceptual modeling tools; modeling and analysis tools (such as watershed models, marine ecosystem models, dispersal models, habitat models, socioeconomic models, and model development tools); scenario visualization tools; decision support tools (such as coastal zone management tools, fisheries management tools, conservation and restoration site selection tools, land use planning tools, and hazard assessment and resilience planning tools); project management tools; stakeholder communication and engagement tools; and monitoring and assessment tools.

PlaceMatters offers consulting services, project design, and tools expertise to marry ecosystem based management (EBM) and land use planning within various contexts.  PlaceMatters seeks to assist communities, non-profits, government agencies and other organizations to effectively plan for both ecosystem and community health using a suite of public engagement, GIS, systems modeling, scenario analysis and land use planning tools.