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Green Development Literature Search

Literature Summary and Benefits
Associated with Alternative Development Approaches

Literature Compilation and Tabulation

A number of literature references have been searched to identify possible conference topics, case studies, and potential conference attendees and presenters. Existing databases, economic valuation studies, examples, projects, reference materials, and telephone discussions have lead to identification of a wealth of information on this topic. Working from the list of initial keywords provided by the WAM, with several words added based on the literature discovered during the search process, a literature search was completed on the following:

• Selected Water Resources Abstracts (1989-present)
• USGS Library (1989-present)
• NOAA Library (1989-present)
• Washington Post (CD-ROM, 1995-June 1996)
• Magazine Express (January 1992 - May 1996)*
• CZARA Annotated Bibliography
• Chicago Tribune (1996)
• In-house and personal libraries.

* Includes the New York Times, USA Today, and 140 general magazines.

Where possible, actual articles have been collected. At a minimum, a bibliography listing and abstracts have been compiled into a Green Development database. Appendix A contains database sorted topics with literature source, title, author, and abstract, all generated by the electronic searches mentioned above. Appendix B contains additional Green Development literature identified from in-house and personal libraries. The review of the literature has yielded additional potential contact sources such as real estate agents, architects, landscape architects, developers, and bankers, as well as national and local development and real estate organizations.

The information compiled into the Green Development database has been divided into five major areas:

• Planning and Design
• Tools for Data Analysis
• Environmental Quality
• Natural Resources
• Economics.
  

A list of keywords was used for each of these five areas to sort the Green Development database into smaller subareas. The majority of Green Development literature is on planning and design. A number of the publications are design manuals, zoning documents, or comprehensive plans and designs of specific development BMPs. Another large topic of interest is in natural resources protection, especially in stream stabilization and wetland and riparian protection. Since the focus of the literature search was limited to site development, many documents on such topics as wetland restoration and mitigation, agricultural practices, industrial processes, and shoreline protection have not been included.

While there may be a significant number of sources in a topic area, these sources are not primarily focused on natural resource protection. For example, of the 25 sources analyzed which included information on habitats, there were five articles discussing forests, and three addressing river/stream protection. In addition, the economics of Green Development, in terms of cost/benefit analyses, etc., does not appear to have been fully demonstrated, and may be an area for additional focus. Low numbers of publications in specific topic areas do not necessarily reflect a lack of information on that topic. For example, there are surely more publications in the various databases searched regarding air quality. However, because the initial key word search did not specifically ask for air quality references, few showed up in the final publication list.

Literature and case study examples were also identified which focus on the following topics:

• successful, environmentally sensitive infrastructure programs and projects
• case studies on "urbanizing" suburbs and areas where infill has successfully occurred
• model ordinances and comprehensive plans
• intermodal transportation policies that consider environmental impacts, especially nonpoint source pollution and habitat impacts.

These case studies are referenced in the literature as illustrating Green Development features and concepts. Case studies are available for existing developments, either currently under design or fully constructed, and for different types of tools to analyze data and determine the costs or benefits of different development and pollution control alternatives. Case study examples for each topic (identified from the literature only) are tabluated below. An asterik (*) after the case study name indicates this particular project falls under more than one topic area.

Green Development Literature Search: Summary and Benefits Associated with Alternative Development Approaches. Presented to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Wetlands, Oceans, and Watersheds; Rod Frederick, Work Assignment Manager; in conjunction with Oceans and Coastal Protection Division; Margherita Pryor, Jessica Cogan; September 30, 1996; Prepared by--Tetra Tech, Inc., 10306 Eaton Place, Suite 340, Fairfax, VA 22030; Under EPA Contract #68-C3-0303; Work Assignment #3-112

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