Green development
Green development is a real estate development concept that carefully considers social and environmental impacts of development. It is defined by three sub-categories: environmental responsiveness, resource efficiency, and community and cultural sensitivity. Environmental responsiveness respects the intrinsic value of nature, and minimizes damage to an ecosystem. Environmental efficiency refers to the use of fewer resources to conserve energy and the environment. Community and cultural sensitivity recognizes the unique cultural values that each community hosts and carefully considers them in real estate development, unlike more discernable signs of sustainability, like solar energy, (solar panels are more visibly "green" than the use of local materials). Green development manifests itself in various forms, however it is generally based on solution multipliers: features of a project that provide additional benefits, which ultimately reduce the projects’ environmental impacts.
The above green development concepts have been derived from the all-inclusive tome released by The Rocky Mountain Institute, entitled Green Development: Integrating Ecology and Real Estate.
Green development emerged as a result of the environmental movement in the 1970s. In real estate however, the term commenced in 1897 with a report from the World Commission on Environment and Development, entitled Our Common Future. The report includes 16 principles of environmental management, designed to foster green development. It also discusses the traditional model of macroeconomic growth, and its disregard for environmental consequences. From this initial movement, the future experienced a back-and-forth relationship with green methodologies; environmental issues often came second behind purely economic factors. Incessant environmental concern and legislation, including in real estate development began to emerge, i.e. Green development. However, a common concern of green development is that it may increase costs and time, hence the ongoing argument of whether green strategies can be sustainable as well as economically stimulating. National environmental attention has since, worked its way down to real estate developers, and become an increasing priority. Developers today, must work within the parameters of legislation that now considers the environmental implications of development.
In response to increasing public concern regarding environmental issues, the government adopted a series of environmental controls in the real estate market. For example, in California, such legislation included the National Environmental Policy Act, the NEPA process, the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, the Coastal Zone Management Act, and the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA). The National Environmental Policy Act, signed in 1970, changed how federal agencies made decisions because it required them to propose environmental analysis before starting a project. The Clean Air Act (1970) requires the EPA to set national models for clean air. The Clean Water Act (1972) was designed to minimize pollution in natural bodies of water, and also to create bodies of water that are clean enough for recreational activities such as fishing or swimming. The Coastal Zone Management Act (1972) manages the nations coastal resources such as Great Lakes and estuaries. The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), is also known as "Superfund." It is commonly referred to as "Superfund" because it comprises two trust funds that provide help to improve areas that have been polluted by hazardous waste. The Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986 allows the government to lien a property that is being cleaned up. Additionally, the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) is California's most comprehensive piece of legislation regarding the environment. This act applies to all decisions made by cities and counties in California, and includes the mandate of an Environmental Impact Report (EIR), to both public and private projects. Subsequently, any new real estate development is subject to a detailed environmental analysis before starting a project.
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