Date: April 2, 2013 11:58:53 AM PDT
Subject: Susainable Brownfields Consortium research findings and case studies
Dear Lenny:
I am a long-time subscriber to your brownfields listserv, which I find
very informative.
I wondered if you are interested in circulating research findings from my
group's work under a U.S. EPA Brownfields Training, Research and Technical
Assistance grant, entitled "Best Management Practices and Benefits of
Sustainable Redevelopment of Brownfield Sites." Our grant wraps up later
this year, and there will be additional research findings and technical
assistance documents posted between now and then - but in the meantime we
have two research papers and a series of case studies posted on our
These include:
1. Dr. Joshua Linn's paper, "The Effect of Voluntary Brownfields Programs
on Nearby Property Values: Evidence from Illinois," which focuses on
Illinois' Site Remediation Program, estimating the effect of brownfields
certification on nearby property values. Employing several strategies to
account for unobserved and time-varying variables that may be correlated
with certification, Dr. Linn found that certification of a brownfield
(through issuance of a "no further remediation" letter) 0.25 miles away
raises property values by about one percent. In aggregate, he found that
the program has increased nearby property values by about two percent.
2. Thomas Brecheisen and Dr. Thomas Theis' life-cycle analysis of a
sustainably redeveloped brownfield site, the Chicago Center for Green
Technology, to determine the cumulative energy required to complete the
site's brownfield assessment and remediation, building rehabilitation and
site development, and 10 years of operation. The results show that the
preservation and rehabilitation of the existing building, the installation
of renewable energy systems (geothermal and photovoltaic) on-site, and the
use of more sustainable building products resulted in avoided energy
impacts equivalent to 14 years of operational energy for the site.
3. Dr. Christopher De Sousa's case studies of U.S. EPA Brownfields
Sustainability Pilots and "Best Management Practice" sites for sustainable
redevelopment of brownfields, in terms of challenges, lessons learned, and
underlying policies and practices that enabled these sites to move forward
and/or be completed.
Thank you very much.
Sincerely,
Susan Kaplan
Susan Kaplan, J.D., Research Assistant Professor
School of Public Health/Institute for Environmental Science & Policy
University of Illinois at Chicago
2121 W. Taylor St. (MC 922) Chicago IL 60612
Phone 312-355-0738 ofc 401-300-9391 cell