Land Use and Built Environment Case Studies
This tab features case studies that describe examples of how adaptation has been incorporated into decisions about land use and the built environment.
Resources are automatically presented by date. Apply additional filters to narrow the list by state, impact, region, or jurisdictional focus.
220 results are shown below.
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Resource
December 2007
This report presents four case studies of climate change impacts in different regions of the country: The Heat is On: Climate Change & Heatwaves in the Midwest; The Importance of Climate Change for Future Wildfire Scenarios in the Western United States; Gulf Coast Wetland Sustainability in a Changing Climate; and Ramifications of Climate Change for Chesapeake Bay Hypoxia (also in the clearinghouse as individual entries). Each case study focuses on a specific type of impact of particular concern to a U.
Authors or Affiliated Users: Kristie L. Ebi, Gerald A. Meehl, Dominique Bachelet, Robert R. Twilley, Donald F. Boesch
Resource Category: Assessments
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Resource
September 2007
In September 2007, Resources for the Future and the University of Maryland – Baltimore County partnered to evaluate the design, implementation, and outcomes of Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) programs in communities across the U. S. The report is the result of a comprehensive research study involving conversations with local planners, consultants, land-use attorneys, and land trusts in the case study of several communities. The report offers an overview of land preservation, zoning, and TDRs in the U.
Resource Category: Solutions
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Resource
2007
Portland, Oregon’s Green Streets are streets that use vegetated facilities to manage stormwater runoff. Portland’s Bureau of Environmental Services (BES) Green Street Program is a sustainable stormwater strategy that meets regulatory compliance and resource protection goals by using a natural systems approach to manage stormwater, reduce flows, improve water quality and enhance watershed health.
Resource Category: Solutions
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Resource
2007
In 2003, the Portland Bureau of Environmental Services installed two landscaped stormwater curb extensions designed to capture street stormwater runoff on Siskiyou Street in Portland, Oregon. Essentially disconnecting the street’s runoff from the City’s combined storm/sewer system, the Siskiyou curb extensions manage it on-site using a landscape alternative. The objective was to maximize the capture, treatment, and infiltration of street stormwater runoff, while enhancing the neighborhood and offering improved pedestrian safety.
Resource Category: Solutions
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Resource
2007
In 2003, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation initiated a green roof demonstration project funded under the terms of a consent decree negotiated by the D. C. Water and Sewer Authority. The money was used to issue grants for the installation of eight different pilot green roofs that would reduce the cost of each green roof cost to the building owner by up to 20 percent. The pilot roofs served as models that building owners could use for future green roof projects, by providing data on costs, construction methods, performance, and maintenance needs.
Resource Category: Solutions
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Resource
January 30, 2006
This study uses a regional climate model (MM5) in combination with observed meteorological, satellite, and GIS data to determine the impact of mitigation strategies including urban forestry, living/green roofs, and light surfaces on surface and near-surface air temperature in the New York Metropolitan Region over space and time. The effects of localized changes in landsurface cover in six case study areas are evaluated in the context of regional atmospheric mixing. .
Authors or Affiliated Users: Cynthia Rosenzweig, William Solecki, Lily Parshall, Stuart Gaffin, Barry Lynn, Richard Goldberg, Jennifer Cox, Sara Hodges
Resource Category: Monitoring and Reporting
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Resource
2001
This article, published in Elsevier in 2002, outlines how cool surfaces (cool roofs and cool pavements) and urban trees can have a substantial effect on urban air temperature and, hence, can reduce cooling-energy use and smog. Using a dozen metropolitan cities as case studies, this paper demonstrates an estimate of about 20% of the national cooling demand can be avoided through a large-scale implementation of heat-island mitigation measures. This amounts to 40 TWh/ year savings, worth over $4B per year by 2015, in cooling-electricity savings alone.
Authors or Affiliated Users: H. Akbari, M. Pomerantz, H. Taha
Resource Category: Solutions
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Resource
November 2000
In November 2000, the City of Marina approved an update to add an Urban Growth Boundary (UGB) to its city General Plan and Local Coastal Program (LCP) to prevent urban sprawl and to preserve undeveloped land near the coast. The main purpose of the UGB Initiative is to restrict land within the UGB to open space and recreational uses until at least December 31, 2020 (when the current initiative expires, unless it is extended by the city). Low-density zones that were mapped along the coast provide the guidance and land-use controls for these areas. While the UGB and low-density zones were not established for the explicit purpose of managed retreat, they can serve as an example of land-use and zoning tools other municipalities could consider to conserve coasts, natural resources, and other open spaces in the face of sea-level rise and erosion.
Resource Category: Law and Governance
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Resource
1999
This project identifies the effect that surface modifications have on the urban heat island phenomenon and related ozone problems in the metropolitan area of Chicago, Illinois.
Authors or Affiliated Users: Kimberly A. Gray, Mary E. Finster
Resource Category: Solutions
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Resource
1990
Published by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 1990, this article discusses the likely impacts of future sea level rise on developed barrier islands, and provides a case study of Long Beach Island, New Jersey.
Author or Affiliated User: James Titus
Resource Category: Solutions
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