Using complex transportation modeling, new research published in the Journal of Planning Education and Research confirms that developments built to the standards of LEED for Neighborhood Development (LEED-ND) reduce driving and associated emissions.
"Confirming previous analysis, newly published research indicates that real estate development located, designed and built to the standards of LEED for Neighborhood Development will have dramatically lower rates of driving than average development in the same metropolitan region," reports Kaid Benfield, who helped develop the standards with colleagues at the NRDC, the Congress for the New Urbanism, and the US Green Building Council. "In particular, estimated vehicle miles per person trip for twelve LEED-ND projects that were studied in depth ranged from 24 to 60 percent of their respective regional averages."
"For this reader, the study confirmed once again that shortening driving trip distances through central locations (as in redevelopment sites) is the single most important thing we can do to reduce vehicle miles traveled and associated carbon and other emissions," says Benfield.
FULL STORY: How LEED-ND standards reduce driving and associated emissions: new research
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Trump deemed the landmark civil rights agreement “illegal DEI and environmental justice policy.”
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A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
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Report: Zoning Reforms Should Complement Nashville’s Ambitious Transit Plan
Without reform, restrictive zoning codes will limit the impact of the city’s planned transit expansion and could exclude some of the residents who depend on transit the most.
Judge Orders Release of Frozen IRA, IIJA Funding
The decision is a victory for environmental groups who charged that freezing funds for critical infrastructure and disaster response programs caused “real and irreparable harm” to communities.
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