All Photos: Michael Charney, MCAN http://www.massclimateaction.org/

5th Annual Regional Sustainable Development Forum
Visions of Sustainability
October 29, 2004

Session and Workshop Proceedings

WORKSHOP DIRECTORY

To go directly to your workshop of choice, click on the links below:

Keynote Address: Secretary Douglas Foy, MA Office of Commonwealth Development

Workshop A: Sustainability 101

Workshop B: Broadening the Constituency: Environmental Justice and Sustainability

Workshop C: Transit-Oriented Development

Workshop D: Greening the Built Environment

Plenary Session: Visions of Sustainability

Workshop E: Renewable Energy Choices, Markets and Policy

Workshop F: Smart Growth Solutions for Containing Sprawl

Workshop G: Urban Water Management

Workshop H: Financing Sustainability

Keynote Address
Secretary Douglas Foy, Massachusetts Office of Commonwealth Development
http://www.mass.gov/ocd

Click on the following link to see the accompanying Powerpoint presentation:
Smart Growth Powerpoint

Building Livable Communities in Massachusetts: Why Smart Growth?

o Office of Commonwealth Development in an interesting challenge
o Agency that combines transportation, housing, environment, and energy
o Aimed at sustainable development and smart growth
o Name reflects mission
o Charges with developing the Common Wealth
o Build roads bridges transit lines parks housing energy systems
o The capital development-intensive agency(s) in state government - 11,000 employees, $500 million operating budgets, $5 billion capital budgets
o MA is the only state where the governor has combined all development related agencies in to one agency

Why smart growth?
o Transportation
o Only real solution to gridlock
o Break down agency silos - transportation agency and environmental agency regularly fought with each other and brought lawsuits against each other
o Deals with issue of sustainable development
o If we don't grow more sustainably, we will never solve problems of sprawl
o Sprawl as failed experiment - Intended to provide quality of life in nice places, but:
o Congestion is worse than 30 years ago
o Environmental quality has been degraded, particularly in suburbs
o People drive twice as much (VMT) as 20 years ago
o 80 % of all car travel in MA is now non work related
o The only solution is to grow more sustainably
o Housing
o Affordability crisis requires more compact development, recycling of land
o Environment
o Protect air, water, farms & forests
o Demographics:
o Empty nesters and seniors demand urban living opportunities
o Baby Boomers are getting older
o As they decide they don't want to maintain their homes people are moving back to the cities
o This is one of the most powerful coming forces that will support the regeneration of cities
o Fiscal policy
o Use and improve the infrastructure we already have - we can't afford to keep expanding infrastructure
o Economic competitiveness
o State's comparative advantage is great communities, they must be maintained and improved for continued competitiveness
o Regional Competitiveness Councils want vital urban centers, including transit
o Business community gets this idea
o 2 concerns: housing affordability so can recruit to the state and maintenance of the transportation system

The Romney Administration and Smart Growth: 10 First Steps
o Office for Commonwealth Development
o Commonwealth Capital
o Fix It First
o Highway Program: Communities First
o Transit-Oriented Development
o Development-Oriented Transit
o Smart Growth Zoning Law
o Environmental Smart Growth Policies
o Historic building redevelopment
o Local capacity building

(1) Office for Commonwealth Development
o Directs and integrates work of
- Executive Office of Transportation
- Executive Office of Environmental Affairs
- Department of Housing and Community Development
- Division of Energy Resources
o Aligns agency policies, regulations, operating budgets and capital spending plans with smart growth policy
o Chairs Commonwealth Development Coordinating Council
o Any governor could do this - legislation not necessary
o All have the lawful ability to manage the cabinet as they see fit
o Their job so complex can't pay attention to all Offices (12) on a weekly basis
o This governor has made process official and transparent through structural change
o The model transferable to other states

(2) Commonwealth Capital
o $5 billion in capital spent every year
o $600 million in grants to municipalities
o For everything from open space to parking to sewer systems
o Processed through single set of smart growth screens
o Grant applicants are asked: What are you doing to create sustainable development?
o Towns must go through the process of review to get money
o Asked: How is this town meeting state level policy?
o Money speaks louder than home rule tendencies
o Common administration of discretionary capital grant programs to ensure
o Consistency of projects with smart growth policy
o Alignment of municipal policies and zoning with Commonwealth interest in smart growth
o Coordination of agency decision-making
o Includes economic and community development, open space protection, off-street parking, wastewater infrastructure and other programs

(3) Fix It First
o Stole idea from Maryland and New Jersey
o Policy: repair infrastructure before building new infrastructure
o MassHighway: Road and Bridge Program
o Priority for $2 billion backlog of repair and rehabilitation of existing streets, roads, structurally deficient bridges
o Department of Conservation and Recreation: World-Class Parks and Parkways
o Merger and reform of state parks agencies
o $1 billion deferred maintenance backlog being tackled
o $60 million more in new supplemental budget bill
o MBTA: "State of Good Repair" program
o $3 billion deferred maintenance backlog
o A national model
o Public Housing
o $1 billion deferred maintenance backlog
o State has a total of 7 billion in deferred maintenance

(4) Highway Program: Communities First
o New Highway Project Development and Design Manual to incorporate principles of
o Context-sensitive design
o Accommodation of all modes (inc. pedestrians, bikes, transit)
o Traffic calming - an engineering challenge
o Highway agencies typically focus on throughput
o Traditional road design standard is a interstate, 65 mph design standard - 12' travel lanes and 4' shoulders
o This standard is used in 25 mph center of town and then we are surprised when people speed through town
o MA law: when 80 % of people speed, must raise speed limit!
o Manual is being produced through collaborative process
o Will be "most progressive in country"
o Impact on highways will last for next 50 years
o Has not been rewritten in 30 years
o Day-to-day decision making reflects new philosophy
o Newbury, MA a great example - 4 lanes but natural activity levels and speeds.

(5) Transit-Oriented Development
o Commonwealth Development/MBTA Program
o Community-based master planning -- stations with surplus MBTA (largest landowner in eastern MA) property
o Re-zoning completed by 3/4 of pilot communities. 20 more in the pipeline
o Support for development around many other stations
o MassHousing Priority Development Fund
- $100 M, including TOD financing and planning grants
o Funding
o New $30 M program for parking, pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure, housing development
o Plus $40 M more for MBTA Infrastructure Fund
o Development needs to be transit oriented not simply transit adjacent
o Parking requirements for adjacent development is the key indicator - suburban levels mean people are still driving
o Boston - half a parking space per unit allows transit-oriented "location-efficient" mortgages.
o Transportation is the second highest cost in a typical individual or family's budget. Reduce transportation costs and they and can carry larger mortgage.
o Now looking at lifetime T pass included with housing in transit areas

(6) Development-Oriented Transit
o Goal to develop transit where it is needed, where development is desired or where it already exists
o New objective criteria guide transportation project selection and prioritization
o Smart growth/community-building role of projects considered
o Smart growth impacts figure prominently in early decision-making on major projects
o Greenbush Line restoration
o Silver Line Phase III
o Ditto for highway program: improvements should support city- and town-center development
o e.g., Worcester, Pittsfield

(7) Smart Growth Zoning Law (Chapter 40R)
o Incentives to create "smart growth zoning districts" in eligible locations
o City, town, village centers/commercial districts
o Around transit stations
o Other appropriate "smart growth" locations
o Infrastructure + walkability = criteria
o Must have 8-20 units/acre, affordable units, housing or mixed use
o Incentives: State money for re-zoning and issuance of building permits, priority in grant programs
o Education costs to be addressed (e.g. make the case that housing and children are not necessarily financial losers - increased real estate values can more than offset additional school expenses)

(8) Environmental Smart Growth Policies
o Fast track procedures for smart growth projects being developed for
o Environmental review (MEPA) process
o Dep't of Environmental Protection permitting processes
o Working to remove perverse incentives
o State Revolving Fund Program (water infrastructure) reform
o Facilitate sewering for town center growth
o Get tougher on sewering in outlying areas - sewer financing for towns used to apply only to new construction on greenfield sites
o School building - billions of dollars go into this area
o For remote new school, the state pays 80 to 90%
o To rehab an old school the state pays 40%
o The result is that central schools have been abandoned - now everyone drives
o Smart conservation: land protection strategies
o Acquisition and other tools
o Open space crucial, but we can't afford to buy all
o Must use zoning and incentives to protect the rest

(9) Historic Building Redevelopment
o State Historic Preservation Tax Credit signed into law
o With a focus on smart growth, affordable housing
o Initial authorization $10 million/year
o A large amount of mill preservation is happening
o Lowell, Lawrence, Haverhill, Brockton, Holyoke, etc. standing stock of mill building is one of great natural assets
o Zoning typically precludes reuse of upper floors as housing - change that
o Provide funding for elevators
o Support for upper-story redevelopment
o Housing Development Support Program funding doubled (DHCD)
o Forum on "Upper Story Redevelopment: Strategies for Your Downtown" (Oct. 13, 2004, Worcester)
o Tax Credits-Brownfields

(10) Local Capacity Building
o Many small towns lack professional planning capcity - volunteer boards etc.
o Need to be provided with technical assistance
o Grants to cities and towns for planning support
o Priority Development Fund (DHCD and MassHousing)
o Smart Growth Grants (EOEA)
o Commonwealth Development agency staff support
o Mass.gov/OCS
o Governor's Awards for Smart Growth
o Technical assistance coordination

What does this all mean?
o Favorite goal: Every child should be able to walk to the library
o Part of a larger equation and a whole-cloth development pattern
o Walkable means compact with sidewalks
o If a child can walk to the library, a senior can walk to the drugstore I can walk to the store to buy milk
o Instantly healthier community
o Boston residents are healthier than most cities because walking is the easiest option (like Manhattanites are 7lbs lighter than Westchester Co. residents)
o Lowers long term health care costs - people will be able to better afford to stay in their homes and communities

Not Just Boston and Cambridge. . .
o Lowell: amazing collection of mill buildings
o Haverhill - shoe factory being rehabbed as housing on Merrimack riverfront
o Brockton, Lynn - have very successful minor league baseball teams
o In some smaller cities a successful franchise can be a major asset
o Northhampton and Adams, Ashland, Brookline, Canton, Dennis, Framingham, Holyoke, Littleton, Lynn, Malden, Millis, Natick, Peabody, Pittsfield, Quincy, Revere, Shelburne Falls, Woburn, Worcester, and. . . ?

Environmental strategy means growing in responsible way...
o It's more than just natural resource protection
o Equity : providing housing opportunities to all generations
o A great town can house all generations of a family
o Sherborn: where Mr. Foy raised his family
o When daughter graduated from college there was nowhere in town that she could live aside from his house
o Many communities have actively zoned out 22 year olds and seniors
o Concord center a good example of what we now call Smart Growth, but recreating it would be illegal in Concord today with 2 acre minimum lot size.
o Prediction: abandonment of suburbs over next 20 years and a landscape of empty McMansions
o Transportation choice
o Society built around car excludes 50% of citizens who cannot drive (young, old, disabled, poor) - undemocratic
o OCD is aiming to develop communities, great places where all generations can survive and thrive

Questions and answers
Q: I work in affordable housing in CT. Do you work with for profit developers on mill buildings? Are they market rate? Did you have to finesse flood plane regulations? More detail on Elevator program.

A: Yes - many combinations of development teams
o Elevator grant program: Cities and towns must prove interesting downtown plan and upperstory development plan. Then can apply for grants.
o In Haverhill: working with for profit, helping to provide structured parking
o May need to approach the way shopping center developers approaches malls - State gov't may need to rebuild some of these sites on spec and find anchor tenants later
" Buildings are next to rivers - need to be aware of Rivers and wetlands regs and play by the book.

Q: Maryland Gov. Glendenning's Smart Growth policies failed because of the inability of small towns to build smart in a smart growth manner. Does any state have sticks (to go with the carrots) in terms of if you build the office space then you must build the housing?

A: " MD is an interesting issue. The mistake was they attempted to plan solely with maps and next administrator or administration just threw away the maps and it was over. Rewriting the zoning in communities will be a more durable solution.
" VT, OR may have power to tell companies to not go to a certain area but face major difficulties. Their reliance on "sticks" is not that effective either
" I am a big believer in incentives. We can help you if you build right. Or you can build where you want but don't come to us for free money or to solve your transportation problems.
" Businesses are starting to come around on locating - they need to to attract the people they want. People want to live and work in good communities.

Q: Don't forget we need transportation strategies for smaller, minority-majority cities like Holyoke as well.
A: Agreed. Remember the civil rights movement started around transport issues.

Q: Lawrence is "coming around," but does not yet have any true destinations (theaters, amenities, attractions.) Why will people or businesses want to locate there?
A: Keys to urban renaissance:
" Embrace the waterfront
" Vital non-profit sectors (e.g. colleges should be in the city centers, not out in the woods)
" Residential neighborhoods in the city
" Lawrence has these things!

Return to Workshop Directory

Workshop A: "Sustainability 101"

Paul Lipke: Sustainable Step New England
http://www.ssne.org

Paul Lipke
Brief introduction in which Paul identifies the backgrounds and interests of the group and provides a little bit of his own background.

Thirty-second overview of "Sustainability" by example: Moisture Loading, when teenagers take really long showers without the fan running and moisture builds up-an example of just one situation where infrastructure is not treated sustainably.

Who could give definition of sustainability? (about 1/3 of room raises hands, a few volunteer their answers)
Attendee: "ecological and cultural fitness"
Paul Lipke: "continue to do what you are already doing"

PL
Look at the earth from space, and think of the biosphere as a paper thin layer on a basket ball. Think about the cycle of "Take, Make, Waste"-93% of all material is waste before getting to the store or to you; this is a linear and cyclical process in that it is a closed loop with respect to inputs but we generate all kinds of stuff never seen before by nature, and the system breaks.

Once upon a time when humans were few, resources were plentiful. Now humans are a planetary force changing the system.

One way to think about sustainability: Ecological Footprint is a measure of the impact each person has. In the US this impact is such that on average there is a 21 acre per person deficit: this means that we are short two planets! Sustainability will be forced upon us at some point if we don't make amends on our own and we will be forced to think about worldwide average productivity: obviously some places in the world are more productive than others, and it is lucky for the US that this is a very productive place.

Another definition of sustainability is to live off of the interest of the capital rather than the capital itself.

Another way to think about it: There are two converging trends: Our impact, which is population x consumption x technology; (think about Amazon.com: it feels like you just order and book magically appears but actually that book has to be delivered, requiring resources). Impact is rising over time, compared with the Decline in Living Systems as we use up resources: at some point, these lines will meet and will be forced to run parallel.

(The Connecticut River has the potential for lots of hydro power, but the area is poor in other resources and toxic exposure and prenatal issues are coming close to the areas constraints. )

Back to Funnel/Converging Trends analogy: you can think of other situations where this could be applied, such as violence and ignorance declining. The concept of sustainability is linked to how do we flatten these lines? How can I, over time, plan and incentivize good thinking? For example, getting schools put in the right place; perhaps someday the restoration of society, nature will commence and the funnel can open up again.

Question
It seems like the problems of today are not republican versus democrat, or liberal versus conservative, etc., but are systemic.

Paul Lipke
True: "The laws of nature and the laws of congress are divergent; who will yield first?"
-William McDonough

We'll have to be sustainable at some point because nature cannot yield, so we just should try to make the sustainability happen in a way that is good for us.

Where to focus our efforts: Four main areas of concern:
" Energy
" Materials
" Toxicity (& persistent synthetics: since 1949 we've processed more material in the USA than has been processed in the entire history of the world )
" People (the community, global equity).

We can look at most issues, examine these four areas and develop a deeper
understanding of what we need to do. This is not of political concern if your politics (or business) are driven by short term gains. How can you reduce the use of materials and energy? Historically we've increased use, while prices have continued to go down.
How can you reduce or eliminate the use of persistent, toxic synthetics? Humans
end up at the end of the bio-accumulation of this process because we're at the
top of the food chain.

These are all connected: right now we mine cadmium at 40 times the rate it's produced by the earth, if we use this stuff up we won't be able to have any of the four. The government system is structured to penalize long term thinking (4 year terms, etc) but for the last category to be happy, we need to get cooperation on the first three or only basic needs will be met.

Paul Lipke Question:
Who has seen a mine? (many raise hands) What do you think?
Response: It's VAST.

A laptop has a 40,000lb upstream flow including the machines that make the machines that make the machines, and all the paperwork etc. through banks, etc.

How do we reduce/eliminate use of persistent, toxic synthetics? Some people are interested in issues of sustainability and understand why there is a problem right away and try to make changes in their own behavior. Others won't get it until 3 years after they've heard of it, when their kids get sick because of the chemical plant in the neighborhood, and then it'll still be a few years before they start to make changes in daily life. Nevertheless there has been a huge change in the past few years over reception to the term sustainability; it used to only conjure up responses of "what?!?" but now it is a common buzz word.

Most human needs, beside the most basic food and shelter, are things that don't actually need to be supported by physical material: things that contribute to psychological, mental, emotional, spiritual well being shouldn't be material needs but are often satisfied materially nevertheless. Human needs in a community consist of the following:

" Clean air, water and food
" Shelter, warmth and light
" Health and safety
" Mobility
" Means of livelihood
" Participation in decision making
" Community connections (people, nature, sense of place)
" Equal treatment
" Meaning (life-affirming)
" Freedom, peaceful enjoyment
" Creativity

What is a 1 in 6 billion share in terms of using an SUV versus biking versus walking? How does this fit with violence, meeting human needs, etc? Organizations look at the evolution of policy from laws to compliance: compliance, risk management, pollution prevention, sustainable operations, and restoration. Restoration refers to healing the wounds in our communities; this is very far down the line since we haven't even reached a point of equilibrium, although there are some individual examples of restoration.

How can we understand the current reality? What do we take, make, and waste? Towns know if land fills are almost full, but what do they do? What keeps politicians/policy makers up at night? What would a sustainable community look like? If this is a shared idea, you can begin to see 'what is the action plan?' It's taken the US 200 years to get where we are, but now we need to start trying to move backwards in some ways.

One example of such an action plan is to start limiting sprawl in cities. A more specific action would be finding an old mill building and converting it to something useful.

If our system doesn't measure correctly in terms of accounting for externalities, we should think of what we want to measure and think about taxing 'bads'-things like waste and pollution-instead of taxing things like employment. "The whole system is cockamamie!"

Some examples of individual action: I can think about what I buy for dinner: is it local? seasonable? Or, am I going to drive to the store just for X, or can I wait until tomorrow when I have a number of things to get?

We can think of all this as "We're here, what's next?" but keep in mind all the tools we've discussed: educate ourselves, get inventory, design and do system work in ways that keep sustainability in mind.

"Ok: now I want to open the floor up for questions and comments. We have an hour left; are there reactions to the slides? This was a big overview, if you have questions, or perhaps a problem from real life, i.e. the work in your office, we can use these ideas as a basis for analysis.

Think about this: how can my next decision reduce my dependence on X? How can I move away from my current status? The average human being lives on $2 a day, primarily consuming rice and beans; this is not really viable in the US; but it gives us a sense of the stretch and the scale. Nevertheless we should celebrate because five years ago people couldn't even fathom having these conversations about sustainability.

Question
The number 1 thing to do is voluntary simplicity at a personal level, but we're here, looking at #1, and yes if we could all do that it would make a difference, but for us, the business aspect and the cultural shift are more important; we need to use our capitalist system to make it profitable to act sustainably.

Paul Lipke
"The system is far too dire for pessimism." There are all kinds of penalties for doing the right things, but if you go to the heads of companies (trans-nationally) these ideas may be on their minds for 1-10 years. The emerging system of Total Corporate Responsibility (TCR) fosters manufacturer stewardship of products' contents.

For example: McDonalds of Sweden was losing market share-people were throwing rakes through their windows! Other groups were promoting sustainability, and finally McDonalds needed to comply after having said no to lobbyists 2 years prior. Finally, sustainability was brought to the table in the form of the question "Will there be hamburgers in a sustainable future?" and now six years later decisions are made keeping in mind, "is the basis of our product unsustainable?"

Another example: A Southern Baptist carpet manufacturer one day read an article about sustainability and over night decided he wanted to change things to be more sustainable.

We must get to the point of reducing human desire for want. Like a compostable closed loop biosystem; can't throw anything away; a slow revolution is happening in business to think of products in a similar sense. Rather than, you buy a toaster and when it breaks you throw it away, but that once it breaks the company that made it is responsible for taking it back; and if this were to be the case they could find ways to reuse probably 90% of it.

If you're not investing in forward thinking ideas, your shareholders will be upset-so in the long term something like this could work, but the question is whether the market can react and change fast enough. Capitalism would be better if it included costs of disposal like the toaster or like gasoline (tailpipe emissions).

Question
When planning for Transit Oriented Development (TOD), what are the big steps I have to do and tell my higher ups? I'm working on a design project where there is a wasteland in the community, but how do I use it? This is for 3 projects in Maryland with new stations surrounded by empty land.

Paul Lipke
Why doesn't everyone think of their top 3 or 4 ideas to suggest?

Attendees
" Minimize impervious surfaces
" Have other reasons to be there: multiple uses
" Incorporate Leadership and Environmental Design (LEED) in every access
" Look for best and worst practices-find someone who had a problem worse than yours but was able to solve it
" Consider 5000 year history of the site to a get a greater sense of working ecology including a present inventory - place-based ecological design
" Who owns the Property? Is there a need for profit generation?
" What infrastructure will be relevant in the future (fossil fuel free?)
" Information infrastructure

Paul Lipke
Find out what people want it to look like; the community can tell you what design criteria should be, what is the community designed definition of success? (needs community outreach process).

Could think of this problem in terms of "place-based ecological design" for example, the Brattleborough Food Co-op looked at the history of the site to find out what it had been in the post glacial period, including what was the path of watershed before humans, and how it would be possible to re-knit the ecological fabric of the site.

Question
We will probably never become a hydrogen-fuel based society, but what about other renewable energy sources? What do we want to do in terms of, e.g., planting trees where they might block solar panels? What are the ecological implications? What is the interest in putting lots of money into development?

Paul Lipke
Who profits? Who owns it? Ownership model for profit in this country is not the norm for the world, what are other ideas? Co-ops? That's how we got electricity in the first place: co-ops of businesses rethought the way of doing business (we're really just in the early stages) such that private developers have incentives to do the right thing

Question
Say we are to be fossil-fuel-free by 2020. What infrastructure is needed? Thinking through options for benefiting rather than loosing.

Paul Lipke
One example: I drove a grease-powered vehicle for two years, but soon there will not be a free supply of fuel for me. Soon there will be new pumps supplying bio-diesel at gas stations, so we will have to build new tanks. If we have to rip up ground, we should think about what other things we can do at the same time.

Caveat: We must watch out and make sure that we don't make "perfect" be the enemy of "good" because in sustainability it's very hard to get the perfect solution.

We probably have 400-600 combined years of planning experience in this room, so why should we try to solve problems alone? What should we instead be thinking of? Here's a new challenge: Imagine a developer in an area of a city with multiple developers competing with each other. How do you get institutions to think collectively about providing a sustainable community?

Attendee
Find some shared principles about sustainability.

Paul Lipke
Good, for example use the biological framework with sun energy.

Attendees
" Defining principles in permitting; system wide required framework
" Financial/tax incentives to work together
" Common goals or concerns to work together on
" Provide technical assistance or resources
" If one owner who can make specifications with standards, others can try to meet them
" Personalize the impacts of competition; "This is how it would affect you"
" Involve people in the community so that they state their needs; make the pain real and get everyone talking together.
"
Paul Lipke
There's a book by Williams and Nesse, "Why We Get Sick." It discusses how the fear of loss is great, and people are much more responsive to threat than to opportunity, so start by confronting people with the threat and then explain where the opportunity is.
" Public participation and Transparency

Remember about product stewardship: If products will come back to producers then we need transparency about what goes in, and what the relationship is with cities from which fuel comes…does anyone know where your fuel comes from? (no response)

We're 30 sustainability-minded planners and we don't know where our fuel comes from: we have no relationship with the communities in Canada, or Venezuela where our life comes from. A neat idea along these lines is that cities could have sister cities in places where stuff comes from, so that we can learn about the flow of the resources we're dependent on.

Question
About competition: how do we tweak it such that it is beneficial to sustainability?

Paul Lipke
Now we have the Dow Jones Sustainable Index: it tracks sustainability of companies over time through the Investor Network on Climate Risks, which lends to people with good climate change understanding. For example, a Swedish firm insures based on product take-back; "we'll take a premium from you and invest it in technology. You meet X requirement in your RFP and your interest will be lower." Are they familiar with Global Reporting Initiatives? Are they looking at a larger social structure than the development is part of? We should add to the previous list:

" Define shared principles ' permitting, specs
" Financial/tax incentives
" Encourage team arrangement
" Find common goals/concerns
" Technical assistance/resources
" Personalize the impacts of competition - localize it
" Public participation and transparency
" involve and identify all beneficiaries

Question
I still wish for a definition of Sustainability. Also, how much rigidity must there be? Must it be all or none? I work for a roofing system where we do various really good sustainable things but the roofing is made from PVC.

Paul Lipke
"In a sustainable society, natures functions and diversity are not subject to systematically increasing

" Concentrations of substances extracted from the Earth's crust.
" Concentrations of persistent, toxic substances produced by society.
" Reductions by over-harvesting or other physical means.
" And, peoples' capacities to meet their needs are not systematically undermined. (From The Natural Step) and where human needs are met worldwide."

This is a scientifically defensible argument. On the rigidity point, this is a great question: we always want production to be good, fast, and cheap, but we can really never have all 3 and therefore must choose two. I would advocate flexibility because it is impossible to know what the perfect solution is anyhow. It might be that although there are problems with PVC, it is actually the best you can do in order to make it work

For example: big project had identified beneficiaries but hadn't approached them in the right way: the developer had literally forgotten to ask the uncle of one of the important players, so he said no to the project! Maybe it was a perfect solution but…

It's like hiring hackers to solve a computer project: you have to take the opponent and figure out what it is that they want.

In Europe, the government said; you have to get this stuff (PVC, etc.) to go away, and businesses cooperated to figure out how.

Good quote: "We need to gain the wisdom to be physically moved by statistics"
Right now wind power is competitive, but some environmentalists argue against it because of the change in the view from the top of the hill…even if you bring everyone to the table, it's very hard to get them all together; in Northern Europe they think about windmills not as being ugly but have used them to carry children's artwork, maybe we should think about something like that here.

There are lots of "walking wounded" (like a kid who gets bruised playing but then gets mad at the sistewr who brushes the bruise accidentally): if you're with a community plagued by asthma and cancer, and you try to argue for PVC roofing, yes it will be tough to get through but if you understand where the bruise comes from you may be able to help.

Question
Maybe the rise in CO2 forces us to stop using fossil-fuels in the next 20 years-but if this is reality it doesn't matter that your sister has cancer, you have to be honest about this.

Paul Lipke
I've been asked, "are we going to make it?" If we need to drop to 2 billion people then we are better positioned to withstand reductions; if science says it doesn't matter, you will have to change, then what can we do?

The cheapest thing to change is the attitude, but this is also the hardest thing to change and we must address it first.

Thank you very much, I hope this has been helpful!

Return to Workshop Directory

Workshop B: "Broadening the Constituency: Environmental Justice and Sustainability"

Mariella Puerto (moderator): Barr Foundation, Boston, MA
http://www.barrfoundation.org/
Penn Loh: Alternatives for Community and Environment (ACE), Roxbury, MA
http://www.ace-ej.org/
Veronica Eady: West Harlem Environmental Action (WEACT), Harlem, NY
http://www.weact.org/

Ms. Puerto introduced the session and presented background to environmental justice. Penn Loh and Veronica Eady provided case studies from the field.

Mariella Puerto: Overview of environmental justice problems and issues using examples from Boston

Contributions of the Environmental Justice Movement: Over the past 15 years, the environmental justice movement has altered the face of the environmental movement, moving beyond notions of wilderness preservation and pollution control. Changes include:
" The definition of environment has been broadened to include people's immediate environment (including where people live, play, work, study, and worship) in both an urban and rural context
" The debate has shifted to include issues of racism, political and economic marginalization, worker safety, land-use planning, transportation, and displacement. Historically, environment and development decisions have not served low income communities or communities of color.
" Sustainability must be defined in dialogue with all groups as equal partners

Background to Environmental Justice:
Throughout the U.S. and in Massachusetts, communities of color and low-income communities have historically been most impacted by environmental problems. These communities face numerous hazards, from lead paint contamination in housing, illegal dumping in vacant lots, air and water pollution, to a lack of quality green space, unhealthy housing, schools and workplaces and poor public transportation. Many studies provide evidence of the disproportionate burden of environmental problems in communities of color.
" According to a study by Northeastern University professor, Danny Faber: 16 of 20 of the most extensively environmentally overburdened communities in Massachusetts are low income
" Nine out of 20 of these environmentally overburdened communities have at least 15% people of color.

This Northeastern study looked at a variety of environmental burdens, including hazardous industrial facilities, toxic waste sites, and land fills.

Environmental Health Problems: Environmental pollution causes more health problems for residents in low-income communities and in communities of color

Asthma:
Of the top 7 U.S. states with the highest self-reported adult asthma rates in 2001, 5 are from New England:
Connecticut: 7.9% adults have asthma
Maine: 9.4% adults have asthma
Massachusetts: 9.5% adults have asthma (highest adult asthma rate in the country)
New Hampshire: 8.4% adults have asthma
Rhode Island: 9.4% adults have asthma
Vermont: 8.8% adults have asthma

Childhood asthma rates in Massachusetts are high (12.3% of children in MA have been diagnosed with asthma); Asthma is the leading serious chronic illness among children and the number one reason that kids miss school
Children of color have higher asthma rates
17.5% of black children have asthma
17.6% of Hispanic children have asthma
A Harvard study found that living in public housing in Boston presents an asthma risk factor for children.
" 40% of adults and 56% of children had asthma in a Boston Public Housing development

Environmental Health Dangers in the Workplace:
Each day, workers are exposed to toxic chemicals in the work environment that can cause serious health problems for both the worker and his/her respective family. Many workers at the greatest risk are immigrants who are often not aware of the dangers in their occupations. They often work in unregulated trades. Prolonged exposure to the certain chemicals can cause allergies, asthma, nervous system disorders, birth defects and cancer.

Land Use Planning Problems:
Neighborhoods with little political clout have borne the brunt of unfair urban planning policies that have reduced their quality of life.

Examples from Boston:
1) Hudson Street Neighborhood: This neighborhood, once vibrant, was torn down in order to allow for the turnpike extension.
2) Chinatown: Residents of Chinatown have lost 66% of their land to highway and hospital expansion. Further, in 1974, city leaders zoned Chinatown as Boston's adult entertainment district. More recently, the revitalization of the Boston's downtown commercial district has resulted in the construction of many high-rise luxury developments along lower Washington Street, which increases the risk of displacement for Chinatown residents.

Public Transportation Inequities:
Public transportation is considered an amenity that helps people get around affordably, and reduces reliance on cars, thus improving air quality.

Low income neighborhoods in Boston are not well served by rapid transit in Boston.
" In parts of Roxbury, Dorchester and Mattapan, the only mode of public transportation is buses. Bus service is slower, less reliable, and less comfortable both while waiting and while riding as compared to rail service.
" For example, many residents of Dorchester must ride a bus 25 minutes to Ruggles station, pay another fare, wait for a train, and then ride for another 15 minutes to reach Downtown Crossing. This equals 40 or more minutes and two fares to go approximately four miles.
" In contrast: residents of Wellesley can ride the commuter train to Boston in 35 minutes; Wellesley is located 15 miles from Boston.

The concentration of buses in inner city neighborhoods also exacerbates air pollution from diesel fumes and also encourages car use because families cannot rely on buses to get to work on time.

Unfair Distribution of Amenities:
Environmental justice implies the fair distribution of environmental amenities such as parks, playgrounds, walking trails and access to the waterfront, but low income neighborhoods tend to have fewer amenities compared to more affluent communities.

Boston Example: East Boston residents have limited waterfront access even though this region is surrounded by water. Until recently, the Chelsea River, commonly known as Chelsea Creek, did not have any public access.

Solutions:
" Build capacity of residents to advocate for justice
" Strengthening and building networks and collaborations between various sectors
" Compile further data and research
" Draw upon the Precautionary Principle and Pollution Prevention: remove risks before they are out in the market.

Examples of Cross-Sectoral Collaborations for Sustainability:

1) Reducing Diesel Emissions: a collaborative effort to retrofit school buses to reduce harmful diesel emissions.
" The entire Boston school bus fleet of 600 buses will be retrofitted with pollution control devices that will reduce diesel emissions by 90%.
Broad participation: Asthma Regional Council, which is a collaboration of public health, housing and environmental public agencies, environmental advocacy organizations, including the Conservation Law Foundation; Boston Urban Asthma Coalition; Alternatives for Community & Environment; U.S. EPA; Boston Public Schools; Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Health and Safety; School Bus Drivers Union

2) Boston's Dioxin Resolution: In October 2003, the Boston City Council passed a dioxin resolution, which was the first of its kind in New England

Goal: to reduce people's exposure to a known human carcinogen by establishing city purchasing guidelines that favor materials that do not produce dioxin

Broad participation: Health Care Without Harm; the Alliance for a Health Tomorrow; the Healthy Building Network

Testimonials from: International Association of Fire Fighters Local 718; Boston Public Health Commission; Dana Farber Cancer Institute; University of Massachusetts (Boston); U.S. EPA; Boston University School of Public Health; Massachusetts COSH

3) The Enterprise Foundation: recently launched The Green Communities Initiative, which allocates $550 million over five years to build more than 8,500 homes that provide significant health, economic, and environmental benefits to low-income families and communities across the country
Broad Participation: Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC); National Center for Healthy Housing; American Institute of Architects; American Planning Association; Global Green; National Center for Healthy Housing; Kresge Foundation

Following Ms. Puerto's * presentation, members of the audience engaged in questions and comments:

Audience Comment: At the Boston NPO meeting, communities of color are invited. They may come once but they don't come back. A stipend is recommended to help EJ activists come to NPO meeting, because their volunteer hours are already directed toward the community.

Question: What percentage of air pollution problems are a result of transportation and/or automobiles?
Response: the largest air studies have been done in California, where 90% of air pollution is from automobiles

Penn Loh, Alternatives for Community and Environment (ACE)

"EJ= Sustainability and Justice"

Mr. Loh spoke based on his experience of the past 10 years and he drew upon two case studies:
1) A positive, successful case, dealing with diesel pollution from buses, where environmental justice and sustainability intertwined
2) A less positive case which illustrates the significant barriers to dealing with brownfields and smart growth

Mr. Loh spoke about the problems with how we talk about EJ and sustainability and how the workshop was framed: it assumes that EJ exists in one camp and sustainability in the other and that the aim of the workshop is to integrate the two. He argued that it's always about both: sustainability should always be about justice. The EJ movement has always been defined in a way that integrates sustainability, but there is still thinking that separates the two, in spite of the connections.

1994-1995 President's Council on Sustainable Development: efforts to define "sustainable development"

He referred to the Principles of EJ (ie. Principle 3: the right to use of land and resources; and principle 12: to clean up cities in balance with nature)**

EJ=Sustaibility

Quick background: Mr. Loh spoke about how most people see EJ in a negative light, whereby people understand through a lens of injustice: he noted that he would do the same in his presentation, but only to get to the discussion about what EJ is. Early EJ issues were all about negative impacts like the number of solid waste facilities - 51 of Boston's 79 are in Dorchester and Roxbury. Empty lots get taken over by dumping. One shown is directly next to newly constructed public housing. People have heard of pocket parks? These are Pocket Junkyards. But cleanup of the dumping still leaves an empty lot. What do you need to have Justice?

Background to ACE:
ACE has been in existence for about ten years. The group formed in the mid-1990s, focusing on negative impacts related to EJ (ie. solid waste sites in Roxbury)

In Boston, there are clusters of auto/junkyard sites, particularly in Roxbury and Dorchester. Mr. Loh showed photos, which illustrate the waste sites (one near a ball field used by elementary school, next door to the Boston Public Health office.)

There is a tendency for empty lots to become trash transfer sites and they are often near low-income communities (he have the example of a site near Orchard Park, a newly constructed public housing development. These trash/junkyard sites literally are in the backyards of low-income people

Mr. Loh asked what is actually needed in order to have environmental justice in communities
" Right to health
" Right to a clean environment

Case study (a positive example): Asthma and Diesel Exhaust
ACE started looking at a negative impact of diesel buses and have been pushing for a technological changeover in the whole MBTA bus system

In 1995: ACE started a youth program, which involved going into Roxbury schools. They began by looking at how young people define their environment. He noted that EJ is more popular now than it was back 8 or 9 years ago. Then, environmental justice was even less widely used than it is now. In going into schools, they asked students what they saw as their environment. Students spoke of environment as their surroundings (trees, oceans, homes, schools, streets, buses they take to school). ACE then asked students to talk about injustice-what did students think of as unfair? (they said: police, racism, their parents…). Through the process, the students defined EJ themselves.

Out of the student discussions, asthma was identified as a huge issue. ACE didn't embark on this work thinking that this was the big issue, but it came from the youth (about 1/3 had asthma; most everyone had family members with asthma).

ACE started to look at the data: asthma hospitalization rates; found that this community has consistently some of the highest asthma rates in state (5-6 times state rate). The young people wanted to know why. They worked together to find out answers. Since the mid-90s, more money has been devoted to determine why asthma rates have increased in communities of color

Sources of Air Pollution:

Students went to map their communities and pin-pointed the hair and nail salons; bus and truck depots
Fine particulates, a byproduct of auto/truck exhaust, had gained recognition at the time as a big issue and was widely recognized as a negative impact
o Students found 15 bus/ truck depots within a 1.5 mile radius of Dudley Square
o many kids said: "we live across from these facilities" and each day, buses idle for 30-45 minutes (kids had to keep their windows closed in summer)

Action:
Based on this data collection and study, the question of what to do about it emerged:

An effort to focus on air pollution:
o Coordination with a number of community groups who were interested in similar issues in 1996-1997, including groups who were worried about the start-up of a commuter rail, which would add about 70 more diesel trains per day, but the community would not get the benefit of a train stop in their community
o Youth held an anti-idling march (Mr. Loh commented on the importance of having immediate actions and results to show results, in order to prevent people from becoming jaded): 75 youth from three different schools marched to Dudley Square, which got a lot of attention, particularly the attention of adults
o Students found that regulations limited idling to 5 minutes, but these laws were commonly broken-students wondered how an agency could get away with breaking the law, noting that if they were to break the law, they would end up in prison
Clean Buses for Boston came out of the march, which was an effort to get the newer buses to use alternatives to diesel (CNG was selected as the alternative)
New buses are now CNG: 60% of buses are now converted; pollution controls now added to some; some have undergone retrofitting

The Air beat monitoring system was developed, which measures air quality in real time. You can find out particulates, black carbon soot, and other pollutants at any hour of the day.

In addition to looking at air pollution, the ACE efforts initiated conversations with people on the street, which yielded important perceptions about the transportation system and related injustices: People noted that buses often didn't come on time, they were often overcrowded, and bus shelters are generally not available. The result is a system in which people perceive many inadequacies of the service, but on top of it, these low-income communities suffer disproportionately from the diesel fumes.

Case 2 (a negative case): Dudley Square Brownfield Site
This case study raised many land use questions. The site was originally occupied by the Model Plate Enameling Company and was contaminated heavily with chromium. Because of the location in Dudley Square, the site got a fair amount of attention and the EPA allocated significant funds to this brownfield site. The owners vacated the site, leaving 1.5 billion dollars to clean up the site to eliminate "imminent hazards." The vacant site became used by homeless people for shelter.

When attention started going to what to do with the site, many questions arose. To simply clean up the site doesn't bring about "environmental justice." Environmental justice would imply that the needs of the community were taken into consideration to evaluate the economic and social needs, in addition to doing the right thing, environmentally.

A developer expressed interest in the site, in spite of the brownfields issues, because of the good location (Dudley Square as the hub of Roxbury). A number of workshops took place to get a sense of what people wanted in the site and jobs were identified as very important.

In the end, a decision was made to transform the site into a parking lot, which is not uncommon for brownfield sites, but it failed to bring about environmental justice.

In the late 1990s in Boston, there was a need for satellite parking garages for I-93 commuters coming from the suburbs to work in the Longwood area. Mr. Loh raised the questions of who benefited from the development-all new development isn't good development.

Mr. Loh remarked that there is an ongoing challenge of how justice and sustainability questions can be met. In general, there has been a need to ask how development projects meet the needs of people from a range of backgrounds.

Mr. Loh spoke about the challenge of working with the Smart Growth movement. ACE decided not to join the MA Smart Growth group, even though Smart Growth has been putting equity issues into their framework. He sees their goals as different: smart growth is the end for the Smart Growth group, whereas ACE sees equity as the end. They will continue to coordinate on issues, particularly around transportation issues.

Comment: How are places excluded? Was there an effort to look at alternative developments to the garage?
Response: ACE had a process that they thought would be collaborative because it was a publicly owned site. When the city decided that there was a need for a garage, they were only in the beginning of the planning process. The former governor had promised that many people from Downtown Crossing would be moved to Dudley Square when the Department of Public Health was relocated there to help revitalize the area. In response to employee complaints that there was no place to park, the city decided overnight to build a garage.

Comment: Why are redevelop areas in non urban areas?
Response: There is a combination of market forces and a political influence. Mr. Loh argues that you have to connect with people to figure out how they see the problem---how does their local struggle fit with the larger problem? You can't skip this step looking to the community to help define the problem.

Comment: There's a need to create an ownership society in order to address the concept of conflict resolution in terms of sustainability. People need to understand their own interests.

Comment: When new buses came in, was there an effort to talk with the transit riders union and bus drivers? Many drivers are angry because the new buses have fewer seats. Many concerned minorities groups recognized that diesel was a harm to drivers, too.
Response from Penn Loh: This was because of the Disabilities Act. The Carmens's Union and the Concerned Minority Employees Union recognize the harm diesel does. Management decisions and process may have caused the frustration of the drivers.

Comment: Was the idea of using hybrid buses discussed?
Response: Yes, research was done on alternative fuels, but at the time, CNG was found to be the best, most viable option given maintenance, lower levels of pollution

Comment: Did the problems that communities raised in through public participation trigger MEPA?
Response: The "formal review process" is not sufficient. MEPA is not a front-end planning process. MEPA public reviews are a final sign off for decisions that are almost finished. There isn't a regulatory system to do the pollution prevention and precaution isn't always taken. The public review process isn't always useful.

Veronica Eady, West Harlem Environmental Action (WEACT): Environmental Justice and Sustainability in Harlem

Harlem represents the roots of African American culture:
o The1920s marked the Harlem Renaissance
o Today, there is a struggle to maintain the dignity of Harlem
o just as in Roxbury, there are many instances the noxious land-use

Background to WEACT: WEACT was founded over a dispute over the siting of a sewage treatment facility in Hamilton Heights/ Morningside Heights. The litigation that resulted from this sewage treatment facility led to the creation of park on top of the waste water treatment plant.

WEACT's vision statement:
"Working with Environmental Defense, pioneer of the 'Community Benefits Agreement,' to develop a menu of environmental benefits saleable to developers in EJ communities."

Goal and Objective:
o More environmentally sustainable development projects in EJ communities
o Use new projects to leverage pollution reductions in over-burdened communities.
o Improve public health and the environment.

Today's Situation:
o Harlem is an empowerment zone meaning a barrage of new developments.
o The cost of living has increased (Bill Clinton has his office at 125th Street)
" Harlem is one of the last places in New York City where low income people can afford to live, though this is changing
o "Harlem Park" Hotel proposal
o Columbia's proposed Manhattanville Campus to merge the main campus with the School of Public Health and the Medical School
o WEACT is working to develop tools to help ensure that developments benefit low-income, minority communities; looking at the possibility of using tax subsidies and financial incentives to attempt to benefit low-income populations
o Community is exploring the use of a "Community Benefits Agreement"

Community Benefits Agreement: (Environmental Defense created this model and it was first used in Los Angeles in relationship to the Staple Center development)
o Legal, enforceable contract between the new project coming in and with the community
o Entered by community groups and developers setting forth a range of benefits in exchange for the community's support of a project (which is often helpful in the NEPA process)
o Questions include: who will work in the location? Where will they park? Where will they live? What will the wages be like?
o Incorporated into a development agreement

Conversations that WEACT is hoping to have with Columbia in relationship to their development plans to develop a menu of environmental benefits to shop to developers:
o Incorporating energy efficiency into Columbia's development plans;
o structure the delivery system so that it maximizes energy efficiency
o Construct green roof tops
o Redirecting traffic in Harlem to address the problem with massive grid lock in some places
o WEACT believes that Columbia could use the clout that it has to push the Transit Authority

Harlem Marriot:
A Community Benefits Agreement (CBE) is a legally enforceable contract, which goes beyond the 1990s version of the "good neighbor agreement." The benefits are offered in exchange for the community's support of the project. The CBE is incorporated into the larger development agreement and is therefore enforceable by the municipal agency overseeing the development - in this case the City of New York.

WEACT is working to develop a scorecard, which outlines a list of potential projects that the developers could undertake. Each project has a rating, indicating the level of benefit

In Massachusetts, there are no Community Benefit Agreements, but similar mechanisms could work.

Environmental Justice isn't just about the environment, but also about other social and economic questions (ie. labor questions are important)

WEACT is practicing what they preach in their new office building
o WEACT "bought" a brownstone in an historic area of Hamilton Heights (purchased for $1) and plans to make it a green building with the highest level of LEED scoring for green buildings
o WEACT's new building will compete with NRDC's LA office, which has achieved LEED Platinum): they will potentially have waste water treatment facility onside; they are attempting to achieve a zero waste level
o WEACT may buy 10 new environmentally efficient washing machines for residents in the neighborhood, in order to further promote their mission and educate about what it means to use energy efficient products; low-flow water products
WEACT sees these steps as the heart and soul of EJ; EJ is about sustainability

Comment: A participant spoke about Somerville and the problems with transportation and air quality: Somerville has 8 rail lines; 200 diesel rails/ day, multiplied by 300 thousand vehicles going through each day (approximately 1 million people go through, who are not connected to city). Somerville has the highest lung cancer rates in the state and mobile source pollution is a big cause. Mortality rates are known by EPA, but they believe that the way to fix the problem is to fix whole halves of the state. This participant expressed that the problem is more local. How do we get (given leverage in particulate matter) how do we ask someone to make a map of the excess mortality and to change the policy to address the mortality?
Response (Mr. Loh): These aren't easy questions. It's not just about getting the data, but there's a need political will too. Doug Foy understands the complexity of the issue, but the political cards are still stacked up against policy changes. These issues have to be made political. Part of a broader issue of who is in the white house, who is in the governor's office. We need to revive democracy. It's a big issue question.

Comment: There's a need for unity within the EJ community to come up and speak louder. This participant commended WEACT's efforts to keep their waste to themselves. She urged for greater work in the communities in the periphery of Boston, which are suffering from Sprawl. Greenfields taxes should be utilized to discourage development on greenfields. Incentives should be set in place to incentivize the redevelopment of brownfields. This participant commented that we've lost policy and guidance and enforecement and we need to revamp the Democratic Party.

Comment: Grassroots education is crucial. The patterns of growth have been detracted by racism and classism in this country; people don't understand history; without historical vision and knowledge, we can't move forward into the future. This participant expressed concern over political fragmentation. A call made for a green party.

Comment: There is a disconnect between EJ and NIMBY. EJ raises questions NIMBY-how is this bridged (example cited with the new BU building to house bio-terror resource center).
Response (Mr. Loh): NIMBY isn't always a bad thing: in places that are already overburdened, NIMBY forces a look at systemic issues. Certain communities take hits for the rest of the country. If one community doesn't take it, can we extend this to avoiding placement in any community?

Return to Workshop Directory

Workshop C: Transit-Oriented Development

Jeanne Dubois (moderator): Dorchester Bay EDC, Dorchester, MA
http://www.dbedc.com/
Gerald Autler: Boston Redevelopment Authority, Boston, MA
http://www.ci.boston.ma.us/bra/
Munsun Park: Jonathan Rose Companies, LLC, New York, NY
http://www.rose-network.com/ahdc.html

Jeanne Dubois
Dorchester Bay Economic Development Corporation
Introductory Remarks
TOD is a passion for me, in my work we believe in transit-equity and transit-justice. We have been collaborating with other CDCs to get current commuter rail lines to upgrade the line to BRT, so inner city neighborhoods like Dorchester can get access to transit like the suburban transit riders, whose commuter rail runs right through our neighborhoods. I believe the key to getting good TOD lies in community organizing.

Gerald Autler
Boston Redevelopment Authority

In response, I believe that investments in transit lines and investments in the core of urban areas should be made where people are most transit dependent. MA has lost a lot of money in the commuter rail, which is different from TOD.

TOD opportunities are dependent on the projects' ability to generate investment. TOD is a key component of transforming land use and to maintaining affordability and reducing the need for parking. TOD enables people to live where they spend less on transportation and more on housing. If we as regions, individuals, nations can reduce the amount of money spent on transport, then we can use those funds for other things.

TOD can also help create stable communities. There is growing recognition that urban reinvestment, in the form of inner ring transit, is key to 24 hour cities with mixed uses. People want proximity to transit and to clients. Good places create value. A lot of cities recognize that to be stable over the long term is to create good spaces, like Boston, where there's a lot of historic places, which has seen a decline but has also seen a bounce back

We have seen transit Investments in many cities, including some that have been seen as unlikely for transit, like Dallas, Houston, and there are other systems being planned. There is $60 billion of projected public/private investment over the next 15 years in transit.

The changing demographics of metro areas and transit are such that married couples with kids are only 23% of households. There are many more people without kids. We are no longer planning on large household sizes but rather, age-in-place housing, projecting to meet the demand and needs of the aging baby-boomer population.

In trying to put a number on what the potential demand for TOD could be, it has been estimated that by 2025, there could be approximately 14.6 million households within 0.5 mile of TOD. There is huge potential growth in areas like Denver, Salt Lake City and Houston, where there is very significant opportunities to build TOD, and not just in places like New York City.

Question
Is there capacity to match demand?

Gerald Autler
No. Demand outstrips capacity; there is enough demand in every metro area in the US to make TOD a viable transit option. But that doesn't mean it will happen, but we think the demand is there.

Let's look at the TOD timeline to see how to make it work:
Place and Node: TOD has to function as a node for transit and has to work as a place in its own right. It seems like a simple concept, but it means we need to have a functional integration of transit, land use and economic development.

The original streetcar suburbs are the earliest examples of development oriented around transportation. Yet this original system was dismantled in 40s and 50s and a new system was built, which was auto-oriented transit. From 1970-1993, growth in transit happened around nodes without a place (SF Bay Area, DC area, Miami), at transit stations where people park to ride the train, but that doesn't function as a place unto itself.

In 1990s, more development occurred around transit, with new models that are trying to generate revenue streams from transit areas. Yet we missed out on place-making opportunities, missed integrating place and node, failed to capture synergy.

In TODs today, we look towards examples like Portland, where people can step off the train to get coffee (a train station, platform pictured as a public square). Not every TOD project will look like this…but we are seeing more and more integration of node and place.

We started asking "What are the barriers to TOD?" But once we started projects, we decided it's not the right question, because those barriers are the same in other developments for mixed-use, like high density zoning, which isn't specific to TOD. We had to reframe the question, once TOD is built, what are the challenges to get TODs to really work?

I asked these questions of a developer in Miami, who said there were no barriers, so I started asking him about details of a project. He has 3.5 parking spaces/1000 s.f.; he has a huge supermarket with 1000 spaces; he has no data on transit-ridership, no mode-splits; yet, he's calling it TOD. It's dense and it's next to transit, but is it TOD?

Another moment when the light bulb went off was when we were looking at a particular project in Mountainview, CA, which won an APA award. The award was granted based on its application from the city. But no one had the numbers to back these claims up, and nobody has gone into the project with clear goals of what the project will accomplish, like we want to reduce car use or mode-split.

It seemed to us that there is no clear definition of what TOD is. Nobody is talking about the same thing. There is always what they want, but no common goal.
If there is one common definition, it's a very physical definition which doesn't get at the question of what we want to accomplish or what we want to achieve.

So we decided to take a stab at a functional definition based on location-efficiency, taken from the location-efficient mortgage, where people can drive less, walk, bike and ride transit to as many places as possible. The extent to which this is true in different locations will require more work. But we have to come into the planning process to make it into a goal, so when the developer comes, you can ask the right questions about how the project will meet these planning goals.

Let's diverge a bit to look at some demographics and trends:
If you compare Portland and LA, Portland has 4.3 transit stations/100,000 in population while LA has 0.8/100,000. But let's look at the densities, the average number of households living around each station is 653 for Portland, but for LA, its 2,125. Basic point is that in the transit zone, the rider-ship for LA is 16%, while Portland is 14%. Portland doesn't have the same density around transit zones as LA, but looking at the number of people who walk in transit zones, Portland is 10% while its 5% in LA. This is just for going to and from work; we suspect that for all trips, the numbers will be higher in Portland. The conclusion is that it's about a mix of uses and a good walking environment so people can comfortably walk to work, to shopping, whatever.

The performance-based definition for TOD should be based on location efficiency; mix of mobility; place-making; livability Indicators (we believe that pollution reduction is a livability indicator that everyone can get behind). The value recaptured by a community in the case of requiring the developer to build 50% of the normal parking requirements would be using those savings towards affordability, on quality landscaping and investments in the community.

I will stop there to allow Munsun to speak further and then take questions.

Munsun Park
The Rose Companies

Through The Rose Companies, Ms. Park has been involved on the development side of multiple transit-oriented development projects.

Jonathan Rose is a multidisciplinary planning and development firm headquartered in New York City. The office practices primarily in New York City, The Hudson Valley, and also has offices in Albuquerque, Denver, Westchester, and Washington DC. A planner by training, Jonathan Rose's firm is comprised of both development professionals and planners. The firm's mission is unique amongst development firms - Jonathan Rose Companies strives to repair the fabric of communities. Jonathan Rose Companies specializes in development projects that are transit-oriented, mixed-use, mixed-income, and preserve land around development area.

This presentation focused on two transit-oriented projects recently completed by Jonathan Rose Associates, the Burnham Building in Irvington, New York and the Denver Dry Goods Building in Denver, Colorado.

These two projects had important similarities and differences. Both projects involved the adaptive reuse of older buildings with the goal of adding affordable housing to the development site. Green technology principles were integrated into both projects through the use of recyclable materials and other techniques. Both projects were conducted through private-public partnerships with complex financing from multiple sources. These two projects had very different transit systems to which they were oriented. The Burnham Building was situated alongside the commuter rail line that served Rochester, and the Denver light rail stop was across the street from the Denver Dry Goods Building.

Burnham Building, Irvington, New York
The Burnham Building is located in Irvington, New York, which is located half a mile outside of NYC in Westchester County and connected to the city via Metrorail. The building was built in 1881 for manufacturing, but was vacant for many years. Jonathan Rose Companies was commissioned to rehabilitate the building and include affordable housing in the building's new program. Completed in 1989, the rehabilitated development included a public library on first floor and affordable housing in two thirds of the building. The majority of the residents were elderly individuals that previously worked or resided in Irvington. Jonathan Rose Companies held serving the needs of those people living and working in the community as one of the important goals of this effort because Westchester County has a higher income bracket than that of the residents of Irvington, and without a concerted push toward affordable housing development, many of the community's residents would not be able to afford to live in Irvington.

This project was funded primarily through public-private partnerships with residents involved in the financing process. Much of the funding came from private donors, and funding was also secured through collaboration with a non-profit company based in Yonkers. The village raised $700 thousand through taxes and bonds, and private contributions accounted for $1.25 million. Other financing was provided through a federal historic tax credit.

Audience Questions
1. Was the transit station there prior to development? - Yes
2. Is there a connection between the train platform and the library? - Yes, there is a raised platform that crosses the street
3. What was in the building before? - There was nothing in the building before. Irvington is primarily a suburban town and wanted to do something innovative with the space.
4. If this project was completed for current residents of the town, they may not be using rail. Is there a relationship between using the train and the building? - no data about commuters to NYC from development; most commuters use the library.
5. How do you restrict residents from living there - no HUD/State funding.

Denver Dry Goods Building, Denver, Colorado
Located on the corner of 16th Street in Denver, the Denver Dry Goods building was the site of the largest department store in downtown Denver. When May Department Stores decided to close the store, the City of Denver put out RFPs for developers to restore the building. This project required twenty-three sources of financing and was completed in a partnership between Jonathan Rose Company and the Denver Redevelopment Authority.

This project was completed at the beginning of downtown Denver's redevelopment as the new transit station was being planned. This Dry Goods redevelopment project is considered to be the beginning of a wave of transit-oriented development in Denver's downtown. This was a truly mixed-use project, which included three major retailers located on the basement level and ground floor, the Denver Redevelopment Authority that occupied two upper floors, and a range of market-rate and affordable housing units that were both for rent and for sale. The building was made from green materials.

Question & Answer Discussion:

Q: How can inclusionary zoning be used to protect a development for affordable housing? Will local neighborhoods buy into it?

A: Developers would rather pay into fund and have city build affordable housing in downtown. In some neighborhoods, developers are working with CDC to build affordable housing near the suburbs. The Boards of Directors of these CDCs are demanding more and more mixed-income housing.

Boston's Fenway neighborhood recently passed inclusionary zoning that goes beyond the 10% affordable housing minimum and mandates that at least 10% of development onsite be affordable housing. The Fenway example has a reasonable percentage of affordable housing units, and new zoning in the neighborhood creates a very dense district in order to make new redevelopment on Boylston Street viable. The zoning mandates a low parking ratio and set parking maximum, rather than a parking minimum. Because of the zoning, this project is effectively a transit-oriented development, even though that was not the original intent of the effort.

Q: Are there any models for inner city bottom-up transit-oriented development that have been successful?

Barrio Logan in San Diego is a nice affordable housing project with some retail onsite and at the end of the transit lines. The neighborhood is low income and Hispanic in character, and the new development introduced to the neighborhood new, high-quality affordable housing and retail.

The Second Avenue line, which will be built in the next decade and will run through East Harlem, is another example of inner-city TOD. The Upper East Side is expanding its boundaries upward, and there is concern that the Second Avenue line will cause gentrification in the neighborhood. There is work underway with the community at present to set up a model of home and business ownership to prevent future gentrification.

Q: How does TOD work when demand for transit outstrips supply? As is, many people do not use transit because they cannot get a seat on the train. Moreover, communities in the suburbs do not believe that TOD can change vehicle ownership rates.

A: Traffic capacity varies drastically between cities. Recently, capacity on the orange line had to be demonstrated before beginning a planning effort that would rest on increased usage of the orange line. While transit ridership may be at capacity for some lines Boston, it is not in much of the rest of the country. Boston does not always serve as a good example for TOD in all cities.

Thirty years ago, Arlington County in Washington DC decided to implement a framework for TOD, which is currently the most successful example of TOD in the country. The project eliminated all parking around the new development, forcing users to walk to the station. The parking ration in this transit-oriented development is significantly lower than in other parts of the country. Residential areas exist in which people own cars, however 60% of these cars are mostly unused. This example shows that TOD works best when implemented incrementally over time.

Q: What consultation processes are held up as successes for TOD?

A: Public agencies should take the lead in setting parameters for future development. The Request for Proposals (RFP) should be very specific in terms of visions and goals for the project. The lead agency for the project should work with the community and the planning consulting firm, if one has been hired, to set design parameters. When setting parameters, it is important to remember that placemaking is very site-specific and common definitions should be resisted.

Q: Where have there been successful conversions of diesel trains to light rail?

A: Much work has already been done with respect to switching to natural-gas buses, and possibly we can learn from this conversion. The biggest challenge to light rail are the tracks; light rail vehicles require special tracks and cannot use the existing rails. Trains are slowly coming to market that the transportation authority is allowing to run on commuter rail, however the United States has higher standards on trains and the process is slow. The DMU (diesel multiple unit) that are coming on line may help. The Philadelphia corridor is using DMU-like train that run on diesel-electric hybrid power. Possibly flexible cars such as this can be brought into downtown districts. In Salt Lake City, a light rail line is being built using same right of way as heavy rail.

Q: How do you get larger structures such as parking garages and supermarkets to fit within the fabric of park corridors?

A: There are many examples of supermarkets in Boston that blend into the urban fabric, such as Wholefoods in Fenway and Foodies on Washington Street. People walk to these markets on a daily basis to buy their groceries, which challenges the conventional assumption that people will not walk to the supermarket.

The Institute of Transportation Engineers is working with the EPA to develop new parking guidelines built around mixed-use transit-oriented development. ITE will put out these new guidelines within the next year.

Return to Workshop Directory

Workshop D: Greening the Built Environment

Doug Sacra (moderator): HMFH Architects, Cambridge, MA
http://www.hmfh.com/
John Dalzell: Boston Redevelopment Authority, Boston, MA
http://www.ci.boston.ma.us/bra/
Noah Maslan: Urban Edge Inc., Roxbury, MA
http://www.urbanedge.org/

Click on the following link to see the accompanying Powerpoint presentations:
Mayor's Green Building Task Force
Egleston Crossing

Presentation 1: Green Building Task Force
John Dalzell
Boston Redevelopment Authority

John: Discusses the Green Building Task Force.
Background
Task force started one year ago (September 2003)
Close to issuing findings and report, which will hopefully lead to policy
Joy Conway chairs the task force; Rebecca Barnes oversees the task force.

Mission of the task force
To develop policies and strategies for Boston to become a leader in green building

Structure of the task force
Stakeholder body: does *not* consist of people who are necessarily experts in green building. Consists of people from the following fields: real estate, design, insurance, finance, construction, law representatives from labor and institutions.
Peer Advisor Group: consists of green experts.
City Agencies.

Work Plan
Phase 1: research the state of the art projects in the US; understand the barriers and opportunities.
Phase 2: Topics and draft recommendations. [topics listed below, with notes re: findings/recommendations]
Phase 3: Final recommendations and report
** Announcement of these recommendations will take place Friday, November 5th, 2pm.

Topics / Discussion
Education
Public awareness; educate/train city staff; educate industry practitioners; promote NGOs

Building Green Team (design, development, construction)
Project planning; project evaluation (use LEED standards); expand demand for green teams; reach out to homeowners (small scale green teams)

Capital and Operating Finance
Quantify benefits of building green; impacts of lending to green / non-green projects. Lenders are not necessarily drivers of the green building process, but they can support green building.
Most lenders are currently indifferent and the developers are not telling the banks they're developing green for fear the will be rejected. Some lenders are starting to recognize these projects as being better projects and will help "but they won't drive". But most of the time the subject doesn't surface.

Financial and Other Incentives
A green building tax credit can be comparable to a historical preservation tax credit.
Establish Pre-development loan fund; Revolving Loan Fund.
City can revise their RFP process / criteria to encourage green building.

Sustainable Planning and Leadership
Boston has worked on sustainable planning, but green building is the missing piece.
Coordinating/partnering with utilities (energy, telecommunications) to promote green building is another area to work on. For example, revising interconnection standards to lower the cost of on-site generation.
Boston Civic Design Commission

Business Development
Expand green home improvement contracting services market
Products are expensive.
Manufacturing of green products to support high-performance green building should be encouraged.

Standards, Measurement and Verification
LEED standards for city buildings
LEED silver has been used for buildings in Seattle and Chicago
LEED certifiable standards for city sponsored and Article 80 projects
3 year plan for implementation of standards, staff development, etc.
successful models of LEED utilization
consider MASSPORT's requirements for commercial/large projects
on a smaller scale, development guidelines for residential projects. 95-98% of projects fall into the green building category. Maintain and enourage further green building practices.

City Green Buildings
George Robert White Environmental Conservation Center
Spectacle Island Visitors' Center
Maverick Gardens
Manulife - BRA design review and expedited permitting process

Problems
Utility companies are not part of the solution like they are in cities like Seattle, WA (with cutting edge water treatment and recycling programs). We need partnerships that interconnect utilities and planning to promote and foster projects like onsite power generation.

Building products are not available locally which makes them cost prohibitive
Or at a premium. We need more local businesses and manufacturing that support the green economy. Like the Electric Motor Control that creates the sensors and mechanisms for high performance buildings.

We need more regulatory controls that promote encourage change in business:
" LEED silver standard for all city owned buildings
" Require certification for all city sponsored projects
" Encourage green developments in private sector big and small and be realistic about the products and services that came be delivered.
" Develop a three year plan that creates new guidelines for green practices

One example: Mass Port is committed to Best Reasonable Effort and developments on Mass Port properties must make best effort for LEED certification.

Questions & Discussion

Q: Talk more about the incentives that the city is providing.

A: There's the revolving loan fund which is a pool that helps with capital costs and also integrates pre-development loans. There's a lot of available land and funding for brownfield development. Nearly everything in Boston is a brownfield with all the lead from gasoline and paint. So there is a remediation aspect to it.

Q: What are the details of the revolving funds?

A: They are differed to the 2nd 3rd or 4th position. (Awards) are recommended by the task force which works with lenders. Also, the pool was developed for pre-development loans when business case is strong.

Q: How long for the initiative?

A: One Year +

Q: How many buildings are there?

A: There are a small amount. Less than 10% and new construction is good but not yet green. It will take off

LEED rating more info at:
www.USGBC.org
LEED evaluates (green) friendliness, not perfection. New construction is the current, existing, category. There are 5 more standard (categories) on the way.

Existing Building
Continuous Certification
Operation Practices
Core & Shell
Interiors

Q: What about relaxing zoning so industrial building can be remodeled?

A: Industrial preservation is borne from Boston's loss of industrial properties which puts the infrastructure at great risk. For instance the flower exchange (on Albany Street in the South End) is threatened because of it's location. Also ports are important to preserve because they are tied onto local commerce.

Presentation 2: The Egleston Crossing Experience
Noah Maslan, Urban Edge

Presenters take a poll of the attendees to inquire about different professions represented in the audience. Among the attendees are: students (little-none of whom are interested in development/becoming developers); public sector; developers; engineers and architects.

Noah Maslan is here to offer the project manager's perspective of a mixed-use affordable project.

Description of the Egleston Crossing Project
Two buildings, built on vacant parcels, one of which was a brownfield
" $585,000 to remediate (?)
" $20 million project, with 22 funding sources
64 affordable units, with 15 dedicated to persons with disabilities
8,261 square feet of ground floor commercial
3033 and 3089 Washington Street. 3033 will be done in December.

Questions to consider
How much more does it cost to build green?
How green can I make my project with my given schedule and budget?
How eco-effective are my choices?

Process
MTC (Massachusetts Technology Collaborative) $200K feasibility grant for renewable energy and energy efficiency
[diagram: schematic design / financial feasibility / community process ' set priorities / green feasibility ' (three) goals for green building]
It is my first time with this type of project. We received a grant from the Mass. Technology Collaborative for $20,000 for a feasibility study which looked at opportunities for renewable energy and measures exploring green possibilities.

Priorities
What is important?
Maximize eco-effectiveness given budget and time
What is the eco-effectiveness of materials, construction, etc.?
Understand that design is an organic process / important to coordinate all these elements

Tools
Energy modeling
Life cycle cost analysis (architect, extra cost)
Cut sheets / websites

Q: How important is to have a green architect?
A: Very important. The owner/developer is not an architect but he needs to be. Get your architect on board early and get one that is LEED certified. It is a struggle because you are required to bid to three contractors. One should try to "shift the process by tweaking".
A: It is also important to have your contractor "on board" early as well.

Green Elements of Egleston Crossing (based on LEED categories)
Sustainable Sites
10 minute walk to existing transit
brownfields site (Mass Development funding)
parking is below grade or covered- mitigates heat island affect
drought resistant landscaping
low-flow toilets

Energy and Atmosphere
Solar panels (Noah Maslan strongly advises obtaining grant funding, such as an MTC grant, to do renewable energy features). $435,000 60 kW Photovoltaic panels were acquired thru a grant.
Insulation
Air sealing (which should happen with every project, matter of quality control)

It is important that the engineer and architect work together early on, especially to take advantage of incentives and rebates for energy efficiency.

Materials
Expanded Recycling room
Recycled materials
Locally produced materials, when possible
90% of the construction and demolition waste was recycled.
(aside: "Find experienced people!")

Indoor EnviroNoah Maslanental Air Quality
Low VOC products
No carpet (off-gassing, dust sinks), minimized use of vinyl
Parquet flooring ($3.50 -- $4 per sf vs. $2.50 --$3 for vinyl)
Stratica ("ecopolymeric" tiliing material). Versatile finish, durable (used on Navy ships). Good life cycle cost. Environmental features includ