SERVICES

"Information is the key to transformation. That does not necessarily mean more information, better statistics, bigger databases. It means information flowing in new ways, to new recipients, carrying new content, and suggesting new rules and goals." Donella Meadows, Dennis Meadows and Jorgen Randers

NEI's staff are among the pioneers of sustainable development, having founded and led path-breaking organizations in the field for over a decade. NEI's board of directors represents a wide range of experience and skills across sectors and backgrounds closely aligned to NEI's program focus. Our core competencies stem from our role as a learner, teacher, advisor, and facilitator of sustainable development concepts and practices.

Building on these skills, we deliver our program through the following service areas:

Research: We strive to be on the cutting edge of information that relates to the practical implementation of best practices and technologies that promote sustainable development. We bring together relevant information from a variety of fields and disciplines to create an implementable and comprehensive plan for the development of sustainable communities.

Technical Assistance: NEI works with a variety of constituents to provide the technical expertise necessary to ensure that their projects are realizing sustainability to the fullest extent possible. We customize our approach to each and every situation to promote project-appropriate solutions.

Outreach and Education: We disseminate information about sustainability best practices in both small group and large group settings. We target our information sharing to individuals and organizations that have the mission, capacity, and drive to make proactive change.

Policy Advocacy: As a highly regarded leader in the field of sustainable development, we are constantly striving to use this reputation at the local, regional, and national level to promote policies that will enhance the quality of people's lives and the environment simultaneously. By actively seeking out opportunities to promote good policy, we affect practical change in yet another forum.

NEI promotes sustainability in disenfranchised urban areas through two core initiatives that comprehensively address economic, social, and environmental issues.

The Green Building Initiative promotes the existence of low-impact, durable, cost-efficient, healthy buildings. By working with developers, managers, and owners of New Construction as well as Existing Buildings we aim to create a built environment that is less taxing on the environment and better serves its occupants.

Green CDCs Initiative aims to accelerate the implementation of community housing and economic development projects by community development corporations (CDCs) that are incorporating green design and sustainable development techniques in distressed communities.

Research: NEI recently authored The Costs & Benefits of Green Affordable Housing - a path-breaking study of why it makes economic sense for developers of affordable housing to incorporate green design into their projects. The report highlights 16 case studies from around the country and includes a detailed Net Present Value analysis that provides strong empirical evidence of the value of greening. For a copy of this report, click here.

Technical Assistance: Click here to view a list of the projects we provide technical assistance to.

Outreach and Education: NEI's outreach happens in a variety of forms. Reports provide a practical way for us to communicate our research and experiences with a large national audience. We also organize, as well as participate in, a variety of forums, conferences, and trainings, seeking to create the knowledge and networks necessary to make sustainable development a reality.

Illustrative examples of our outreach include:

• Coordinating and convening six Annual Regional Sustainable Development Forums. The sixth, The Sustainable Development Jigsaw: Fitting the Pieces Together, was held at MIT in October, 2005, with over 200 attendees from CDCs, community organizations, environmental groups, municipal, state and federal agencies, and businesses. The forum brings together 30 workshop presenters showcasing working models of sustainable development in the New England region. Keynote speaker, Enrique Penalosa (former Mayor of Bogota, Colombia) inspired the audience with practical examples of how Bogota effectively implemented many sustainable practices that benefited underserved populations. This yearly conference has become one of the premier sustainable development gatherings in the region. Conference proceedings were prepared and are available on NEI's website.
• Presenting research for the following audiences at local, regional, and national meetings:

  o Boston Redevelopment Authority
  o Rhode Island LISC
  o Twin Cities LISC
  o Western Mass Non Profit Developers
  o Boston Society of Architects, Housing Committee
  o Consortium for Housing and Asset Manager Annual Meeting
  o MIT Center for Real Estate
  o Greenbuild Conference - US Green Building Council
  o LISC Experts on Line
  o North Carolina Community Development Corporations Annual Meeting
  o Rural Development Assistance Corporation Annual Conference
  o Coastal Enterprise/Maine State Housing Agency
  o Neighborworks National Training
  o Affordable Housing Project Development Consultants
  o Northeast Sustainable Energy Association Building Energy Conference

Green Building Initiative: Buildings significantly contribute to a variety of the world's environmental problems. All-in-all they consume 32% of the worlds resources, which includes 12% of the world's fresh water and 40% of the world's energy. They also produce 40% of the waste going into landfills and 40% of air emissions . Green building has emerged over the past decade as a robust movement to create high-performance, energy-efficient, durable structures that improve occupant comfort and well-being while minimizing environmental impacts that are typical of conventional development.

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New Construction: While green building is often thought of in the context of custom
expensive homes, our research and experience has proven that this type of practice is
particularly relevant and economically viable in the development of affordable housing.
NEI acts as sustainability consultant to developers and owners who are building new
affordable housing or significantly rehabilitating existing structures into affordable
housing. During the planning and construction process we work with developers,
owners, architects, and engineers to green projects, focusing on energy and water
efficiency, indoor air quality and durability. For a list of the projects that we are
currently working with, click here.


Existing Buildings: In many ways, the most sustainable building is one that has already been built and is currently being used. Using existing buildings conserves resources by promoting the use of accessible infrastructure at the building and community level. Many existing buildings, however, are not performing well. They are consuming too much energy and water and not providing a healthy indoor environment for residents. As the cost of energy continues to increase and the global environmental implications associated with its usage become dire, these issues become even more pressing. NEI realizes the importance of ensuring that our current stock of buildings is performing well and using resources efficiently. We are actively implementing the knowledge and expertise we have developed over the past 7 years of green affordable housing development to help owners and managers of existing housing analyze and retrofit their projects to reduce operating costs and promote better environmental performance. By implementing a cross-market approach where we work with non-profit, for-profit, and private owners and managers, this project will have a meaningful impact in all of the different segments of existing housing.

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To go to the GCDCI page, click here

The mission of Massachusetts CDCs is to support housing and economic development in distressed communities, where environmental problems such as toxic "brownfield" sites, air pollution, and lead poisoning are commonplace. CDCs share the values of sustainability and are naturally motivated to capture the environmental, public health and financial gains of green design and other sustainable development techniques. Further, through their close community ties and presence throughout the state, CDCs can play a leadership role in raising awareness among a larger public about the benefits and advantages of sustainable development while bringing about local demand for better regulations and public policies. As well, viewed in the aggregate Massachusetts CDCs represent an important potential purchaser of sustainable development products and services such as renewable energy, recycled materials, and life-cycle accounting. To help CDCs become environmental leaders, NEI, in partnership with the Local Initiatives Support Corporation, the nation's largest community building organization, the Massachusetts Association of Community Development Corporations, a trade association of over 65 non-profit, community-based organizations that seek to revitalize low and moderate income communities across the Commonwealth, and the Tellus Institute, a leading non-profit environmental research and consulting organization:

• Engages, supports, and organizes Massachusetts CDCs and other community-based organizations in sustainable development projects and helps promote policy reforms that assist these efforts through a variety of services including a clearinghouse of technical assistance providers, access to grants and loans, and special workshops and trainings.
  
• Links CDCs to graduate programs at MIT and other leading universities for planning, design and other technical assistance, and to private developers. To see a brochure about the GCDCI in pdf format, click here.

Illustrative projects include:

• Created Steering Committee representing CDCs, lenders, foundations, government agencies, and environmental organizations.
• Established Clearinghouse of over 90 professionals from design, engineering, planning, law, and other disciplines to provide pro bono or reduced fee services to CDCs for sustainable development projects.
• Created Green Technical Assistance Grant program to provide CDCs with small matching grants for purchasing sustainable development products and services.
• Established link to graduate sustainable development practicum at MIT's Department of Urban Studies and Planning and Harvard's Graduate School of Design providing CDCs with a dedicated source of high-quality supervised research and planning assistance.
• Developing a CDCs buyer's cooperative for green products and services in the areas of design, construction and planning.
• Coordinated and hosted "Greening Affordable Housing Workshop" at Erie-Ellington Community Center, Boston's only green affordable housing project, with 50 participants representing 15 CDCs and competitive selection of three "live" projects for demonstration receiving free technical assistance from green architects and leading lenders.
• Trained staff from the New England office of the Local Initiatives Support Corporation, a national CDC lender, in sustainable development techniques and developed a "Green Screen" for reviewing pre-development applications.
• Assisted Homeowner's Rehab CDC in identifying and selecting green design techniques for a 48-unit housing project in Cambridge, MA.
• Helped Lawrence Community Works implement a redevelopment strategy for a 2.5 acre brownfield site as well as secure a $20,000 feasibility study grant from the Massachusetts Renewable Energy Trust to investigate renewable energy options for the proposed Our House Community Center in Lawrence, MA.
• Provided technical assistance and accessed funding for green planning and design for Dorchester Bay Economic Development Corporation's 65 Bay Street project, a 65,000 square foot commercial development on a 4.4 acre brownfield site employing 40 local residents and restoring one acre of green space and wetlands.
• Advised on incorporation of sustainable development criteria for the disposition of the state-owned 3.3 acre South Bay Incinerator site in Boston on behalf of the United South End/Lower Roxbury Development Corporation.
• Provided technical assistance and facilitation services to Boston's Fenway Community Development Corporation and the Mystic View Task Force in Somerville, MA to promote Urban Village Plans for redevelopment of hard-hits areas.
• Helped develop and facilitate Solid Waste Task Force, a collaboration between Browning Ferris Industries, the Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative, and city of Boston to promote best practice for design and operation of solid waste facilities and examine the feasibility of starting a materials exchange or other waste reduction program for the Dudley/Newmarket area.
  

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