The words ‘sustainable’ and ‘green’ have been appearing all over the media and throughout popular culture, particularly over the past two years. Greenways Incorporated has been in the business of planning and designing more sustainable communities for the past two decades---by protecting natural landscapes and water resources, and by providing viable networks for the world’s cleanest forms of transportation: walking and biking.
More recently, we have been encouraging community organizations and local governments to look beyond stewardship of the natural environment by examining the inputs and outputs of their built environment. The traditional scope of a community ‘Greenprint’ includes mapping existing open space and greenway resources and recommending strategies for future land conservation. We propose expanding that scope to help local governments and their residents begin to address the issues of energy, waste reduction, local environmental programs, green building and sustainable urban design.
For example, in Mount Holly, NC, we are working with a local community development foundation to help them achieve their goal of making their city a regional leader for urban sustainability. In Durham, NC, we are working with Habitat for Humanity to create one of the state's first affordable, green communities. In Raleigh, NC, we have been selected to lead their efforts in sustainability planning for their 2007-2008 Comprehensive Plan update.
While our recommendations for sustainability planning are comprehensive in scope, the ways in which they are prioritized and set for implementation keep them grounded as practical solutions.
