This week Metro released "Eco-Efficient Employment" – the third volume of its Community Investment Toolkit.
Eco-efficient employment is defined as businesses realizing economic and ecological benefits by using operations that produce more while saving energy, water, capital, land and waste. The toolkit showcases dozens of creative ideas and best practices successfully implemented by cities across North America that achieved results in attracting new businesses and realizing greater efficiencies within existing employment areas.
The toolkit focuses on three main areas:
- high-performance infrastructure: How can we build more environmentally and economically sustainable infrastructure systems that reduce resource waste and the demand on current systems?
- 21st Century design: How can we design vibrant employment areas that facilitate community, attract industry, and reduce the impacts of climate change?
- revitalizing employment areas: How can we redevelop and reuse underutilized employment and industrial areas for future economic growth?
Some of the topics and ideas covered in the toolkit include:
- model approaches for building more environmentally and economically sustainable infrastructure systems that reduce waste and demand on our current systems
- policies and other tools that support vibrant employment areas that facilitate community, attract industry and reduce the impacts of climate change
- strategies for redeveloping and reusing underutilized employment and industrial land for future growth.
Metro is planning several events, seminars and networking activities in early 2011 that will bring in local and outside experts from the public and private sectors to share ideas and best practices for applying these tools in local communities. If you would like to be notified of these upcoming events, please e-mail Paulette Copperstone or call 503-797-1562.
The first volume in Metro's toolkit series provides information on financial incentives to stimulate mixed-use development in town and regional centers, transportation corridors and employment areas. The second volume deals with innovative design and development codes to help reduce the costs of development projects and encourage the types of development that a community desires.