May 24, 2013
by Kaid Benfield
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Shelley Poticha to lead NRDC’s new urban solutions program

Kaid Benfield, Director, Sustainable Communities, Washington, DC
 
I could not be more honored and excited to announce that Shelley Poticha is coming to NRDC to direct and build our new urban solutions program.  Shelley has s… Continue reading

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May 3, 2013
by MoreRecycling
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Green Building fights back against the plastic people and the fossil fools

The plastic people lose one as LEED is recommended for all GSA buildings, but there are more battles ahead Continue reading

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January 29, 2013
by MoreRecycling
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The Dark Money Behind The Latest LEED-Bashing

The Taxpayers Protection Alliance appears to be a front for two of the biggest right wing dark money organizations in the country, and they don’t much like LEED. Continue reading

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December 27, 2012
by MoreRecycling
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What Makes a Building Green? You Sure Can’t Tell From Its Energy Star Rating

The LEED Bashers are out in force as a study of New York office buildings yields surprising results Continue reading

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November 27, 2012
by Meg Waltner
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GSA Report on Green Building Ratings Systems Expected Soon, As Use of LEED in Federal Buildings Doubles

Meg Waltner, Energy Efficiency Advocate, Washington, DC
The number of LEED-certified federal building projects is projected to more than double this year: 821 projects received certification in the first 8 months of 2012 alone, up from … Continue reading

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August 6, 2012
by Kaid Benfield
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It doesn’t have to be low-density to be sprawl

Kaid Benfield, Director, Sustainable Communities, Washington, DC
 
On my flight home from California last week, I took the photo above.  It’s not the greatest photo, but I captured the image to illustrate the edge of suburban… Continue reading

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June 1, 2012
by Kaid Benfield
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Bank of America supports affordable green neighborhoods with grant program

Kaid Benfield, Director, Sustainable Communities, Washington, DC
 
Last week, the Bank of America Charitable Foundation and the US Green Building Council announced the opening of the 2012 Affordable Green Neighborhoods Grant Progr… Continue reading

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May 31, 2012
by Kaid Benfield
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Does a sustainable community need a good drinking establishment?

Kaid Benfield, Director, Sustainable Communities, Washington, DC
 
My friend Eliot Allen first introduced me to the concept of neighborhood completeness:  that the quality of a place is defined in part by how many different f… Continue reading

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January 19, 2012
by Kaid Benfield
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A spiffy green waterfront begins to take shape in DC

Kaid Benfield, Director, Sustainable Communities, Washington, DC
  
Washington, DC is finally getting a green waterfront development to be proud of.  A 42-acre redevelopment along the Anacostia River, The Yards will compr… Continue reading

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November 15, 2011
by Kaid Benfield
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Green development award program honored for outstanding achievement

Kaid Benfield, Director, Sustainable Communities, Washington, DC
 
Last week, NRDC was honored to join the US Green Building Council and the Congress for the New Urbanism, our co-founders of LEED for Neighborhood Development, in a… Continue reading

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October 13, 2011
by Kaid Benfield
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The spectacular ‘green way’ to build affordable housing

Kaid Benfield, Director, Sustainable Communities, Washington, DC
   
Via Verde (“Green Way” in Spanish) is a new mixed-income, mixed-use development nearing completion in a once-severely disinvested area… Continue reading

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August 24, 2011
by Kaid Benfield
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Is this the world’s greenest neighborhood?

Kaid Benfield, Director, Sustainable Communities, Washington, DC
 
As this post is published, I am on vacation in Victoria, British Columbia, a wonderful city that – among other good things – is home to Dockside Green, which … Continue reading

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June 30, 2011
by Kaid Benfield
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The books I keep close at hand

Kaid Benfield, Director, Sustainable Communities & Smart Growth, Washington, DC                           
My office is in the process of moving from one downtown DC buildi… Continue reading

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February 22, 2011
by Kaid Benfield
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The value and practice of smart growth endorsement

We’ve had some interesting recent conversations at NRDC, still unresolved, about whether and when to support smart growth development.  Some of my colleagues are understandably concerned that our support, particularly if qualified or based o… Continue reading

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February 9, 2011
by Kaid Benfield
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Ambitious, revitalizing arts district goes green in Syracuse

 
Take one part Paducah (arts-driven revitalization), one part Old North Saint Louis (incremental restoration of abandoned historic properties), mix in some serious winter weather, and you might just come out with something a lot like the Syracus… Continue reading

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December 10, 2010
by Kaid Benfield
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Philadelphia will add new neighborhood-scale parks as part of ambitious green vision

I have long thought it more important that we have neighborhood parks within convenient reach of people than that we have large city parks (though it’s nice to have both).  I was impressed, for example, when the residents of the South Bronx neighb… Continue reading

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November 3, 2010
by Kaid Benfield
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Sustainable places: where the healing can begin

   
Can an urban place be located and designed so that it nourishes and heals?  Mark Holland, one of the key principals involved in the planning and certification of the highest-rated development in the LEED-ND pilot program, thinks so.&… Continue reading

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