Brownfields Redevelopment

Chris Hendrickson , Civil and Environmental Engineering

Appropriately remediated Brownfields provide an opportunity for sustainable and equitable development in nearly all communities. While Brownfield redevelopment is generally recognized as promoting sustainability, methods and estimates for quantifying life cycle impacts, especially climate change mitigation associated with Brownfield development, do not currently exist. This project will help develop methodology and tools that stakeholders can use to both prioritize site development in the community and assess the sustainability of a targeted Brownfield development.  the CIT Honor's project will be part of a larger EPA-funded project with three primary components: training, research, and technical assistance. The training approach is to work with the communities represented by Pennsylvani Downtown Center to provide the education necessary to promote Brownfield development and its inherent environmental remedies, economic benefits and quality-of-life improvements Second, research will be conducted to quantify the life cycle implications of redeveloping brownfields relative to new Greenfield development. Based on Green Design Institutes’s EIO-LCA model and material flows analyses, a life cycle assessment tool will be created to estimate the carbon emissions, pollutant emissions and energy impacts corresponding to such projects. Third, decision-making with respect to site selection can be very complex. Therefore, a site prioritization tool developed at Carnegie Mellon will be further enhanced to help communities prioritize their resources, both time and money, consistent with the needs of the community.