NRDC advocates smart growth solutions that will help limit sprawl and encourage more sustainable communities for the 21st century. Some of our most important initiatives include the following:

• National standards for smart neighborhood development (LEED-ND). NRDC has joined with the U.S. Green Building Council and the Congress for the New Urbanism to create the first national set of standards for building environmentally-responsible neighborhoods. To be administered under the same Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) framework used by the Green Building Council to certify green buildings, LEED-ND brings together the principles of smart growth, community design and green building to recognize and reward development proposals that offer superior alternatives to sprawl. Developers who meet the standards will receive a certification that they can use in the marketplace and in the process of obtaining development approval from municipalities. We also hope LEED-ND will inspire local and state governments to use the standards as a template for good zoning practices and favorable smart growth incentives of their own.
  
  
• The Green Communities partnership for affordable housing. Green Communities is a five-year, $550 million initiative to build more than 8,500 green affordable homes across the country. Founded by Enterprise Community Partners/Enterprise Community Investment and NRDC, this groundbreaking effort will transform the way Americans perceive, locate, design and build affordable homes. The Green Communities criteria are designed to promote health, conserve energy and natural resources, and enhance access to jobs, schools and services.
  
  
• The Location-Efficient Mortgage (LEM). Residents of inner-city neighborhoods and other communities that are walkable and accessible to transit enjoy reduced living expenses due to lower transportation costs. NRDC -- working with the Center for Neighborhood Technology, the Surface Transportation Policy Project and a number of government agencies and private-sector interests -- is revising loan qualification rules to factor in these savings and provide greater home purchasing power in efficient locations. The LEM is currently being offered in Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle.
  
  
• Supporting smart growth investment. NRDC is assisting an exciting new trend in real estate investment to target investment dollars to model smart growth development. We are helping these new funds emphasize compact, walkable, mixed-use development projects near rail transit stops and/or close to a variety of neighborhood shops and services.
  
  
• Advancing the smart growth movement. NRDC is one of the original founders of Smart Growth America, a coalition that brings together 100 environmental, housing, social justice and preservation organizations from across the United States to work on smart growth advocacy, communications, research and capacity-building efforts. NRDC is also a co-founder of the EPA-sponsored Smart Growth Network, has chaired the environmental task force of The Congress for the New Urbanism and is working with the Sustainability Task Group of the American Institute for Architects.
  
  
• Developing resources and tools for smart growth. NRDC has created an array of materials intended to assist stakeholders and promote better development practices. Among them, three publications -- Solving Sprawl (2001), Once There Were Greenfields (1999) (in partnership with the Surface Transportation Policy Project), and The Runaway American Dream (2005) -- offer a review of smart growth success stories across the United States and a comprehensive look at the consequences of sprawl. Additionally, a series of reports and policy papers closely examine smart growth and sprawl in the context of fiscal impacts, energy savings, water resources, wildlife and more.

last revised 10.12.06