Environmental Issues: Sustainable Communities

Sustainable Communities Main Page

All Documents in Sustainable Communities Tagged water efficiency

Affordable Green Housing
The Green Communities Initiative will build thousands of affordable, environmentally friendly homes across the country.
Overview

The Green Communities Initiative, a project of NRDC and Enterprise Community Partners, will build thousands of affordable, environmentally friendly homes across the country.

Documents Tagged water efficiency in All Sections

Greener by Design: NRDC's Santa Monica Office
Guide

This guided tour through NRDC’s office in Southern California illustrates the latest in green building design and practices. We chose a 1920s-era structure in Santa Monica's pedestrian center to take advantage of existing services like transit and to avoid building on undeveloped land. Then we redesigned it to conserve water and energy and showcase environmentally sound materials. On the ground floor, we constructed an environmental learning center. Take a look!

Water Saving Solutions
Stopping Pollution at its Source with Low Impact Development
Fact Sheet

America's urban landscape is affecting our cities' water supply and water quality. Runoff from urban areas is a leading cause of water pollution in the United States, and in many areas people are using water faster than it can be replenished. More than 100 million acres of land have been developed in the United States, and with development and sprawl increasing faster than population growth, the risks to water supply and quality are growing. Low impact development, or LID, is a simple and cost-effective green development strategy that can help cities, states, and even individuals meet the water supply challenge, clean up our existing water resources, and, in many places in the West, curb global warming pollution by reducing the amount of electricity used to supply water. Get document in pdf.

A Clear Blue Future
How Greening California Cities Can Address Water Resources and Climate Challenges in the 21st Century
Issue Paper

This NRDC and UCSB analysis shows that implementing low impact development, or LID,  practices at new and redeveloped residential and commercial properties in parts of California can increase water supplies by billions of gallons each year, providing an effective and much-needed way to mitigate global warming’s impact on California.

Making Every Drop Work
Increasing Water Efficiency in California’s Commercial, Industrial and Institutional (CII) Sector
Issue Paper

Across the nation, water shortages are triggering growing concern and an acceleration of efforts to increase water use efficiency. In this May 2009 issue paper, NRDC recommends a number of available and cost-effective measures that can help stretch limited water supplies, save businesses money, reduce energy consumption, improve water quality, and protect local, regional, and statewide ecosystems.

More >

For additional policy documents, see the NRDC Document Bank.