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Case Studies

We learn by doing…or from the lessons of others who have come before us.  In this section, we collect lessons and case studies of green infrastructure projects and initiatives from all over the world.  Have a case to share? Email us at ….

There are many valuable collections of case studies out there that are well worth exploring

  • Conservation Fund - The Conservation Fund was an early adopter and proponent of green infrastructure as a landscape-scale approach to integrated conservation and development.  They maintain an extensive collection of case studies on green infrastructure, primarily at the landscape scale.
  • US Environmental Protection Agency - The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), tasked with enforcing the Clean Water Act in the US, has become an advocate of green infrastructure primarily as a cost-effective stormwater management strategy.  The agency maintains a list of case studies of municipalities and regions that have effectively used green infrastructure to manage stormwater run-off in order to comply with CWA requirements.
  • National Association of Regional Councils - Focusing at the regional level, the National Association of Regional Councils has identified a series of “Green Infrastructure Centers of Excellence” of which they developed case studies for each.
  • American Society of Landscape Architects -  As part of EPA’s recent stormwater management rulemaking initiative, which could potentially formalize green infrastructure as an approved compliance measure, they asked the American Society of Landscape Architects to collect case studies on green infrastructure initiatives that demonstrate effective stormwater management performance. The result is this directory of over 450 case studies from across North America.
  • Sustainable Cities Institute (National League of Cities) - The National League of Cities’ Sustainable Cities Institute is dedicated to supporting local officials in implementing sustainable practices and policies in cities across the US.  Their modest collection of case studies illustrate compelling policy and business cases that have been developed in the US for green infrastructure.
  • Landscape Architecture Foundation - As part of their mission to invest in research and scholarship to increase capacity to achieve environmental sustainability, the Landscape Architecture Foundation has created the “Landscape Performance Series”, an online interactive set of resources to demonstrate the value of sustainable landscape solutions. Their open database includes an extensive collection of green infrastructure case studies that illustrate the full breadth of green infrastructure benefits.
  • Rivers to Rooftops (Natural Resources Defense Council) - As part of their Rivers to Rooftops reports in 2006 and 2011, the NRDC developed in-depth case studies on how cities across North America have employed green infrastructure strategies to manage stormwater and combined sewer overflows.
  • Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE) (UK) - CABE was created in the UK to help decision-makers and professionals to create great buildings, places and spaces, and inspire public demand for good design.  Green infrastructure has served as key pillar of CABE’s sustainable cities platform and these cases illustrate the diversity of benefits it has provided for cities across the UK.