Greening the Built Environment
The construction of cities—homes, businesses, roads and other associated infrastructure—has had a profound impact on the natural environment.  Decreased native vegetation cover, increased stormwater flows, accelerated erosion of our land and streams, increased sediment deposition and increased atmospheric and water pollution constitute some of the major negative effects from development.  By rethinking the way we develop and redevelop, many of these environmental issues can be minimized or eliminated entirely, leaving us with healthy homes and workplaces, and vibrant communities. Greening the built environment is inherently interdisciplinary: we must consider energy efficiency of buildings, transportation options and traffic impacts, historic preservation, water quality, air quality, health of the indoor environment, materials reuse and recycling—the list goes on and on!  Click the links on the sidebar for more information about the many aspects of greening Rockville’s built environment. For more information: Smart Growth from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Green Building Report Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (MWCOG) Maryland Green Building Task Force High Performance Building information from the U.S. Department of Energy