Sustainable Communities

The two primary stakeholders in development of Sustainable Communities are the developers themselves along with the local governments that establish the policies, rules and regulations that govern the actions of developers within their jurisdictions.

While local governments typically support sustainability, their efforts are sometimes impaired by their own codes, ordinances and practices. Developers are often confused by the maze of local policies, rules and regulations. In its 2002 study "Pay to Play," the California Department of Housing and Community Development found that there were nearly as many sets of local rules and regulations, as there are local jurisdictions.

Both developers and local government are also often unaware of the full breadth and relative costs v. benefits of sustainability options. Consequently, decisions are made without adequate consideration of the carbon and other tradeoffs among design and development options.