Professional Education
Course: Creating Sustainability: From Brown to Green (NEW)
Instructor: Cynthia N. Brooks
Course Overview
This course offers students a fully integrated, multi-disciplinary framework, a set of practical guidelines and decision tools, and an understanding of current best practices that govern economically, environmentally, and socially sustainable redevelopment of brownfield sites, including “green redevelopment” projects. Topics to be covered include: reuse planning and implementation guidelines; environmental remediation options and strategies; regulatory compliance; market dynamics; public and private financing options; liability and risk management; vertical development issues; green building practices and standards; and the application of renewable resource options at contaminated sites. Key concepts are applied to case studies of completed and ongoing redevelopment projects. The course features a detailed study and tour of the award-winning Genzyme Center. Redeveloped on an abandoned, former manufactured gas plant (MGP) site, the Genzyme Center is a world class, vibrant, mixed-use redevelopment and the largest corporate office building to have earned the rare Platinum Certification from the U.S. Green Building Council.
Learning Objectives and Outcomes
- Broad understanding of the concepts and principles that govern the redevelopment of brownfields, including an overview of the strategies for integrating green practices and technologies into the process
- The ability to identify and assess the opportunities and barriers to redeveloping brownfields, as well as the tools, strategies, technologies and best practices
- Analyze the essential characteristics that differentiate contamination and sustainable property development from more traditional real estate
Instructor Bio
Cynthia N. Brooks is Founder and President of the Greenfield Environmental Trust Group, Inc. Having redeveloped contaminated properties for sixteen years, Ms. Brooks is widely regarded as one of the earliest pioneers and leading experts in brownfields transactions, value creation and reuse implementation.
