Determining the Right Shade of Green for a Specific Community

Being “green” is the topic of the day in thousands of communities. Cities, counties, states, even the federal government, are joining academia, not-for-profits, privately held, and publicly traded companies in their efforts to improve their sustainability. Each community is headed in a different direction. Which direction or combination of sustainable strategies will produce results that are the “right” shade of green for a given community? The answer lies in an understanding of stakeholder plans and expectations as to what they can afford and where they will achieve the greatest results with the resources they invest. Specific clues are provided that show ways in which communities can use cost-benefit analysis and risk analysis to determine what level of sustainability is optimal. The approach is designed to guide communities through an objective, transparent, and interactive process that will contribute to practical plans that feature high probabilities of successful implementation.