This handy field guide will help you capitalize on existing desirable land features when planning and designing projects under the National Green Building Standard™. Through five comprehensive case studies you’ll see how other builders and developers earned the highest green ratings and home buyer approval by preserving on-site natural beauty, limiting the development footprint, and reducing outdoor maintenance. Whether you are building on an urban infill lot, developing a rural site, or reclaiming a suburban greyfield, this book will help you construct communities that reflect a green lifestyle.

Learn how to

• Design properties to ensure they are at least as green as the homes that will be built on them
• Achieve maximum points for each lot/land development practice required by the NGBS
• Reduce traffic, noise, and heat islands
• Decrease pollution and recycle land development waste
• Limit clearing and grading
• Create landscaping that conserves water
• Protect and preserve trees as a desirable amenity
• Apply green development techniques to a storm water management strategy
• Minimize environmental disruption from utility lines

Green Models for Site Development includes the actual scoring sheets from the National Green Building Standard™ Commentary that details the intent of each land and lot development practice, and educational resources to help you master the art of green land development.