Greening Downtown: Washington, DC
The "Greening Downtown DC" initiative is a project of the Downtown DC Business Improvement District (BID), which seeks to create a "green" downtown for the benefit of residents, visitors, businesses and the planet. The BID serves as the organizational structure and catalyst for a wide-ranging number of initiatives to make Downtown DC more sustainable.
The approach taken is explicitly described as the "triple bottom line”: one that is environmentally, economically and socially beneficial.
BID leadership anticipates generating benefits in each of those areas by:
- Greening new and existing buildings
- Educating tenants on green best practices
- Improving public spaces
- Enhancing transportation options
The comprehensive nature of the initiative provides not one but many models, which can be applied jointly or individually. The complexity of the stakeholder population provides an example of working within a complex social/political environment. The initiative focuses heavily on building energy use, transit best practices andstreetscape.
