Chicago-based ‘Center for Neighborhood Technology’ is Turning Ideas into Action
The Chicago-based Center for Neighburhood Technology (CNT) is partnering with the United States and Illinois Environmental Protection Agencies to construct Green Infrastructure demonstration projects in a variety of urban and suburban settings. These research projects will scientifically monitor the rainwater capture impacts of Green Infrastructure, while recording the cost of construction and maintenance. For more information, download Stormwater Management and Green Infrastructure.
The goal of the CNT is to make Green Infrastructure the preferred rainwater management option for municipalities, developers, communities and individuals.
The CNT defines Green Infrastructure as a rainwater management approach that saves money, supports sustainability, and more efficiently uses limited financial and natural resources. By capturing raindrops where they fall, Green Infrastructure utilizes the absorbing and filtering abilities of plants, trees and soil to protect water quality, reduce runoff volumes, and recharge groundwater supplies.
On the regional scale, according to the CNT, Green Infrastructure means the interconnected network of open spaces and natural areas, such as greenways, wetlands, parks and forest preserves, that naturally recharge aqifers, improve water quality and provide recreational opportunities and wildlife habitat..
On the municpal or neighbourhood scale, the CNT defines Green Infrastructure as rain gardens, vegetated swales, permeable pavements, rain barrels, and green roofs that mimic the natural capacity of the landscape to absorb precipitation where it falls.
Center for Neighbourhood Technology
The Center for Neighburhood Technology (CNT) promotes the development of more livable and sustainable communities. The CNT strives to recognizew, preserve, and enhance the value of hiden assets and undervalued resources inherent in the urban environment to make households, neighborhoods, and regions more efficient, more economically viable, and more equitable.
Posted August 2007