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“If Australians are obsessed with property prices, they should welcome investment in green infrastructure, because it is unambiguously good for their real estate values. Consensus among Australia’s leading urban green space experts from the private, government and academic sectors suggests that neighbourhood greenery has a positive influence on the value of a property, and research is beginning to back that up,” wrote James Dunn.

“If we make a certain investment, what are the long-term non-financial, social returns we can get from that? We’re thinking about this as an economy, and the framework is a way to try to put a dollar value on the things that can come with green infrastructure – because its role and value has not been well understood in Australia, certainly when compared to more established ‘grey’ infrastructure,” said Professor Roger Jones.

The “Green Surrey” program is a key piece in the environmental pillar of the City of Surrey’s Sustainability Charter. A strong environmental vision is central to the development of the City of Surrey, and the Green Surrey program is an evolution of the City’s commitment. “Strengthening and expanding our green infrastructure is crucial to maintaining Surrey’s status as one of Canada’s most liveable cities. We wanted to bring it all together under one umbrella,” said Bruce Hayne.

This new publication “shows how green infrastructure practices – integrating nature strategically into urban environments to control runoff and enhance other environmental values – can help advance the bottom line for the commercial real estate sector. It is a highly illustrative and well-documented report,” wrote Kaid Benfield

“Using local data, we were able to develop four hedonic pricing models that measure the impacts of Green Infrastructure on property values. Overall, the models indicate that the integration of Green Infrastructure into redevelopment projects has had a positive impact on property values,” reports Kate Madison.

“The green infrastructure features (that the research team) studied were those that manage stormwater runoff, such as greenways, rain gardens, wetlands, bioretention facilities, porous pavement and other landscaping elements,” wrote Lisa Kaiser.

Jan Marcason said going green in the basin has created a ripple effect, increasing community pride, a spike in private investment, an increase in property values, and citizens who are more engaged in neighborhood beautification projects and city policymaking.

“Although the report focuses on the case of Philadelphia, the basic project economics and financing strategies highlighted in the report are relevant for any city that is looking to leverage private capital in reaching its green infrastructure goals,” states Alisa Valderrama.

“How many asset managers get involved in evaluating the life cycle costs of new planned developments? If they don’t get involved at this upfront stage, they have no opportunity to shape future life cycle costs,” writes Dr. Penny Burns.

“Establishing a framework for calculating the benefits of green infrastructure is a first, key step to making it a mainstream practice,” said Danielle Gallet.