Benefits Toolkit

Public Life Tools

Gehl Institute

This set of simple direct observation and survey tools can be used to evaluate site use in public spaces like plazas, parks, squares, and streets. The tools include Age and Gender Tally, People Moving Count, Participant Survey, and Stationary Activity Mapping. Each tool provides basic instructions and limitations along…

Topics

Recreational & social value, Transportation, Access & equity, Placemaking

This open-source tool allows users to conduct a Floristic Quality Assessment (FQA) measuring a site’s habitat condition or a specified natural plant community’s condition on a site. A user specifies a region within the United States and enters basic information about a specific site such as date, location, and weather…

Topics

Habitat quality, Native plants, Biodiversity, Restoration

Waste Reduction Model (WARM) v14

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

This web-based tool estimates and compares greenhouse gas (GHG) and energy use reductions for different waste management practices in a baseline and an alternate scenario. It is intended to support voluntary GHG measurement and reporting initiatives. The tool works for common household and construction materials…

Topics

Energy use, Carbon sequestration & avoidance, Waste reduction, Reused/recycled materials

InVEST is a suite of software models used to map and value the goods and services from nature that sustain and fulfill human life. It aims to provide a consistent methodology for measuring and comparing the value of multiple ecosystem services underdifferent ecological conditions. The toolset currently includes sixteen…

Topics

Soil creation, preservation & restoration, Water quality, Populations & species richness, Carbon sequestration & avoidance, Food production, Resilience

National Stormwater Calculator

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

This desktop application estimates the annual amount of rainwater and frequency of runoff from a specific site anywhere in the U.S. The calculator uses EPA’s SWMM model and accesses several national databases that provide local topography, soil, historic rainfall, and evaporation information. It is most appropriate for…

Topics

Stormwater management, Rainwater harvesting, Permeable paving, Bioretention, Green roof, Resilience

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