Benefits Toolkit

i-Tree Eco (v 6)

USDA Forest Service

i-Tree Eco (originally the Urban Forest Effects or UFORE model) uses detailed field data from complete inventories or randomly sampled plots to quantify urban forest structure, environmental effects, and value to communities. The study area can range from a single tree to a park to an entire county’s urban forest. Eco…

Topics

Energy use, Air quality, Carbon sequestration & avoidance, Other economic, Trees

i-Tree Streets (v 5.1)

USDA Forest Service

i-Tree Streets uses tree inventory data to quantify environmental and aesthetic benefits and their dollar value, including: energy conservation, air quality improvement, CO2 reduction, stormwater control, and property value increase. The study area can range from a single planting site to an entire city’s street tree…

Topics

Stormwater management, Energy use, Air quality, Carbon sequestration & avoidance, Property values, Trees

SOPARNA is a direct observation tool for assessing use of outdoor recreation settings such as wilderness areas and natural open spaces. The tool provides protocols for observers to track users’ physical activity levels, activity types, genders, and estimated age and race/ethnicity groupings during a specified time…

Topics

Recreational & social value, Health & well-being, Active living

Automated Geospatial Watershed Assessment (AGWA) Tool v 3.0

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, University of Arizona, and USDA Agricultural Research Service

The Automated Geospatial Watershed Assessment (AGWA) tool is a GIS-based multipurpose hydrologic analysis system for use by watershed, water resource, land use, and biological resource managers and scientists in performing watershed- and basin-scale studies. It uses readily available spatial data sets to parameterize…

Topics

Soil creation, preservation & restoration, Stormwater management, Water quality

This broad analysis attempts to place an economic value on the numerous benefits provided by green infrastructure (defined here as a network of decentralized stormwater management practices). The report brings together current research on green infrastructure performance and presents methods for calculating related…

Topics

Stormwater management, Water conservation, Water quality, Flood protection, Energy use, Air quality, Temperature & urban heat island, Carbon sequestration & avoidance, Recreational & social value, Educational value, Property values, Other economic, Bioretention, Green roof, Permeable paving, Rainwater harvesting, Trees

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