Induced impacts from the building and transportation sectors as a means to achieve environmental goals

Abstract

Realizing a sustainable built environment is not possible at present due to the fractured nature of stakeholders, policies, and assessment tools. In order to achieve environmental goals, induced impacts (i.e., impacts resulting from the interplay between sectors), must be accounted for. Research findings show that induced impacts resulting from the building, transportation, and energy sectors are critical for sustainability of the built environment. This paper presents specific policy recommendations at the building and transportation level based on induced impact research. While “innovative” and “new” solutions are often favored, the recommendations illustrate that well-known, yet politically difficult, steps are required to achieve a sustainable built environment. In order to account for induced impacts in the built environment, this paper provides policy recommendations at the building and transportation level. For the building level, assessment tools must be expanded to include the building’s transportation footprint and the building’s neighborhood context. Concrete recommendations include a moratorium on parking, prioritization of mixedused neighborhoods, and conservation of existing buildings (older buildings and neighborhoods are more environmentally sound). These policies can be implemented through construction permits and environmental certification. For the transportation level, policies must focus on new technologies, existing public transportation, and urban planning. Specific recommendations are to restrict autonomous vehicles to multi-passenger use, require sector coupling for electric vehicles, provide high-quality public transportation (divert subsidies from single-occupancy vehicles to public transportation), and give transportation providers agency in real-estate and neighborhood development.