Standardizing green infrastructure: Methods, policies, and change

Green Infrastructure (GI) has received praise from government agencies, academic institutions, and engineering associations. Many municipalities have expressed interest in GI implementation and have started to construct GI systems, yet few municipalities have succeeded in creating and implementing infrastructure standards to help accelerate GI implementation. This report assesses the strategies, methodologies, and policies, employed by municipalities that have successfully adopted technical GI standards and implemented GI systems on a large scale. The results were informed by a review of academic literature on GI systems and standardization, a series of technical workshops on GI implementation, and semi-structured interviews with GI professionals from North American municipalities that are renowned for their successful GI programs and GI standards. Technical GI standards can decrease the costs of implementation and maintenance, increase the reliability of performance, reduce liability for municipalities, and ensure the use of the most contemporary best practices. Many municipalities are only beginning to adopt GI standards and may benefit from an assessment of strategies for GI standardization and implementation.