How do you make your site selection and development strategy sustainable and resilient?

1 Assess the context

Before you choose a site for your development project, you need to understand the context of the location. This includes the physical, economic, social, and regulatory factors that affect the site's suitability and feasibility. You also need to consider the potential risks and opportunities that the site may face in the future, such as climate change, demographic shifts, market trends, and policy changes. By conducting a comprehensive and holistic site analysis, you can identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) of the site and align your development strategy with the local needs and conditions.

2 Optimize the design

Once you have selected a site, you need to optimize the design of your development project to enhance its sustainability and resilience. This means applying the principles of green building, smart growth, and placemaking to create a project that is energy-efficient, water-efficient, waste-efficient, healthy, comfortable, accessible, and attractive. You also need to incorporate features that can reduce the vulnerability and increase the adaptability of your project to various hazards and stresses, such as floods, droughts, fires, earthquakes, storms, and pandemics. These features may include natural or engineered systems for stormwater management, renewable energy generation, backup power supply, fire protection, seismic resistance, ventilation, and sanitation.

3 Engage the stakeholders

Another important aspect of making your site selection and development strategy sustainable and resilient is engaging the stakeholders who are affected by or interested in your project. These may include the local community, the government, the investors, the contractors, the suppliers, the tenants, and the end-users. By involving them in the planning, design, construction, and operation stages of your project, you can build trust, collaboration, and support for your project. You can also gain valuable insights, feedback, and ideas that can improve your project's performance and impact. You can use various methods and tools to engage the stakeholders, such as surveys, interviews, focus groups, workshops, charrettes, public meetings, online platforms, and social media.

4 Monitor the outcomes

Finally, you need to monitor the outcomes of your site selection and development strategy to evaluate its sustainability and resilience. This means measuring and tracking the environmental, social, and economic indicators that reflect your project's goals and objectives. You also need to compare your actual results with your expected results and identify any gaps or deviations. By doing so, you can assess the effectiveness and efficiency of your strategy and identify any areas for improvement or adjustment. You can use various frameworks and standards to monitor your outcomes, such as LEED, BREEAM, WELL, SITES, and STAR.

By following these four steps, you can make your site selection and development strategy sustainable and resilient. You can also create a project that delivers value for yourself, your stakeholders, and the planet.

5 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?