Developers plan for stormwater runoff before they get hit by rains—or worse, massive fines.

This year, Pulte Homes handed over more than $1 million to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The agency cited the Bloomfield Hills, Mich., home builder for multiple stormwater management infractions at sites across the country, including discharge of untreated stormwater and improperly installed and maintained silt fences, sediment ponds, and washout basins.

Dirty Work: Land planners leverage grading plans into more profitable proformas

“I’ve been involved in land grading for 25 years, and I’ll tell you one thing,” says Jim Berger, who re-engineers land plans as senior construction manager for Seattle-based Port Blakely communities, “The person who coined the phrase ‘dirt cheap’ obviously never moved any.”

Developers dig deep to transform brownfield sites into vibrant properties

Even the most seasoned of developers can be scared of brownfield sites. Why? They know cleaning up the contaminants and debris on the grounds of an abandoned manufacturing site or vacant gas station is the easy part of the redevelopment process. It’s what’s underneath that poses the greatest threats.

Clean Energy

When Dream Developers began construction on its newest 55-plus community, Laurel Ridge, the desire to install natural gas for the 88-home development was sufficient, but the means were not.

The East Hampton, Conn., company, had few options: pay for the infrastructure to tap into the nearest gas line or move to an oil-based system, which it had installed in other communities. Instead, company owner Stephen Motto turned to a different type of gas: propane. “We chose propane because it’s a cleaner-burning energy and has less discharge of toxics,” Motto explains.

Power Player - David Nahai demands environmental accountability at the nation’s largest municipal utility.

David Nahai heads up the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP), but he knows a thing or two
about development. Before assuming his post in December 2007, he spent 30 years as an L.A. real estate attorney. But Nahai, a lifelong environmentalist, divested all interest in his successful law firm for a chance to promote energy and water conservation as CEO and general manager of the country’s largest municipal utility company, which serves more than 3.9 million L.A. residents.