Natural Infrastructure Tool Fact Sheet
Green Infrastructure Valuation Toolkit
TOOL TYPE & AVAILABILITY
A valuation toolkit, available for download online.
SPONSORING ORGANIZATION & DEVELOPERS
Developed through the Green Infrastructure Northwest Project, partners included Natural Economy Northwest (chair), Tees Valley Unlimited (project manager), Genecon LLP (consultant), The Northern Way, Natural England, Design for London, and the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment, with support from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and five economic development agencies.
WEBSITE & CONTACT INFORMATION
The tool is available at http://bit.ly/givaluationtoolkit; additional information can be found by contacting Paul Nolan at givaluation.network@merseyfore st.org.uk
TARGET USERS
The tool is useful for developers and land managers and can be used directly by companies for their own properties or in partnership with other groups across a larger geography (e.g., city, watershed).
RELEASE YEAR & UPDATES
The tool was first released in 2010; Version 1.3 was released in 2014.
COST
No cost.
PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVE
- The Green Infrastructure and Valuation Toolkit provides a set of benefit estimation tools that allow the user to assess existing or proposed infrastructure investments.
- The 11 benefit estimation tools are climate change adaptation and mitigation, water management and flood alleviation, place and communities, health, land and property values, investment, labor productivity, tourism, recreation, biodiversity, and land management.
SOFTWARE AND DATA INPUT REQUIRE
- The toolkit calculators operate in Microsoft Excel.
- The user selects from among the 11 benefit estimation tools that most apply to their project and enters benefit-specific inputs for each tool, such as project purpose, details, beneficiaries, and site characteristics.
INFORMATION GENERATED
- A cost-benefit worksheet is generated that summarizes the full range of benefits. Projects outputs are expressed in the terms—monetary, qualitative or quantitative—most relevant to the input data and existing knowledge.
EXPERTISE & TIME INVESTMENT REQUIRED
- Basic knowledge of Microsoft Excel is required, as well as local project details.
- The average project takes approximately 8 hours to complete—with simple projects taking as little as 1 hour, and complex projects taking up to 6 days.
EXAMPLES OF COMPANY USERS
- At this time the case studies available on the website focus on local municipal improvement projects.
DOWNLOAD THE TOOL SHEET
