Cities across the country are re-utilizing brownfield sites as solar farms.
The contaminated sites would often cost too much to clean up for other reuse, so more and more cities are opting to allow solar power installations.
"In Chicago, Dave Graham, who works on the city's brownfield program, said the City Solar project just "fell into our laps." He was called into a meeting in the mayor's office with representatives from Exelon and SunPower, and found they wanted to create a massive solar farm on a derelict brownfield site. Actually, massive is an understatement for this project: it's the largest urban solar plant in the U.S. Its 32,000 photo voltaic (PV) panels provide 10 MW of energy, enough for 1,500 local homes. In addition, GPS tracking systems help tilt the panels, ensuring the most efficient use of solar energy.
Heavily contaminated sites can cost up to $150,000 per acre to clean up. The West Pullman site for City Solar, which 'has a variety of issues,' would have cost $20 million alone to clean up, 'something no one in the city wanted to invest in.'"
Read the full story: Cities Use Brownfields to Go Solar
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NYC to turn city-owned property into thousands of homes
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FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
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City of Thousand Oaks
City of Wisconsin Rapids
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello