A Business Case Approach for Green Infrastructure Investments – Maximizing Public and Private Investments to Create Progress

Responsible application of Green Infrastructure (GI) is – like any infrastructure, ultimately a financial decision. Many publications have discussed the triple-bottom-line of GI, but in the end, social benefits are often difficult to monetize and a strong business case is needed to sway decision makers to choose green over gray. In Onondaga County, New York, consultants from CH2M HILL worked with the Department of Water Environment Protection to develop a Business Case GI Calculator, and used it as the foundation to build one of the nation’s first, broadly utilized GI grant programs, Save the Rain’s Green Improvement Fund. This GI Calculator enables the County to make a fiscally responsible decision to fund GI projects while ensuring public benefit through achieving objectives of Clean Water Act compliance obligations. Originally intended only for private projects seeking grants funding, the program now utilizes a similar business case evaluation when considering all projects, both private and public.