Incentivizing Green Infrastructure for the Private Sector in Denver, CO

Denver Public WorksThe City of Denver has ambitious water quality goals for its rivers and streams.聽In order to achieve these goals of cleaner waterways, the city has recognized the importance of green infrastructure as a way of treating stormwater runoff. Denver has made strides in developing green infrastructure practices for its own properties throughout the county.聽However, Denver聽also聽needs a method of encouraging the private sector to help in achieving the city鈥檚聽green infrastructure聽goals.聽

In our capstone project, we are working with Denver Public Works to figure聽out methods of encouraging private developers to install green infrastructure. A large part of this project is making sure that these methods聽are tailored for Denver鈥檚 unique identity.聽We will be analyzing Denver鈥檚 procedures and regulations across city departments to find potential opportunities of encouragement.聽This will give us invaluable insight into the structure of the Denver government.聽We will conduct interviews with developers already open to the idea of green infrastructure installation to find聽effective incentives from their viewpoint. We will聽then聽be coordinating between developers and multiple city departments throughout the summer to hone in on solutions that will help Denver achieve its water quality goals.