<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=2IcCAR_0wLEONDL00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=2IcCAR_0wLEONDL00" width="2000" height="1125" ><figcaption>False Creek in Vancouver, Canada. Credit: Photo by Aaron Lee on Unsplash.</figcaption></figure>Rapidly warming waters, increasing sea surface temperatures, and melting glaciers and ice sheets are raising sea levels globally and bringing stronger storms to our waterfronts. The cause? Human-induced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions which have resulted in human-induced climate change. Mitigating climate change by reducing GHG emissions is a systems-scale and policy challenge, and while an individual site can only do so much, it is imperative that they contribute to broader GHG reduction goals. WEDG® (Waterfront Edge Design Guidelines), known for its focus on adaptation and resilience, is also a tool for mitigation.As the gold standard for waterfront design, WEDG guides projects to incorporate resilience, ecology, and access on sites. With the release of WEDG Version 3.0 in 2023, the standard introduced the new Credit 4.9, Reduce Emissions through Carbon Management, which recognizes projects that reduce and remove greenhouse gas emissions through human-engineered or nature-based solutions. Reducing Emissions through WEDG The goal of WEDG Credit 4.9 is to use human-engineered or nature-based solutions to reduce two types of GHG emissions:1. Embodied carbon emissions: These are emissions associated with using materials on-site, from extraction, manufacturing, transportation, and construction activities. 2. Operational carbon emissions: These are emissions associated with a site’s operations post-construction, including energy- and waste-related emissions.  WEDG encourages projects to reduce, remove, and track carbon emissions through design decisions that lead to better outcomes in construction, operations, and termination phases of a project site. The standard itself recommends three main design strategies to reduce embodied and operational carbon emissions, including: 1. Reduce energy demand and increase efficiencyWEDG emphasizes the importance of projects employing strategies to reduce energy demand on-site such as using energy demand management and building automation systems, installing energy efficient appliances and equipment, and deploying renewable energy sources.One example of a WEDG Verified Site that features renewable energy is Hunter’s Point South. The roof above the Long Island City Landing includes solar panels that provide energy for a portion of the park’s lighting uses. The roof also provides parkgoers with shade while they eat from the Snack Bar and helps to collect rainwater that is reused for irrigation.<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=1rrgRJ_0wLEONDL00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=1rrgRJ_0wLEONDL00" width="1024" height="1024" ></figure>Long Island City Landing at Hunter’s Point South. Credit: Valery AguilarEmissions reductions are recognized by the optimization of routes to minimize fuel consumption and the use of hybrid or 100 percent electric vehicles and equipment for transportation and operations. Finally, ensure responsible waste management and recycling practices to reduce waste-related emissions.2. Use Materials with Low Life Cycle CarbonWEDG encourages projects to use construction materials with low embodied carbon, or materials that are manufactured with a percentage of post-consumer or recycled materials. Instead of demolishing existing site structures, projects should think about how to deconstruct, retrofit, or renovate these structures and avoid manufacturing new materials. The WEDG Verified Illinois Beach State Park Shoreline Stabilization Project did just this when they reused site materials to minimize construction debris disposal, enhance biodiversity, and protect habitat creation during construction. Salvaged concrete ecoblocks were repurposed into vegetated blocks and driftwood and cut trees were used as natural windrows along the edge of the beach fill template to create a natural barrier between the beach activities and wetland habitats.Projects should also source materials locally to reduce transportation-related emissions and consider participating in a materials exchange program. Another WEDG Verified project, Brooklyn Bridge Park, utilized recycled fill material from a nearby subway tunnel excavation project for its berms and other elevation changes. The project worked with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to secure clean bulk fill from the agency’s East Side Access Project that was then used to create the sound attenuating berms of the park and elevation changes across Pier 1 and Pier 6, which provide sweeping views of the waterfront, Manhattan skyline, and Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges. <figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=1OsXqb_0wLEONDL00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=1OsXqb_0wLEONDL00" width="2000" height="1500" ></figure>Brooklyn Bridge Park’s Pier 6 Berms. Credit: Valery Aguilar3. Incorporate Carbon Sinks and Negative Emissions DesignTo capture GHG emissions before they are released into the atmosphere, WEDG encourages projects use low-carbon or carbon-negative materials in construction and deploy carbon removal technologies and techniques.In addition, projects should also aim to restore, conserve, and employ natural site features that can act as carbon storage repositories. WEDG Verified Project Oak Point / McInnis Cement was once home to New York City’s largest illegal landfill but is now host to both maritime industry and three acres of restored wetlands. The wetlands provide significant flood protection that absorb and slow the release of water, while also storing carbon within their plants and soil rather than releasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Combined with barging instead of relying on an average of 2 million truck miles per year, the project helps to reduce overall emissions and associated health risks for South Bronx residents.<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=0sdy9S_0wLEONDL00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=0sdy9S_0wLEONDL00" width="1024" height="683" ></figure>Oak Point / McInnis Cement. Credit: Jourdan Hercsek Waterfront projects can earn points under Credit 4.9 by demonstrating how they are tracking embodied and/or projected operational GHG emissions using a credible carbon accounting system. For additional points in the WEDG system, projects can enroll in a certified program or system to show a net GHG reduction including Green Marine or Green Globes.A Net GoalThe benefits of reducing emissions on waterfront sites are immense. Financially, they include cost savings from increased efficiency and reuse as well as alignment with general ESG goals. Reducing emissions is also an environmental justice issue: low-income communities and communities of color are disproportionately located closer and more frequently exposed to sources of GHG emissions that create hazardous pollutants and in turn, health issues for individuals. Carbon reduction is formalized in Credit 4.9 of WEDG V3.0, but the tactics in these case studies are actually encouraged throughout the WEDG standard. Other credits encourage renewable and resilient energy sources on site, locally sourced fill, environmentally-sound construction practices, utilizing waterborne transportation to remove trucks from the road, and increasing vegetation coverage on the site. Using WEDG strategies of decarbonization on waterfront sites means that projects are not only built to withstand climate change impacts, such as increased sea level rise and storm surge, but are also designed to help reduce those negative effects on a larger scale. While the globe moves towards decarbonizing by 2050, it is essential that projects act locally, too, to push the needle forward in protecting all waterfront communities.</div></body>

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WEDG as a Tool for Decarbonizing Waterfronts

Rapidly warming waters, increasing sea surface temperatures, and melting glaciers and ice sheets are raising sea levels globally and bringing stronger storms to our waterfronts. The cause? Human-induced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions which have resulted in human-induced climate change. Mitigating climate change by reducing GHG emissions is a systems-scale and policy challenge, and while an individual site can only do so much, it is imperative that they contribute to broader GHG reduction goals. WEDG® (Waterfront Edge Design Guidelines), known for its focus on adaptation and resilience, is also a tool for mitigation.