Rational Parks
Eco-parks gather like-minded waste and environmental interests on brownfield sites to mine the benefits of collaboration.
April 19, 2013
Bruce Clark, P.E., Shani Kruljac and Marc Rogoff, Ph.D.
As environmental sustainability becomes more prevalent in all aspects of mainstream society, it is no surprise that communities and industrial developers are joining the “green” movement by promoting environmentally minded industrial parks. These “green” industrial parks — also known as eco-parks or resource recovery and energy parks — began making an appearance in the United States in the mid-1990s in different forms.
The basic idea is to create a space where multiple businesses can form a symbiotic relationship centered upon conservation of raw materials and other natural resources. Many eco-parks also strive to use alternative energy sources, as well as utilize recycled or earth-friendly materials in the designs and building construction. This article examines what eco-parks are, and what makes them desirable and successful.
Although there is no formal definition of an eco-park, most observers identify a set of common characteristics, including:
• An objective to have some portion of the waste stream recycled into another use.