Catalyzing Investment in Urban Sustainability
U.S.-Brazil Joint Initiative on
Urban Sustainability

Transportation, Air Quality & Streets

Green Design and Certification

Communities across the United States and in other countries are looking for opportunities to decrease energy consumption, this has led to the development of green building standard-setting organizations.

Green Streets and Alleys

Green streets and alleys can help local governments green their transportation network by managing stormwater runoff within transportation rights-of-way.

Managing Parking for Mobility

Congestion and prolonged commute times have become a negative reality of large cities.

Morar Carioca: Integrating Informal Settlements

As in many large cities in the developing world, a large portion of the population of Rio de Janeiro lives in informal settlements or slums, called favelas.

Organic Materials Management

U.S. EPA policy on organic materials management makes source reduction and food recovery priorities in order to achieve a wide range of benefits, including renewable energy production.

Philadelphia Sustainability Plan—Greenworks

In Mayor Michael Nutter's January 2008 inaugural address, he pledged to make Philadelphia the number one green city in America.

Rio "Bicycle Capital City"

Increased bicycle infrastructure in urban environments promotes the importance of cycling as a mode of transportation, resulting in improved urban mobility, environmental quality, social inclusion, and economic benefits.

SEPTAinable Transit Sustainability Plan

"SEPTAinable The Route to Regional Sustainability " is the sustainability plan for the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA), which provides public transit for 5 Pennsylvania Counties, including Philadelphia.

Sub-National Climate Change Policies

Understanding the challenge that climate change presents at a sub-national level, both the State and the City of Rio de Janeiro have passed nation-leading sub-national climate change laws and instituted policies to decrease emissions and improve sustainability in the region.

Zero Waste Strategies

A "zero waste" goal recognizes that incremental improvements in resource efficiency may not enable us to reach a sustainable future in the way that a more comprehensive goal of eliminating waste can.

BVRio: Incentivizing Green Credit Systems

Bolsa Verde do Rio de Janeiro (BVRio) or the Rio de Janeiro Green Exchange is an organization created to develop and operate environmental markets in Brazil.

Clean Development Mechanism (UNFCCC)

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) established the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) as part of the Kyoto Protocol.

Climate and Green Bonds

Climate and green bonds are fixed-income financial instruments that are issued in order to raise capital for the implementation of environmental projects, often climate change mitigation- or adaptation-related activities or renewable or energy efficiency projects, and therefore allow investors to report to their members on how their secure investments are also contributing to addressing environmental challenges.

Sustainable Public-Private Loan Strategy

Public-private loan structures can support sustainability projects that might not otherwise take place.

Transit Revitalization Investment District (TRID)

In 2004, the state of Pennsylvania passed the TRID Act.

American Street

The American Street corridor is an historical industrial center in North Philadelphia.

Big Green Block

The goal of the Big Green Block project was to transform the sites of the Shissler Recreation Center and the Kensington High School for the Creative and Performing Arts and the surrounding area into the biggest, greenest block in Philadelphia.

"Bike Rio" System

Since 2011, the "Bike Rio" project has installed an integrated system of over 60 bicycle stations in fourteen major neighborhoods (over 600 bicycles) for use in Rio de Janeiro.

Car Sharing Service

Philadelphia began using a private car sharing service to meet the transportation needs of municipal employees in 2003.

Columbus Square

The stormwater planters at Columbus Square are the first of their kind to be installed by the Philadelphia Water Department (PWD), converting a portion of Reed Street into a green street.

Fundão Channel Recovery and Revitalization

The Fundão Channel, which divides Fundão Island from the mainland of Rio de Janeiro along the busy Red Line highway, became polluted over the years by dumped petrochemical residues and contaminated runoff.

Green Districts Program: Ilha do Bom Jesus

In order to stimulate innovation and concentrated economic development, the State of Rio de Janeiro has developed the concept of "Green Districts."

Hybrid Diesel Buses

The City of Philadelphia is using hybrid buses to improve air quality and reduce pollution.

Integrating Transport Modes for Sustainability

In the City of Rio de Janeiro, a staggering 74% of motorized trips take place by public transportation, and traffic congestion is at an all-time high at more than one hour of commute time (per trip) on average.

Morar Carioca "Verde": Greener Development

The Rio de Janeiro Municipal Secretariat of Housing (SMH) made respect for the environment a core principle of their interventions in the "favelas" (slums) of the city.

Percy Street

The 800 block of South Percy Street in South Philadelphia showcases the city's first porous green street.

Porto Maravilha: Urban Waterfront Revitalization

Since the 1970s, the Port of Rio de Janeiro has fallen into disrepair-currently 1 million m2 of real estate are under-occupied and many historic buildings have not been kept up.

Prove: Cooking Oil Reuse

The Reuse of Vegetable Oils in the State of Rio de Janeiro Program, or Prove (for the Portuguese-language acronym), was created in 2008 by the Secretary of State for the Environment (SEA) in order to stimulate the collection of used cooking oil and its reuse in the production of soap and alternative sources of energy such as biodiesel.

Queen Lane

The Philadelphia Water Department installed Philadelphia's first stormwater bumpouts, or landscaped curb extensions, on Queen Lane in East Falls in 2011.

Rio Bus Rapid Transit

Bus Rapid Transit systems (BRTs) provide high-quality, fast, and cost-effective high-capacity transportation by creating dedicated lanes, set stations, and regular and frequent service, greatly improving mobility especially in dense urban settings.

Rio Operations Center

The Rio Operations Center, inaugurated in December 2010, integrates the data and monitoring functions of approximately 30 municipal and state agencies and corresponding utilities under one roof.