Green engineering principles promote low-impact development

As human populations increase, relocate, and spread from existing urban A areas, pressures to build on undeveloped lands have become severe. Unfortunately, traditional development practices put the environment at risk by creating large tracts of impervious area, thereby destroying natural infiltration and buffer zones. Altering the land in these ways can devastate local water bodies by increasing erosion; mobilizing sediment; and dispersing nutrients, toxic substances, and other pollutants. The large amounts of polluted water that run off urbanized land areas can destroy habitats and disrupt entire ecosystems. However, proper attention to land development methodology and engineering can minimize these adverse environmental impacts.