overview.md

Innovative Web Applications for Local Communities

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is partnering with the Georgia Center for Innovation for Energy Technology and Georgia Tech to work with local Georgia communities to apply web tools that report the environmental and economic impact of industries in both local communities, state regions and the entire US using 24 indicators, including jobs, value-added, air quality, climate impact, energy use, water use and land use. Using an economy-wide input-output model of industries, households and the environment, the new online tools help communities identify opportunities for both economic growth and environmental sustainability.

View presentation, read more about the model, review current project areas and join in our upcoming web challenge.

Sample Pages

Starting points for the 2021 Sustainable Communities Web Challenge.

• Community Start Page
• Base Page Template - Copy to create your community page
• Beyond Carbon - Initiatives and Rankings
• Coastal Recycling - Activated Carbon - Inflow Sources
• Transition to Electric Vehicle Manufacturing - Automotive NAICS Data
• Code for America Brigade Map
• Compare Industries
• Environmental Impact Profile "Nutritional Labels"
• Mockup of SMM/LCA 3.0

Opportunities for communities include

• Being one of the first communities in the US to take advantage of the EPA's new input-ouput model

• Creating an economic development tool for community decision-making that includes environmental aspects

• Looking in depth at your community's total footprint

• Evaluating prospective industries and the potential jobs they could directly and indirectly create, and looking at their potential environmental performance

• Determining how technological improvements in your community's industries, utilities, or consumption patterns could reduce its footprint

Learn more about community participation.

Other resources include

• Teachers and Students may use the applications to learn about the connections between industries, households, and the environment in communities.

• The Innovation Economy - Economist Mariana Mazzucato talks about Entrepreneurial Ecosystems

• Community Carbon Capture - How manufacturers and municipalities are reusing material to capture carbon and generate clean energy from waste streams.