Valuing the benefits of blue-green infrastructure
An approach to help identify and quantify the financial, social and environmental benefits of sustainable drainage systems and natural flood management.
Documents
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Details
The Environment Agency has worked in partnership with CIRIA and others to update B£ST (Benefits Estimation Tool –valuing the benefits of blue-green infrastructure).
B£ST provides a structured approach to help identify and quantify the financial, social and environmental benefits of sustainable drainage systems (SuDS) and natural flood management (NFM) measures – collectively known as blue-green infrastructure.
The updated tool is based on the latest evidence and can be used to support the cost–benefit assessments needed to secure investment in new blue-green infrastructure. It will help risk management authorities, planners, landscape architects and drainage engineers to understand and measure the benefits of blue-green infrastructure in urban, semi-urban and rural settings. They can also compare blue-green infrastructure to more traditional approaches such as flood walls and piped drainage.