Natural Capital, Ecosystem Services, and SITES Credits

Posted on August 1, 2012 in Ecosystem Service Valuation by Ann Hollingshead

Watch Senior Economist Ed MacMullan's presentation to the 2012 Ecosystem Services Partnership Conference

In a presentation to the 5th Annual ESP Conference in Portland, Oregon, Senior Economist Ed MacMullan addressed the economic and ecosystem service benefits of prerequisites and credits issued by the Sustainable Sites Initiative (SITES), an interdisciplinary effort to create "voluntary national guidelines and performance benchmarks for sustainable land design, construction and maintenance practices."

The presentation below addresses the complex relationship between natural capital, ecosystem goods and services, and human well-being and introduces the ECONorthwest framework for analyzing these issues.

Ed MacMullan is a nationally recognized expert on ecosystem services and the economics of low impact development. He currently serves on the Hydrology Subcommittee of the Sustainable Sites Initiative, where he helped develop the guidelines and performance benchmarks for the SITES rating system.

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