Urban edge trees: Urban form and meteorology drive elemental carbon deposition to canopies and soils.

Urban tree canopies are a significant sink for atmospheric elemental carbon (EC)--an air pollutant that is a powerful climate-forcing agent and threat to human health. Understanding what controls EC deposition to urban trees is therefore important for evaluating the potential role of vegetation in air pollution mitigation strategies. We estimated wet, dry, and throughfall EC deposition for oak trees at 53 sites in Denton, TX.

Barriers and incentives for sustainable urban development: An analysis of the adoption of LEED-ND projects.

The adoption rate for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design - Neighborhood Development (LEED-ND) projects has varied considerably across the United States. Local governments and developers face variation in the incentives and barriers while implementing LEED-ND projects across four key dimensions - economic, policy, public awareness, and organizational. This paper investigated the drivers of variation using a mixed-methods approach including a two-stage Heckman model, a survey of Texas subdivision developers and interviews with local planning officials.