Developers and designers in the New York-New Jersey region will soon have a new tool to help create more storm- and flood-resilient buildings and parks along the water. The voluntary Waterfront Edge Guidelines rating system, called WEDG and fashioned after the LEED green-building rating system, could become a model for other coastal and riverfront areas, says it developer.
The checklist-based WEDG is intended to encourage designs that are resilient, accessible to the public, ecologically healthy and economically feasible. "We are trying to incentivize waterfront edge design," said Michael Porto, director of outreach and planning for the non-profit Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance, at MWA's 2014 Waterfront Conference, held on April 23 in New York City.