The Brownfield Area Benefit Estimator (BABE)

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Project Overview

The Brownfields Area Benefits Estimator (BABE) is an EPA-funded toolkit that helps communities project and track the wide-ranging benefits of brownfield redevelopment. Developed by the Center for Environmental Policy and Management with partners from the E.P. Systems Group, Inc., Symbiont, the Urban Institute and Lazarus Group LLC, BABE goes beyond traditional economic models to measure a broader set of community-centered indicators – including who benefits when contaminated land is restored.

What is BABE?

The toolkit includes a mobile app for collecting baseline property condition data (the Brownfields Tracker Template) and a web-based analysis portal (the Benefits Analysis Tool). Using national, state, local and hyper-local data, the system generates benefit and change projections for any user-defined area of interest. A companion guidebook describes the data sources, research-based formulas and ways to use each component.

Access the Toolkit

We're in the process of making all toolkit documents fully accessible. Some resources will be temporarily unavailable while updates are completed. Contact us at cepm@louisville.edu and we'll be happy to share a copy directly.

  • BABE Overview Story Map – An interactive introduction to the project, its goals and how the toolkit works.
  • BABE Guidebook – Documentation covering data sources, formulas, assumptions and instructions for each toolkit component. Brownfields Tracker
  • Brownfields Tracker User Guide – A Story Map walkthrough for using the tracker.
  • Brownfields Tracker Template (Beta) – The mobile data collection template in Survey123.
  • Request Access to the Brownfields Tracker Template – Submit a request to use the template in Survey123. Benefits Analysis Tool (BAT)
  • Benefits Analysis Tool (BAT) – The web-based portal for calculating community-benefit projections.
  • Russell Neighborhood Demo Project – A pilot project using Louisville, Kentucky, data. (Note: Please create a new project link before testing – do not add brownfields, parks or food sources on the pilot page directly.)
  • Example BAT Output Report – A sample report for a new grocery store using Russell Neighborhood data. Training Materials
  • Brownfields Tracker Introduction (May 2021) – Documentation and recording.
  • Benefits Analysis Tool Introduction (.pptx) (May 2021) – Slides and recording.

Team Leaders

  • Lauren C. Heberle, associate professor of sociology, director of the Center for Environmental Policy and Management, University of Louisville
  • Peter B. Meyer, president and chief economist of The E.P. Systems Group, Inc. and professor emeritus of urban policy and economics at the University of Louisville.
  • Joseph Schilling, senior research associate, The Urban Institute
  • Chris Harrell, founder and director of redevelopment for Lazarus Group LLC
  • Ryan Eckdale-Dudley, director of business development at Symbiont

Key Staff and Partners

CEPM:

  • Danielle Rohret
  • Rebecca Halpryn