Perceiving the opportunity to create markets well-suited to green infrastructure — National Resource Defense Council (NRDC), the Nature Conservancy and EKO Asset Management Partners joined forces to create “NatLab,” the Natural Infrastructure Finance Laboratory. NatLab conducted its first pilot in Philadelphia, a city that over the next 25 years plans to transform at least 9,654 impervious acres into “greened acres” that capture runoff onsite.

Using Philadelphia as a case story, NatLab’s Creating Clean Water Cash Flows report details strategies a wide range of cities can use to draw private capital into greening efforts, by driving down upfront costs, improving payback periods for retrofits. The report offers detailed analysis of the roles that project aggregation, offsite mitigation and credit trading programs, stormwater fee discounts and subsidies, and private-public partnerships can play in stimulating much-needed private investment in green infrastructure.