One consequence of being the nation’s historic industrial heartland is that the Northeast-Midwest region suffers disproportionately from vacant contaminated properties, or brownfields.  The Institute has been at the forefront of brownfields policy development and information dissemination since the early 1990s, when the Institute organized the first brownfields conference in Chicago in 1991 and published the landmark New Life For Old Buildings.  The Institute’s objective is to accelerate the productive reuse of brownfields and thereby help localities reach the environmental, economic development, and fiscal stability goals that are served when unproductive and contaminated land is redeveloped.

The Institute pursues this objective partly through providing information to Congress, as well as state and local political leaders.  The Institute is unique among policy centers because of its ties to Congress through the Northeast-Midwest Congressional and Senate Coalitions.  The Institute plays a key role in coordinating the activities of the National Brownfields Coalition, an alliance of 20 national brownfields stakeholders that works to improve federal brownfields programs and expand brownfields financing resources.

The Institute also assists the spread of best practices in the field by publishing and disseminating reports about model programs, replicable projects, and lessons learned from the field, and has published more than 100 reports and white papers.

A current priority is to promote the links between brownfields, sustainable development, and climate change.