The second question highlights a need for additional water conservation and a susceptibility to drought. The third question indicates a potential economic benefit in which urban water conservation could be sold for profit to nearby agriculture areas. a. Infrastructure is physically or virtually connected   b. Both cities currently use >90 % of their water LY411575 order allotment   c. Agricultural water is priced higher than residential/urban pricing   PAIRS metric question types After the three true/false questions, each section has five multiple choice questions with responses given 0–3 points each. The multiple choice questions can

be grouped into four types: quantitative, best practices, need and capability, and risk and preparation.3 Quantitative questions utilize commonly recorded metrics and create distinct thresholds for what is highly, moderately, minimally, and not sustainable by comparing values to national averages or best-practice figures. The following is an example of a quantitative question concerning the energy sector, specifically new building construction. The specific synergy being addressed is a knowledgeable local construction workforce with experience in building low-energy homes and offices. Construction of low-energy buildings not only considers reducing the energy consumption of the new building itself,

but also that of the community as

less efficient existing buildings are retrofitted. Epacadostat The impacts of many sustainable Dipeptidyl peptidase practices are not directly reflected in quantitative indicators. The social or environmental benefit may be difficult to quantify, or multiple sustainable practices may have overlapping impacts that cannot be distinguished. Indicators may be used to measure the aggregate sum of these practices. In some instances, a Selleckchem MDV3100 simple tally of the known best practices provides an indirect measure of impact. Some practices may be easier to implement, and others may have a greater impact, but ambitious sustainability goals require a holistic approach. The following is an example of a question from the PAIRS metric which tallies the number of water conservation practices applied within a community. A typical evaluation of this question with both an urban and agricultural city might go as follows. The urban area may specify building codes which mandate low-flow showers and toilets and offer incentives for low water intensity landscaping. The city would score one point for their two sustainable practices. A nearby agricultural city monitors surface water runoff and subsidizes drip irrigation installations would also score one point on this question. Treating both cities as a single entity, there would be four best practices in use, and the combined score would be three points. Applying the formula of Eq.