Green development is a broader discipline than green building, encompassing several things for sustainable living. More and more people are beginning to understand its cost benefits, inbuilt values and the satisfaction of contributing to the environment.

Green development consists of three basic categories—
(1) Response to the environment
(2) Efficient use of available resources
(3) Sensitivity to the needs of the community and bonding of the cultural links.

Green development projects consider land use, site planning and building design in a sustainable manner paramount in the overall planning process.
The following guidelines help in successfully completing green development projects.
(1)Complete System Thinking: This is a process in which all the systems are interconnected and the solutions that address multiple problems at the same time are sought.
(2)Upfront Design: Green development projects generally require higher investment of money and time as compared to normal projects. But such investments can be recovered quickly by avoiding later stage expenses such as litigation, redesign and stalled construction.
(3)Requirements of the End User: It aims at understanding the needs and wishes of the end user thoroughly and incorporating them. It is a vital part of green design and development and aims at achieving all the financial, social and environmental objectives at the least cost.
(4)Involvement of the People: Since all the projects are for the people, they should be involved actively and make them feel that they are part of the thinking process. People should be allowed to contribute fully and community bonding will increase dramatically.
There are several sources of funding for green development projects and financial aspects should not be a deterrent for them.
Silting development correctly makes a big impact on the overall process and costs. Brownfield development, a complex one can be undertaken to reuse the abandoned areas and also improve the living conditions of the people in their vicinity. Infill development is an effective tool in containing sprawl which is becoming a wasteful expenditure and also contains the expansion of the inner cities. Sprawl development is taking a heavy toll on the existing infrastructure and funding sources, causing more hardship than gains.
Eco industrial parks can contribute significantly in reducing the waste, recycle the resources and reuse them again and again as all the businesses located there are useful to one another.
Deconstruction should be taken to recycle the materials rather than reconstruction as it benefits the environment better and economically well also.
Community issues like school crowding, traffic congestion, pedestrian safety and open spaces should be accorded top most priority as they are often relegated to the background to accommodate economic issues.
Energy efficient design and practices, usage of renewable resources, recycling of used products suitably can bring down the cost enough to complete the green development project within the budgetary estimates and avoid transgressing on the natural resources indiscriminately.
With the above guidelines and practices, we can complete green development projects all round us and live in a harmonious environment in tune with nature.