In Fall Semester 2022, the Advanced Landscape Architectural Design I and Land Development Principles and Practices courses at WVU were key partner of the Brownfields Assistance Center (BAC) at WVU. In 2021, the BAC was selected by the EPA to be the Technical Assistance to Brownfields (TAB) provider for EPA Region 3. WVU TAB technical assistance goals include, among others, project development and site design assistance. The two courses were instrumental in accomplishing this goal in a way that provided critical tools for community redevelopment in the form of data, master plans and site plans while providing students with an understanding of brownfields and redevelopment processes.

Students had to redevelop the North Potomac Yard (NPY) in Alexandria, VA into an environmentally sustainable, transit oriented, mixed-use community. The NPY is a 69.07 acres brownfield located in the northeast area of the City, immediately south of downtown Washington, D.C. and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. The area has served as a north-south trade and transportation corridor since prehistoric times, and most recently as the site of an active railroad and rail yard.