|
|
New report brings sustainable landscape mainstream
2 Nov, 2007 LM Direct!AUSTIN, TX — A new report will help usher sustainable landscape design into mainstream use. Featuring over 200 recommendations for designing and building sustainable landscapes, the report is part of the Sustainable Sites Initiative, a partnership between the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA), the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center at the University of Texas at Austin and the United States Botanic Garden to create voluntary guidelines and a rating system for sustainable landscape design. The report is available at www.sustainablesites.org.
"We want to identify the gold standards in sustainable landscape design and marry them to a practical, real-world approach so that designers, planners, builders and developers can utilize them," said Nancy Somerville, executive vice president and CEO of ASLA. "This report is an important step to bring sustainable landscape practices into widespread use.”
The Preliminary Report on Standards and Guidelines represents thousands of hours of work in the past year by 32 experts in fields ranging from design and construction to soils, hydrology, and public health. The findings examine the positive environmental impact sustainable landscapes offer. The preliminary report also details practices that degrade landscapes and should be avoided, as well as techniques for designing landscapes that benefit the environment.
"The truly exciting thing about sustainable landscapes is that they actually help us confront some of the most serious environmental problems the world is facing now, including climate change," said Susan Rieff, Executive Director of the Wildflower Center. "Plants absorb carbon dioxide — a greenhouse gas and a major cause of global warming — from the air and soils can capture it and hold it. Native grasses may be even more effective in sequestering carbon than trees. This can help mitigate climate change.”
"People want to do the right thing, "said Holly Shimizu, Executive Director of the United States Botanic Garden, "but they need guidelines. The standards developed under Sustainable Sites will integrate landscape into the overall green movement. Without the landscape component, a truly sustainable lifestyle isn't possible."
A primary purpose of releasing this preliminary work is to solicit feedback, comments and additional information from professionals and other stakeholders who can contribute to knowledge about ways to achieve sustainable landscapes. Interested persons can join this review process at www.sustainablesites.org. The review period lasts 45 days and comments are due by January 11, 2008.
The U.S. Green Building Council is lending its support to this project and plans to adopt the Sustainable Sites metrics into future versions of LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental design) Green Building Rating System.
After feedback is gathered from the review process, a comprehensive report will be published in October 2008 with the release of final Standards and Guidelines for Sustainable Sites planned for May 2009. The Sustainable Sites Initiative plans to produce a rating system by May 2011 and test the guidelines with pilot projects in 2010 and 2011.
For more information, visit www.sustainablesites.org.
Please send any technical comments or questions to our webmaster.