Soon to be included in LEED certification for buildings and developments of all types, the Sustainable Sites Initiative Draft Guidelines are back for more public comment and better than ever. I’ve already sung the praises of this joint effort of the American Society of Landscape Architects, the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center and the U.S. Botanic Gardens, based on its first draft.
Highlights?
Its 5 "Areas of Focus" are:
- Hydrology
- Soiils
- Vegetation
- Materials
- And get this – Human Health and Well-Being
And on the subject of vegetation, it calls for the right plant in the right place, whether the plant is native or "appropriate" nonnative, but also for supporting biodiversity, reducing pesticide use and conserving water. They all encourage the protection and use of existing vegetation – because disturbance has its cost – and the use of trees to lower energy consumption.
This is JUST the kind of holistic approach that we need.
Anne Raver gave Sustainable Sites a very nice mention this week in the New York Times, quoting the good folk at the U.S. Botanic Garden.
Click here to see the report. The deadline for comments is Inauguration Day, so you won’t forget.
{ 4 comments }
Susan – thanks for lauding the Initiative. I’ve been tracking it and commenting through ASLA and it’a high time to be paying attention to the exterior portion of the equation.
It’s a slow crawl, but sustainable landscaping will be evolving and germinating everything we do around our homes. I’m convinced.
The times are certainly changing. What the Sustainable Sites initiative (as well as other state specific initiatives) means for homeowners was a topic at the board of directors meeting I attended yesterday for the California chapter of the Association of Professional Landscape Designers – it appears to be well publicized.
I think the challenge of these guidelines for the typical homeowner is their complexity. I have to admit I haven’t been able to slog through the whole kajillion pages of the Sustainable Sites guidelines yet, and these are not new concepts for me. I’m not sure if there are plans to simplify for homeowners, or if they are not really the target.
I’m giving a talk on sustainable design to a garden club on Monday and am focusing strictly on choosing the right plants and conserving water – I’d rather see people walk away with two ideas they can actually implement rather than ten ideas that just overwhelm them. Same idea as garden blogs (sustainable sites like yours especially) – I like my learnin’ delivered in easy to digest stages, preferably with lots of pictures.
I agree. A 180 page PDF is a bit long. But it’s very encouraging that this is becoming a priority. I’m especially glad the proposal also considers biodiversity. For too many people “sustainable” seems to mean “I’ll save some money” and “it won’t poisen my kids or my dog”. They forget that their kids might also want some bird & mammals left when they’re grown. Let’s hope it will help.
Renate
Excellent. I’ll check it out.
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