Landscapes Now Get 'Green' Ratings

Open-air spaces — from parks and parking lots to corporate and college campuses — will have their own environmental rating system. The U.S. Botanic Garden in Washington, D.C., theAmerican Society of Landscape Architects, and the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center at the University of Texas-Austin created the first national rating system for sustainable landscapes. To learn more visit The Sustainable Sites Initiative

 

Until now, the most comprehensive guidelines and sought-after environmental ratings were for buildings. A Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification by the U.S. Green Building Council can qualify builders and cities for tax credits. Now that the nation is embracing all things green to save money and natural resources, a LEED rating also brings marketing cachet to a project.

The spaces around buildings now can earn similar recognition from The Sustainable Sites Initiatives' new star rating scale (four stars is the highest). After four years of development and public feedback, The Sustainable Sites Initiative has released the nation’s first rating system.Click here to learn more. Test and help refine this rating system by applying to be a Pilot Project. Applications due February 15, 2010. This can be the site and landscaping around a building.

 

The rating will measure several criteria. They may include planting trees in a parking lot or paving with permeable materials to minimize heat and storm-water runoff. Or landscaping with native plants to reduce maintenance, irrigation and use of pesticides.

 

The new landscape rating will help people realize that we are part of a larger natural system  which we are fully dependent on to survive.

 

Source: USA Today & The Washington Times, 5 November  2009