Standards in Sustainable Landscape Architecture Cayce Bean and Chia-Hui Yang (Mayla) csd Center for Sustainable Development UTSoA - Seminar in Sustainable Architecture Standards in Sustainable Landscape Architecture Cayce Bean Chia-Hui Yang (Mayla) Fig. 01 Kresge Foundation Headquarters, Troy, Michigan Sustainable Landscape goals of these eight parameters Architecture address environmental benefits. Sustainability and conservation Sustainable landscape architecture landscaping both strive to work creates ecological designs for the with nature to reduce air pollution, outdoor and urban environment. It increase water quality, lower beginss with appropriate systems water consumption, utilize native which address function, cost, plants, and reduce usage of pest energy efficiency, beauty, the and control. However, sustainability and environment. Broadly speaking, conservation differ in the emphasis sustainable landscape architecture is sustainability places on addressing the integration of ecological, social, social and economic factors in cultural, and economic factors in addition to environmental factors. In designing landscapes to help protect other words, conservation can be habitat, contribute to stormwater seen as the environmental part of the management, conserve water, sustainability concept. among other objectives. The current trend in the practice of landscape Scope architecture is to find the balance of “aesthetics and function” required for The first part of this paper examines successful sustainable design.1 the Sustainable Sites Initiative as an example of a current benchmark Sustainability vs. Conservation and rating system for landscape architecture. The second part of The Chesapeake Conservation this paper addresses the concept Landscaping Council (CCLC) of living systems and details two defines “Eight Essential Elements” materials, water and vegetation, for conservation landscaping.2 The which are relevant to 1 UTSoA - Seminar in Sustainable Architecture Initiative won a 2009 Green Business Award. Overview The initiative’s definition of sustainability derives from the well-known Brundtland report. To be sustainable, a site has “design, construction, operations, and maintenance practices that meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”6 Sustainable sites do not only mitigate negative impacts on the environment, but are a mutual benefit to the site itself and the people who use it. In addition, a sustainable site must address Fig. 02 Aspects of Sustainability social, environmental, and economic concerns. The economic aspects addressed must take into account both the Sustainable Sites Initiative building guidelines and rating the value of the natural systems and to living systems. This section systems. To this end, the USGBC of the site. This is the root of the also concludes with a few examples anticipates eventual adoption in program’s ecosystems services of living systems strategies. to their Leadership in Energy and framework. In other words, the Environmental Design (LEED) guidelines have been built around Sustainable Sites Initiative program. The Sustainable Sites the concept that people receive guidelines, however, will not apply benefits, in the form of goods and History and Objectives only to sites with buildings, rather, services from healthy ecosystems. “the Initiative seeks to apply The Sustainable Sites Initiative sustainability principles to any site, Ecosystem services grew out of a conference hosted with or without buildings, which in 2005 by the American Society will be protected, developed or Ecosystems provide goods and of Landscape Architects (ASLA), redeveloped for public or private services to us that without which 4 the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower development.” The Initiative sees we would not be able to survive. Center. The United States Botanical the opportunity for the guidelines Often, when evaluating the economic Garden (USBG) joined the effort in to be applied to a wide range of considerations of a development 2006 when the initiative officially projects from parks to college project, these services are began. The United States Green campuses to utility corridors. To inadequately valued or neglected Building Council (USGBC) became a achieve this broad application, the entirely. This can result in an 3 stakeholder in 2007. stakeholders are also interested in inaccurate analysis that hides many partnering with local organizations of the potential costs and benefits 5 The main goals of the initiative over common objectives. The draft to the project and to the site. In are to create a set of guidelines report of Performance Benchmarks addition to these more tangible and benchmark which become was released in 2008 and the factors, ecosystems can contribute a stand alone guide and rating Performance Benchmarks were to “our healthy, our prosperity, our system for site sustainability and released November 5, 2009. In security, and to our social and to serve as a supplement for other October 2009, the Sustainable Sites 2 Standards in Sustainable Landscape Architecture MOUNTAIN FOREST & DRYLANDS CULTIVATED URBAN ISLANDS AND POLAR WOODLANDS • Global climate • Pollination • Global climate • Air and water • Local climate • Global climate regulation • Food and regulation cleansing regulation regulation • Erosion and renewable • Local climate • Water supply and • Water supply • Local climate sediment control non-food regulation regulation and regulation regulation • Pollination products • Air and water • Hazard mitigation • Erosion and • Air and water • Waste decomposition cleansing • Human health sediment control cleansing and treatment • Human health and and well-being • Human health and • Erosion and • Food and renewable well-being benefits benefits well-being benefits sediment control non-food products • Cultural benefits • Food and renewable •Food and renewable • Habitat functions non-food products non-food products • Waste decomposition • Cultural benefits and treatment • Human health and well-being benefits • Food and renewable non-food products • Cultural benefits INLAND WATER COASTAL MARINE • Water supply and regulation • Water supply and regulation • Global climate regulation • Hazard mitigation • Hazard mitigation • Waste decomposition • Waste decomposition and treatment • Habitat functions and treatment • Human health and well-being benefits • Waste decomposition and treatment • Food and renewable • Food and renewable non-food products • Human health and well-being benefits non-food products • Food and renewable non-food products • Cultural benefits • Cultural benefits Fig. 02 Examples of some of the goods and services various ecosystems can provide for communities. cultural identity.”7 10. Food and renewable non-food strategies is a cost worthy expense. products This means “presenting an The initiative has defined twelve 11. Culture benefits9 accurate valuation of the benefits of essential ecosystem services. A ecosystems.”10 sustainable site should protect Often, sites are not developed in a and enhance these services.8 The way to preserve these services or Ecosystem services are the structure specified ecosystem services are: they are used and then abandoned for the Initiative’s guidelines because as brownfields. Even brownfields, they believe that any landscape 1. Global climate regulation however, are performing some “holds the potential both to improve 2. Local climate regulation valuable ecosystem services and and to regenerate the natural 3. Air and water cleansing furthermore, could be restored in benefits and services provided by 4. Water supply and regulation such a way to restore and enhance ecosystems in their undeveloped 5. Erosion and sediment control the ecosystem services of the site. state,” and that sites can be 6. Hazard mitigation In the restoration of brownfields, in developed in a way to enhance these 7. Pollination particular, and the development of services and improve the benefits for 8. Habitat functions new projects, in general, there is a the humans and the ecosystem.11 9. Waste decomposition and challenge to convince developers treatment that changing conventional site 3 UTSoA - Seminar in Sustainable Architecture Guidelines and Benchmarks The goal of the initiative produced performance benchmarks is to “develop credits that would shift the landscape development and management market toward sustainability while still being practical and achievable.”12 This focus on achievable outcomes, however, is not an allowance for less rigorous solutions – the bar has been set high. The stakeholders have acknowledged that defining the credits and how they are quantified and measured will need to be an evolving process, adapting to new conditions, technologies, and trends, in addition to responding to the performance of previously attempted solutions. The benchmarks are performance Fig. 04 Landscape Architecture intergrate the Living Material to build the Living Systems based and interrelated for several reasons. Ecosystem conditions cannot be generalized between 1. Site Selection the concept of landscape materiality, region. A strategy that works 2. Pre-design Assessment and rejecting nature as naturally positively in one region may be Planning occurring and instead embracing neutral or detrimental in another 3. Site Design – Ecological it as a dynamic set of constructed region. The credits are designed Components systems. In living systems, to encourage a holistic approach to 4. Site Design – Human