THE SUSTAINABLE SITES INITIATIVE™

L A N D S C A P E S GIVEBACK

B E N E F I T S O F S U S T A I N A B L E S I T E S

HEALTHYL A N D S C A P E S

At High Point, a residential neighborhoodin Seattle, WA, a vegetated median stripcollects and absorbs rainwater from thestreet, keeping it out of city storm sewers.

A subdivision, a shopping mall, or even one home—all have the potential to clean air and water, reduceflooding, cool urban air temperature, and combatclimate change. And all can offer us respite, restoringour minds, bodies, and spirits.

Yet conventional land management practices toooften damage the environment’s ability to provideessential benefits that support human health andwell-being.

NATIONAL GUIDELINESThat is why the Sustainable Sites Initiative hasproduced the first national, voluntary set ofperformance benchmarks to encourage thesustainable design, construction, andmaintenance of landscapes.

As these guidelines become the acceptedpractices, they will transform the ways we designand build on the land, creating landscapes thatnourish life for generations to come.

Photo by Roger Williams

Traditional landscapepractices can result innearly 90 percent ofstormwater being lost asrunoff, leading to flooding.Sustainable stormwaterpractices—such as usingrainwater in ornamentalfeatures like this one atQueens Botanical Gardenin Flushing, NY (right)—can not only reduce runoffdramatically but can alsoreduce the use of potablewater.

WHY SUSTAINABLEPRACTICES?Because conventional practices are often harmful in the short term and, in the long run, damage thehealthy ecosystems that support all life.

• Soils compacted during construction cause long-term costs in damaged vegetation and increasedrunoff, which leads to flooding problems andwater pollution.

• Pesticides can contaminate ground and surfacewater, and yet more are currently applied tosuburban lawns and gardens than to agriculturalplots.

• Nationally,13 percent of municipal waste is fromyard and landscape trimmings. Such waste clogsour landfills and costs cities money.

• Landscape irrigation accounts for more than 7billion gallons of potable water daily nationwide, at least half of which may be wasted.

• Exotic invasive species contribute to $38 billionin damage annually in the United States.

Photo by Jeff Goldberg/Esto

INLAND WATER• Water supply and

regulation• Hazard mitigation• Waste decomposition

and treatment• Human health and

well-being benefits• Food and renewable

non-food products

DRYLANDS• Global climate

regulation• Erosion and sediment

control • Pollination• Waste decomposition

and treatment• Food and renewable

non-food products

URBAN• Global climate regulation • Local climate regulation• Air and water cleansing• Human health and well-

being benefits• Cultural benefits

ISLANDS• Air and water cleansing• Water supply and

regulation• Hazard mitigation• Human health and

well-being benefits • Food and renewable

non-food products

MARINE• Global climate

regulation• Waste decomposition

and treatment• Food and renewable

non-food products• Cultural benefits

MOUNTAIN AND POLAR• Local climate regulation• Water supply and

regulation• Erosion and sediment

control• Human health and

well-being benefits• Food and renewable

non-food products• Cultural benefits

FOREST & WOODLANDS•Global climate

regulation•Local climate

regulation•Air and water

cleansing•Erosion and

sediment control•Habitat functions•Waste decomposition

and treatment•Human health and

well-being benefits•Food and renewable

non-food products•Cultural benefits

CULTIVATED• Pollination• Food and renewable

non-food products

COASTAL• Water supply and

regulation• Hazard mitigation• Habitat functions• Waste decomposition

and treatment• Human health and

well-being benefits• Food and renewable

non-food products• Cultural benefits

THE VALUEOF SUSTAINABLELANDSCAPESThe Sustainable Sites Initiative recognizesthat any landscape is capable of providingthe natural benefits essential to human andecological health.

• Strategically planting vegetation outdoorsreduces the energy consumption neededto cool the indoors by up to 25 percent.

• In Minneapolis, street trees resulted insavings of $6.8 million in energy costs and$9.1 million in stormwater treatment, andproperty values increased by $7.1 million.

• Compost and mulch can decrease soilcompaction and increase soil’s nutrientcontent and its ability to hold water.

Earth’s ecosystems provide a multitudeof services that people need and want;those shown above are just a few ofthem. Sustainable landscapes can alsoprovide many of these services.

The green roof atop the American Society of Landscape Architects’ Washington, DC, headquarters is a tranquil place for employee yoga.

At Cayuga Medical Centerin Ithaca, NY, the belief thatlandscape experiencesbenefit human health andwell-being led to creation ofrestorative garden spaceson the hospital campus.

THE HUMAN FACTORSustainable design provides people the manybenefits of encounters with nature and outdoorexercise. Research shows that a green view from a window or a lunchtime walk through well-tendedgrounds can restore concentration and reduceanxiety and aggression. The benefits of exercisereduce medical costs due to heart disease, strokes,osteoarthritis, diabetes, and some types of cancer.In urban areas, plants clean the air of toxins thatadversely affect those with asthma-related illnesses.

Photo courtesy of ASLA

Photo by Tom W

atson, Tom W

atson Photography

The pages shown at left are from TheSustainable Sites Initiative: Guidelinesand Performance Benchmarks 2009.The full document is available free fordownloading at www.sustainablesites.org.At Kresge Foundation’s headquarters inTroy, MI (above), more than half the sitewas restored to green space planted withappropriate vegetation.

“The nation behaves well if it treats the natural resources as assets which it must turn over to the next generation

increased, and not impaired, in value.”

P R E S I D E N T T H E O D O R E R O O S E V E LT

TOOLS READY TO USEUntil now, buildings have had nationalstandards for “green” construction, but littleexisted for the space beyond the buildingskin. The Sustainable Sites guidelines offertools for those who design, construct,operate, and maintain landscapes of allsizes. Modeled after the LEED® (Leadershipin Energy and Environmental Design) GreenBuilding Rating SystemTM of the U.S. GreenBuilding Council, the new rating system givescredits for the sustainable use of water, theconservation of soils, wise choices ofvegetation and materials, and design thatsupports human health and well-being.

Photo by Conservation D

esign Forum

REWARDSF O R S T E W A R D S H I PWhen we create sustainable landscapes, the landscapes give back:

Cleaner water and air

Cooler cities

Carbon capture that mitigates climate change

Resource conservation and regeneration

Greater energy efficiency

Habitat conservation and biodiversity

Lower costs and improved performance from stormwater management

Better living conditions

For more information, see www.sustainablesites.org or contact info@sustainablesites.org

Both the Malolepsy/Battershell residence inPortland, OR (left), andClinton Beach Park onWhidbey Island, WA(below), used salvagedand recycled materialsto conserve resources.

Along with a diverse group of stakeholder organizations,the Initiative creates voluntary national guidelines andperformance benchmarks for sustainable land design,construction, and maintenance. Of sustainability’s threecomponents, the Sustainable Sites Initiative’s approachemphasizes the environment and includes aspects ofeconomic feasibility and social equity that intersect withthe environment.

Public feedback on drafts released in 2007 and 2008informed the Initiative’s guidelines, benchmarks, andrating system. Pilot projects running from 2010 to 2012will help in evaluating and revising the benchmarks.

WHO WE AREThe Sustainable Sites Initiative is an interdisciplinary effort by

the American Society of Landscape Architects,

the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Centerat The University of Texas at Austin,

and the United States Botanic Garden

that is working to transform land development and management practices.

Photo by D.Tolm

an