Sustainable Landscapes

Making buildings more energy efficient and sustainable helps protect the environment, reduces operating expenses, and improves human comfort. But, just as important is the landscape that surrounds the building.

The Sustainable Sites Initiative defines sustainability as it relates to the landscape as, “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.” Expanding on that definition, sustainable landscapes are stable and productive ecosystems that conserve the physical and biological processes occurring within those environments. These ecosystems, when functioning properly, not only provide humans with the basics for survival—food, water, air, plant materials, etc.—but also with intangible benefits that promote our health and well-being through our interactions with nature.

Any landscape, whether it is a large subdivision, a park, a commercial property, or a single home, has the potential to provide some or all of these benefits and, therefore, holds inherent value. When we perceive landscapes as being valuable to our well-being, we are motivated to protect and care for them in a way that ensures their viability not only for the short term but well into the future.

Design and construction of sustainable landscapes includes strategies in five key areas: soils, vegetation, hydrology, materials, and human health and well-being. The following are some of the strategies that can be incorporated into any existing landscape to increase its level of sustainability and, therefore, its overall value.

• Use native plants
• Preserve and restore soils
• Put the right plant in the right place
• Avoid invasive plants
• Limit high-maintenance lawn areas
• Use plants with long life spans
• Provide opportunities for outdoor physical, mental, and social interaction
• Promote diversity within landscape plantings
• Conserve building energy usage with plants
• Reduce runoff, retain stormwater on site
• Capture rainwater for reuse
• Preserve and restore native wildlife habitat
• Use least-toxic/organic methods for maintenance
• Conserve energy and water usage for landscape maintenance
• Recycle organic matter by composting
• Reduce water usage