Landscape Architecture

and Sustainability

Lee R. Skabelund
Landscape Architecture/Regional & Community Planning
Kansas State University

July 19, 2007

Dialogue on Sustainability
Green Building: What is it?
The practice of increasing the
efficiency with which buildings and
their landscapes (or sites) use and
harvest energy, water, and materials,
while reducing building impacts on
human health and the environment
via good siting, design, construction,
operation, maintenance, and future
removal or renovation.

Adapted from Wikipedia – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_building

 Green Building
Sustainable Design & Construction
avoids resource depletion
(energy, water, and raw materials);
prevents environmental degradation
(caused by facilities and infrastructure
throughout their life cycle); and
creates built environments that are
livable, comfortable, safe, and
productive
Whole Building Design Guide,
National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS)
http://www.wbdg.org/design/sustainable.php
 Six Fundamental Principles
 Optimize Site Potential
 Optimize Energy Use
 Protect and Conserve Water
 Use Environmentally Preferable
Products
 Enhance Environmental Quality
 Optimize Operational and
Maintenance Practices

Whole Building Design Guide, NIBS

 Top Strategies for Building Green
 Choose a Sustainable Site
 Maximize Water Efficiency
 Save Energy
 Make Smart Use of Materials and
Resources
 Safeguard Environmental Quality
Natural Resources Defense Council
“Building Green: From Principle to Practice”
www.nrdc.org/buildinggreen/strategies/default.asp
 Sustainable Sites and Landscaping
 Build on land previously used (brownfields, grayfields,
and other areas with older buildings, parking lots, etc.).
 Protect existing ecosystems (structure & functions).
 Use native and adapted drought-tolerant plants.
 Integrate natural features for amenity and function.
 Minimize building/paving footprints.
 Minimize earthmoving, soil compaction, and soil erosion.
 Fully use sun, prevailing winds, and existing vegetation.
 Maintain the natural hydroperiod of the site.
 Minimize impervious areas and use permeable paving.
 Use stormwater management techniques to assist with
on-site and regional groundwater and aquifer recharge.
 Minimize heat-island effects.
 Eliminate light pollution.

Sustainable Construction: Green Building Design and Delivery

by Charles Kibert (2005, pp. 141-142)
 10 Principles of Sustainable
Landscape Construction
 Keep sites healthy (ecologically intact).
 Heal injured sites.
 Favor living, flexible materials.
 Respect the waters of life.
 Pave less.
 Consider the origin and fate of materials.
 Know the costs of energy over time.
 Celebrate light, respect darkness.
 Defend silence (attenuate noise).
 Maintain to sustain (minimize maintenance and
fertilizer, herbicide, and pesticide demands).
Sustainable Landscape Construction: A Guide to Green Buildings Outdoors
by J. William Thompson & Kim Sorvig (2000).
 Sustainable Sites Initiative
Goals:
 Establish a standard for sustainable site design that
includes baseline thresholds for performance in
specific areas and clearly defined metrics.
 Link research and practice.
 Advance best management practices
 Continue discussions with USGBC to integrate
Sustainable Sites standards into existing LEED tools.
 Consider a future option for a site-only LEED tool.
 Promote awareness of sustainability standards and
their relevance in the marketplace.
 Encourage adoption of sustainability standards
through market incentives.
American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) and
Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
http://www.sustainablesites.org/
 Sustainable Sites will address:
efficiency for the private landowner and
improved quality of the surrounding environment,
maximizing conservation potential & sustainability for:
 Water Conservation – Design plantings & irrigation for
efficient water use.
 Water Quality – Design structures, slopes and surfaces to
minimize stormwater runoff and replenish soils & groundwater.
Use plants to filter out or capture water-borne pollutants.
 Biodiversity and Native Species – Establish and protect
areas of biological richness through the use of native plants.
 Resource & Energy Conservation – Select healthy, long-
lived plant specimens. Minimize travel distances for materials.
Design sites that do not require energy-intensive maintenance
to remain healthy and attractive.
 Soil Conservation – Minimize soil compaction and soil loss
during and after the construction process.
 Air Quality – Use plants to capture airborne pollutants, provide
shade, and temper summer heat and winter wind/cold.

(Adapted from “Defining A Sustainable Site”

www.landdevelopmenttoday.com/Article750.htm)
 ASLA Policy Statements on
Sustainability & Related Topics
Landscape architects (as planners, designers, and managers)
should share knowledge and encourage communication
between colleagues, professionals from other disciplines,
public officials and community leaders, clients, developers,
contractors, manufacturers, and suppliers to:
● Enhance the understanding of and strengthen the integral
relationship between natural processes and human activity and
how the concept of sustainable design fits into everyday life.
● Improve practices, processes, procedures, products, and
services that link long-term sustainable considerations and
development.
● Examine policies, regulations, and standards in industry and
government to identify barriers to the implementation of the
principles of sustainable development.
● Encourage community and business leaders to bring the
existing built and natural environments up to sustainable
development standards and reflect the ideals of sustainability in
the design, planning, and management of their communities.

source: www.asla.org/members/publicaffairs/Policy/Environmental_Sustainability.pdf
see also: www.asla.org/members/publicaffairs/publicpolicy.html
 Sustainable Design & Building Practices
KSU (Solar Decathlon House & International Student Center Rain-Garden)
Oberlin College - Oberlin, Ohio (Adam J. Lewis Center)
University of Oregon (Lillis Business Complex)
Pomona, CA (Center for Regenerative Studies)
Annapolis, MD (Chesapeake Bay Foundation)
Windhoek, Namibia, South Africa (Habitat Research & Development Center)
Portland, OR (Water Pollution Control Laboratory & Green-Streets)
Snowmass, CO (Rocky Mountain Institute)
Surrey, UK (BedZED Mixed-Use)
Ocean Springs, MS (Constructed Wetlands)
Long Island, NY (Avalon Park & Preserve)
Baltimore County, MD (Spring Branch Creek Restoration)
Austin, TX (Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center)
Salt Lake City, UT (Utah House)
Portland, OR (Natural Capital Center)
Kansas City, MO (Discovery Center)
Elmhurst, IL (IEPA/CDF Greenroof)

See also: www.architecture2030.org/regional_solutions/case_studies.html

Selected References & Three Project Sketches
 Energy-Conserving Site Design
Gregory McPherson, American Society of Landscape Architects, Washington, DC, 1984, 326 pp.
 Regenerative Design for Sustainable Development
John Tillman Lyle, John Wiley & Sons, NY, 1994, 338 pp
 Ecological Design
Sim Van der Ryn, Stuart Cowan, Island Press, Washington, DC, 1996, 201 pp.
 The Once and Future Forest: A Guide to Forest Restoration Strategies
Leslie Jones Sauer & Andropogon Associates, Island Press, Washington, DC, 1996, 381 pp.
 Rapid Watershed Planning Handbook: Guide for Managing Urbanizing Watersheds
Deb Caraco, Center for Watershed Protection, 1999
 The HOK Guidebook to Sustainable Design
Sandra Mendler, AIA, William Odell, AIA, John Wiley & Sons, NY, 2002, 412 pp.
 Sustainable Landscape Construction: A Guide to Green Buildings Outdoors
J. William Thompson, Kim Sorvig, Island Press, Washington, DC, 2000, 348 pp.
 Gaia’s Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture
Toby Hemenway, Chelsea Green Publishing, White River Junction, VT, 2001, 222 pp.
 Natural Landscaping: Designing with Native Plant Communities, Second Edition
John Diekelmann, Robert Schuster, University of Wisconsin Press, Madison, WI, 2002, 301 pp.
 Regenerative Design Techniques: Practical Applications in Landscape Design
Pete Melby, Tom Cathcart, John Wiley & Sons, NY, 2002, 410 pp.
 Sustainable Construction: Green Building Design and Delivery
Charles Kibert, , John Wiley & Sons, NY, 2002, 434 pp.
 Soil Design Protocols for Landscape Architects and Contractors
Timothy A. Craul, Phillip J. Craul, John Wiley & Sons, NY, 2002, 339 pp.
 Handbook of Water Sensitive Planning and Design
Robert France, Lewis Publishers, 2002
 Porous Pavements
Bruce K. Ferguson, CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, 2005, 600 pp.
 Green Roofs: Ecological Design and Construction
Earth Pledge Foundation, Schiffer Publishing, Ltd., 2005, 158 pp.
 The Green Studio Handbook: Environmental Strategies for Schematic Design
Alison G. Kwok, AIA & Walter Grondzik, PE, Architectural Press/Elsevier, NY, 2007, 378 pp.
 Water-sensitive site Roof water is
planning/design project collected in carved
ASLA 2004 award winner
stone basins, then
drains into a grated
channel before
cascading over a
five-foot stone-faced
retaining wall. The
learning lab and
Design by Jones & Jones – Planners,
auditorium buildings Architects & Landscape Architects
expand onto the
courtyard, which is
paved with stone,
subtly-colored
sandblasted
concrete, and tile
artifacts (historically
manufactured in the
watershed).
Surrounding forest
and meadows are
pulled into the
courtyard and onto
building roofs.

Cedar River Watershed Education Center - Seattle, WA Source: www.asla.org

 Water-sensitive site
A new road reveals
planning/design project previously hidden
Andropogon Associates, Ltd. landscapes.

A new parking lot

integrates multiple
functions: parking,
water collection, and
horticultural display.
The lot includes an
impervious asphalt
roadway, with
permeable asphalt
parking bays off to
the sides. A
stormwater recharge
bed lies under the
entire lot. When it
rains, water rapidly
disappears through
the permeable paving
and into the
underground basin
where it infiltrates
into the ground.
Morris Arboretum
Source: www.asla.org
 Water-sensitive site planning/design project

Coffee Creek, Chesterton, Indiana

Sources: www.coffeecreekwc.org/pages/showgallery_visitor.asp (photos)
www.coffeecreekcenter.com/ (text)
Stream

Employing Environmental Engineering

Restoration of the Coffee Creek corridor is being implemented with guidance from
biologists who understand the local & regional landscape. Level spreaders and
vegetation infiltrate water into the soil. The project employs civil engineering without
traditional expensive and destructive stormwater drainage systems – and provides a

wide range of shared community open space within a 167-acre preserve.

Level Spreader
slows runoff

Wetland Cell
Prairie treats sewage
Greenroof
Restoring Native Ecosystems and Habitats
“Unbuilt areas are being restored to a pre-settlement landscape to minimize soil erosion and
rebuild soil integrity, re-establish native plant & animal communities and encourage
increased bio-diversity.”
Water-sensitive site planning/design project

Coffee Creek, Chesterton, Indiana

Source: www.coffeecreekwc.org/pages/showgallery_visitor.asp

Managing & Monitoring Site Systems

Monitoring reports are prepared for water quality, fish,
Watershed Preserve
Trails Map birds and vegetation. Fire is used to maintain the prairie.
Kansas City Discovery Center
Spring 2006 photos – lrs
Go to: http://mdc.mo.gov/areas/kcmetro/discovery/

Teaching
stewardship
in a holistic
manner…
 Fall 2004 KSU-LAR
Stormwater
Management
Charrette

Fall 2006 photos – lrs

Potential Stormwater Management Retrofits near KSU’s Derby Dining Center
Moore Hall/Claflin Rd.
ISC/Residence
Bioretention Area (Spring ’09?)
Hall Raingardens,
Amphitheater &
Pathways
(Fall 2009 charrette;
Summer 2010
implementation?)
Derby
Haymaker &
International Green
Ford Hall
Roof *
Student Center Bioretention
Raingarden Gardens
(Spring 2007) (Fall ’08?)

* Collaborative
West & Ford Hall Parking Retrofit
Project with BNIM
(Summer ’09 construction?)
and other firms
(Fall 2007 Studio Project;
Construction date TBD;
includes designing a
Green Roof for Seaton Boyd Hall/Old Claflin Rd.
Hall’s West Wing walkout) Raingarden
(Fall ’07 / Spring ’08 implementation?)
Restoring Hydrologic Processes along Campus Creek
The KSU International Student Center Design/Build
Raingarden Demonstration Project
July 16, 2007
Spring 2007 Construction Photos

Project inspired by KSU-LAR

Stormwater Management
Charrette (Oct. 2006)