by Jbs120709 b3 — The Sustainable Sites Initiative is inviting landscaping projects to apply to be pilot projects to test the first national rating system for sustainable landscapes, which was launched by the Initiative in November 2009. Any type of designed landscape is eligible, as long as the project size is at least 2,000 square feet. The call will remain open until February 15, 2010, and the Initiative will work with and oversee the projects during the two-year pilot process. The organization anticipates between 75 and 150 projects will take part in testing the rating system.
The new national rating system, Guidelines and Performance Benchmarks 2009, works on a 250-point scale, with levels of achievement for obtaining 40, 50, 60 or 80 percent of available points, recognized with one through four stars, respectively. After prerequisites are met, points are awarded through the 51 credits covering areas like site selection, the use of materials, soils and vegetation, and project construction and maintenance. These credits can apply to projects ranging from corporate campuses and transportation corridors to public parks and single-family residences.
Also available online is the companion document The Case for Sustainable Landscapes, which provides a set of economic, environmental, and social arguments for the adoption of sustainable land practices, additional background on the science behind the performance criteria in the guidelines and performance benchmarks, the purpose and principles of the Sustainable Sites Initiative, and a sampling of some of the case studies the Initiative has followed.
