Sustainable Design & Development PPN Meeting

Sneaky Sustainability: Working Behind the Scenes to Codify Sustainable Practices

For many landscape architects, the desire to provide sustainable design solutions is at odds with clients' wishes to build the most cost-effective project that only meets the minimum of code requirements. However, out West, the California Green Building Code requires practitioners throughout California to implement sustainable design practices because the code requires it. This session means to identify other areas in the country where sustainability is being codified and help fellow practitioners answer the question, “How can this be done in my specific region of the country?”

Our panel of experts will explore what existing codes are out there (good or bad) that are supporting sustainable development, who is active across the nation leading sustainable advocacy, and what can individual landscape architects be doing at their local levels to help drive sustainable development forward.

The session will end with 10-15 minutes of open discussion, Q&A, and a call to action for those attending: we want to find and inspire the next generation of advocates and will be looking to crowd-source information about sustainable code from across the nation so we can establish a national database moving forward.

Attendees are invited to come prepared to share a code example or two. Is there a code or ordinance in your city or municipality that you're proud of? Let us know! You can share it at the meeting, and/or you may share code examples right here, so we get a running list going as a resource.

A special thank you to PPN leader Michael Ledbetter, ASLA, PLA, for leading the planning of this session!