Abstracts
The Sustainable Sites Initiative™: Potential Impacts for Water Resources and Site Development
Author(s): Brzuszek, R.
The Sustainable Sites Initiative (SITES™) is a new national effort to create voluntary guidelines and benchmarks that promote sustainable land design and construction practices. Jointly sponsored by the American Society of Landscape Architects, the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, and the U.S. Botanic Garden; SITES™ provides a ranking system that awards points for comprehensive sustainable land practices for built projects. The program is complementary to LEED ® (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Green Building Rating System, and it is anticipated that the SITES™ points will be incorporated into future versions of LEED ®.
SITES™ has five areas of focus—hydrology, soils, vegetation, materials, and human health and wellbeing. The program promotes examples of sustainable practices and awards up to 250 possible points for a project. A maximum of 44 possible points can be awarded for water practices. Credits are given for the following activities that protect and restore the processes and systems for a site’s hydrology:
- Reduce potable water use for landscape irrigation
- Protect and restore riparian, wetland, and shoreline buffers
- Rehabilitate lost streams, wetlands, and shorelines
- Manage stormwater on site
- Protect and enhance on-site water resources and receiving water quality
- Design rainwater/stormwater features to provide a landscape amenity
- Maintain water features to conserve water and other resources
Contact
Jessie Schmidt
- MWRRI
- Box 9680
- Mississippi State, MS 39762
- jschmidt@cfr.msstate.edu
Technical Sessions
Session I | Sedimentation |
Session II | Weather/Climate |
Session III | Coastal Resources |
Session IV | Surface Water Management |
Session V | Wetlands |
Session VI | Education |
Session VII | Management/Planning |
Session VIII | Wetlands |
Session IX | Delta Groundwater |
Session X | Nutrients |
Session XI | Delta Water Resources |
Session XII | Ports |