Sustainable Landscape Construction: A Guide to Green Building Outdoors, Second Edition

Title Page......Page 6
Copyright Page......Page 7
Table of Contents......Page 10
List of Figures......Page 14
List of Tables......Page 20
What’s New in This Edition?......Page 22
How to Use This Book......Page 24
Contacting the Authors......Page 28
Introduction: “Sustainability” in Context......Page 30
What Is Sustainability: Politics, Ethics, and Semantics......Page 31
Landscapes Against Climate Change......Page 43
Sustainability, Substance, and Style......Page 48
Resources......Page 62
What Is a Healthy Site?......Page 66
Take a Role in “Pre-construction”......Page 67
Do Your Homework First: Knowledge as Sustainability......Page 68
Avoid Survey Damage......Page 72
Minimize Utility Damage......Page 75
Physically Protect Site During .Construction......Page 81
Preserve Healthy Topsoil......Page 83
Save Every Possible Existing Tree—Even Just One......Page 86
Use Appropriate Construction Machinery......Page 88
Related Design and Planning Issues......Page 94
Resources......Page 97
Turn Wastelands to Gardens......Page 100
Balance the Environmental Costs and Benefits of Restoration......Page 102
Involve the Community in Site Restoration......Page 103
Restore Landscapes Structurally......Page 111
Restore Damaged Soils On-site......Page 116
Restore Regionally Appropriate Vegetation......Page 128
Restore Forests and Coexist with Wildfire......Page 135
Resources......Page 138
Principle 3: Favor Living, Flexible Materials......Page 142
Hold Slopes in Place with Biotechnical Erosion Control......Page 143
Make Vertical Structures “Habitat-able” with Greenwalls......Page 147
Turn Barren Roof Spaces into “Greenroofs”......Page 154
Construct for and with Plants......Page 162
Evaluate Turf: The Green, the Bad, and the Ugly......Page 175
Resources......Page 178
Principle 4: Respect the Waters of Life......Page 181
Work with the Site’s Water Regime......Page 182
Understand, Protect, and Restore Natural Wetlands......Page 187
Restore Rivers and Streams to Full Health......Page 195
Collect and Conserve Water......Page 201
Irrigate Intelligently and Sparingly......Page 207
Reuse Graywater......Page 216
Purify Water at Every Opportunity......Page 217
Let Constructed Wetlands Treat Water......Page 218
Resources......Page 223
Principle 5: Pave Less......Page 227
Plan and Design to Reduce Paving......Page 228
Take Advantage of “Context-sensitive Road Design”......Page 231
Use Techniques That Reduce Runoff from Paving......Page 236
Use Porous Paving Materials......Page 240
Cool Asphalt with Planting and Albedo......Page 249
Resources......Page 251
Principle 6: Consider Origin and Fate of Materials......Page 253
Use Local, Salvaged, or Recycled Materials......Page 254
Use Sustainably Harvested Renewables......Page 271
Avoid Toxic and Nonrenewable Materials......Page 273
Know General Toxicity Issues by Material Type......Page 280
Avoid Three Controversial Materials......Page 281
Prioritize Hazard-reduction Efforts......Page 287
Resources......Page 288
Principle 7: Know the Costs of Energy over Time......Page 291
Understand How Landscape Energy Use Is Different......Page 292
Manage Energy for Machines, Tools, and Labor......Page 294
Embodied Energy—Why Do We Care?......Page 308
Use Life-cycle Costing to Justify Sustainable Design......Page 312
Resources......Page 319
Respect the Need for Darkness......Page 322
Talk Lighting—a Brief Glossary......Page 323
Use Lighting Efficiently......Page 330
Try Low-voltage Lighting for Flexibility......Page 332
Evaluate Lamp Performance......Page 336
Join the LED Lighting Revolution......Page 337
Resources......Page 339
Understand Noise Terminology......Page 341
Be Aware of Damage Caused by Noise......Page 342
Don’t Rely on Noise “Barriers” in Most Landscapes......Page 343
Try Noise-absorbing Barriers......Page 345
Modify Pavement to Reduce Road Noise......Page 346
Fight Noise with Noise......Page 347
Protect “Soundscapes” Through Planning......Page 348
Resources......Page 349
Principle 10: Maintain to Sustain......Page 351
Know the Resource Costs of Conventional Landscape Maintenance......Page 352
Plan for Maintainable Spaces......Page 353
Use Appropriate Machinery and Fuels......Page 355
Switch to Bio-based Maintenance Products......Page 357
Apply Integrated Pest Management......Page 358
Use Fertilizers Sustainably......Page 359
Don’t Waste On-site Resources......Page 360
Adapt to Using Native Plants......Page 361
Manage Large Public Landscapes Holistically, Too......Page 362
Evaluate Life-cycle Costs of Maintenance Options......Page 363
Coordinate Design, Construction, and Maintenance......Page 364
Resources......Page 365
Conclusions and Beginnings......Page 367
Learning from the Landscape: Themes and Strategies......Page 368
Green Education in Design and Construction......Page 372
Landscapes as Public Environmental Education......Page 374
Thinking One Hundred Years Ahead......Page 376
Notes......Page 378
Index......Page 400