Americans Less Green Outdoors

"'The results clearly show a desire and willingness to use techniques that reduce utility bills at home, but few know what can be accomplished outside their homes,' said Nancy Somerville, executive vice president and CEO of ASLA. 'The space between buildings is just as important—perhaps more so—to not only reducing energy costs, but addressing a broad range of environmental issues.'

The survey comes in advance of a comprehensive November report, coming later this month, on sustainable landscape benchmarks and guidelines from the Sustainable Sites Initiative™, a partnership between ASLA, the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center at the University of Texas at Austin, and the United States Botanic Garden to create voluntary guidelines and a rating system for sustainable landscape design. The U.S. Green Building Council is lending its support to this project and anticipates adoption of the Sustainable Sites metrics into future versions of the LEED® (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Green Building Rating System."

"The report will offer scientifically researched approaches to create sustainable sites and landscapes ranging from backyard gardens to major urban developments. Additionally, 125 case studies provide real-life examples of projects using many approaches in the guidelines that demonstrate measurable results."