Green Site Development Practices that Make the Grade

For parents and students visiting prospective colleges and universities, well-maintained campus grounds can be as much of a recruitment tool as academic strengths. Yet, maintaining school grounds can be costly, and at times, the environment pays the steepest price.

There are many ways to make a campus both beautiful and environmentally sound. Armed with the proper knowledge and the right materials, at the right time, facilities administrators can bring school grounds up to par, benefit the environment, and save both time and money.

Learn to Keep Things Natural

As most facilities administrators know, maintaining manicured campus lawns is a task that can require extensive resource expenditures. What they might not be aware of is that it can also be an environmentally unsound approach to landscape development. To look their best, lawns often need large quantities of water, fertilizers, and pesticide. The water would normally be used for drinking and the chemicals disrupt nature’s ecological process. In addition, the chemicals in fertilizers can pollute ground water and pesticides kill bugs that help balance the environment.

Geller DeVellis re-created wetlands at the Richardson School in Easton, Mass. A series of meadows with native grasses and wildflowers reduces maintenance while also serving as an environmental teaching laboratory.

A viable solution? Plant native wildflowers and meadow grasses and allow low areas of grass to grow back to nature, cutting down on both water usage and fertilizers. Also, by implementing Integrated Pest Management (IPM)-the process of seeking out only the infected areas to treat with pesticides rather than blanketing lawns and plantings with chemicals-facilities administrators can limit potential pollution to the environment.

And, natural beauty should not be overlooked. What is traditionally considered "beautiful" is not always environmentally sound. A lot can be learned from observing how nature takes care of its own. When lawns turn brown in summer from lack of rain, they are not dying, but have stopped growing until more favorable conditions return. Rather than inundating lawns with fertilizer and water, groundskeepers should allow nature its normal course. The work and time saved also benefits the school’s bottom line.

Blooming to the Head of the Class

When beautifying campus grounds with plants, it is important to remember that some species are more tolerant of specific ecosystems than others. Instead of importing plant species from other environments, which may require an extraordinary level of care in order to thrive, consider using native plant materials that are already adapted to local conditions and will flourish without major additions of fertilizers, water, and pesticides.

Plant maintenance requirements vary widely. To save on maintenance as well as water and fertilizer, plants should be grouped with those that have the same cultural requirements. These ecological groupings allow school groundskeepers to use the least amount of water and fertilizer necessary to keep these plants healthy. This approach veers away from the standard "foundation plantings," which combines many varieties of plants in an effort to achieve a decorative effect, often at the expense of environmentally friendly practices.

Boast about Compost

Groundskeepers can improve soils by composting leaves and grass clippings instead of collecting them in plastic bags and disposing of them at landfills. Through composting, the leaves break down and go back into the soil, making it rich for plant growth and aiding the retention of soil moisture. Composting also cuts back on the work and energy required in carting away the bags of leaves, and it creates soil as well as organic fertilizer for the next growing season. If a groundskeeper cannot use the organic materials produced on site, many municipalities have facilities to produce mulch for local use and may be interested in a donation from a local school.

Practice makes Perfect

By implementing the following additional green site development practices, facilities administrators can both protect the environment and save money.

Use only the amount of water necessary to keep plants healthy. Irrigation systems are often a culprit of over watering and require regular monitoring by experienced personnel. Short-term watering programs for early-stage plantings will greatly reduce initial costs for irrigation equipment, as well as long-term system maintenance costs.

Improve storm water management by using the least amount of pavement possible, which allows water to seep into the ground, rather than running off into the ocean or river. Less impervious surface materials reduce contamination and flooding, allowing water to flow naturally.

Incorporate a recycling program for wasted materials, which decreases the demand for new resources, thus protecting the environment.

Use recycled materials in education programs to reduce the use of new resources. There are many competitively-priced products on the market manufactured from post-consumer materials.

Being more environmentally responsible does not necessarily require additional labor or money, but it does require a shift in priorities and expectations of what a "beautiful" landscape looks like. It is necessary to have an open mind and a willingness to make a difference. The benefits these tactics provide to the environment are more than worth the effort and would earn any school administration top marks in "Environment 101."

Philip E. Pryor is a partner at Geller DeVellis Inc., a landscape architecture and civil engineering firm based in Boston, Mass. He can be reached at ppryor@gellerdevellis.com. For more information, visit Geller DeVellis at www.gellerdevellis.com.