Taking the LEED in landscaping

This architectural model indicates the abundant green space surrounding the new building.

We all crave open space, and benefit from it in many ways. That is why providing open space is one of the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) criteria, explains John Siebert, Miami’s senior project architect and manager of the new Farmer School building project.

“Meeting LEED standards means ensuring both the quality and quantity of space around the structure,” he explains, adding that the new Farmer School of Business building will maintain a 25-foot perimeter around the building for vegetation and walking paths. The total open space, however, is larger than this perimeter: the LEED requirement is that vegetated open space around the building equal the building footprint.

The project manager further reports that the terrain between the new building and the sidewalk to the south will be restored to its pre-construction state. “We’re preserving several large trees,” says Siebert, “and the landscape restoration will preserve the area’s natural biodiversity.”

Mature trees on the site are hard-working multi-taskers. They provide a canopy to minimize heat islands around the building, while helping to shade and cool the building’s interior. They also provide habitat for wildlife.

Hard surfaces around the building are kept to a minimum, and consist mainly of criss-crossing walkways—a familiar feature of Miami’s campus—leading from the street to the school’s main entrance.

“The site’s landscaping will be designed in a way that addresses three LEED criteria,” says Siebert, “and those are irrigation, storm water runoff, and plantings.”

He explains that through a system of gutters and downspouts, the rainwater runoff from the new building will be directed to the surrounding open space and absorbed into the ground. Plant landscaping materials will be drought tolerant, so no permanent irrigation system is needed. In fact, the landscape design will naturally trap and hold moisture where it is needed.

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