SITES

SITES
Name	SITES
Caption	Sustainable Sites Initiative logo
Formation	2005
Type	Voluntary program
Headquarters	United States
Parent organization	Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center; United States Botanic Garden; American Society of Landscape Architects

SITES

The Sustainable Sites Initiative is a voluntary rating system developed to promote sustainable land design and landscape management for sites associated with United States Botanic Garden, Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, and the American Society of Landscape Architects. It provides practitioners, municipal agencies, landscape architects, developers, and nonprofit organizations with guidelines, performance benchmarks, and certification pathways aimed at reducing environmental impacts of site projects across urban, suburban, and rural contexts. SITES complements building-focused programs such as LEED while intersecting with policies and projects by institutions like the National Park Service, U.S. Green Building Council, and Congress for the New Urbanism.

Overview

SITES is a comprehensive approach for assessing and certifying landscapes, plazas, parks, campuses, and other outdoor settings, offering credits for practices ranging from soil stewardship to stormwater management, habitat creation, and materials selection. The Initiative synthesizes research and practitioner experience from organizations such as the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, American Society of Landscape Architects, U.S. Green Building Council, National Wildlife Federation, and universities including University of California, Davis and Cornell University. SITES integrates with standards and instruments used by agencies and programs like EPA, U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, LEED v4, and state-level green infrastructure initiatives. The program supports multi-disciplinary teams including professionals from ASLA, landscape architecture firms, botanical gardens, and municipal parks departments.

History

Efforts leading to SITES began in the early 2000s when leaders at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center and the American Society of Landscape Architects convened scientific panels and stakeholder workshops to address the environmental performance gap for landscapes compared with buildings. Pilot projects, research partnerships with institutions such as Harvard University Graduate School of Design and University of Michigan, and collaborations with nonprofits including the Natural Resources Defense Council and The Nature Conservancy informed early technical manuals and rating frameworks. Formal release and broader adoption occurred in the 2010s as the SITES v2.0 rating system was published and organizations like the U.S. Green Building Council and major municipal agencies began recognizing SITES credits in planning and procurement. High-profile certified projects include work by firms affiliated with Sasaki Associates, Olin Partnership, and landscape projects for clients such as The Rockefeller Foundation and university campuses including Arizona State University.

Design and Features

SITES addresses site-scale performance through prerequisites and credits covering categories such as site context, pre-design assessment, water, soil and vegetation, materials, human health, and construction management. Specific strategies rewarded by the system include stormwater retention and green infrastructure techniques used in projects by cities like Philadelphia and Portland, Oregon, soil restoration methods informed by research at Rutgers University and Iowa State University, and native planting approaches supported by the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center and Missouri Botanical Garden. The rating emphasizes measurable outcomes—runoff volume reduction, biodiversity indicators, soil organic matter content—and provides compliance paths that reference standards from ASTM International, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, and the Federal Highway Administration. SITES documentation encourages integration with urban design work from groups such as Project for Public Spaces and regional planning efforts led by metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) in areas like Los Angeles County and Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning.

Standards and Certification

Certification under SITES follows a documented submittal, review, and verification process administered by accredited reviewers and, in some iterations, third-party verification partners. The program offers levels of recognition analogous to other rating systems, requiring documentation of performance metrics and often on-site monitoring plans developed by teams that may include members from firms like AECOM, Arup, and landscape consultants associated with Hoerr Schaudt Landscape Architects. SITES references technical standards and test methods from organizations such as American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM), International Organization for Standardization (ISO), and uses protocols compatible with LEED and green infrastructure guidance published by the Environmental Protection Agency. Training, credentialing, and practitioner guidance are distributed via workshops and continuing education providers including American Society of Landscape Architects and university extension programs.

Implementation and Case Studies

Case studies certified under SITES range from municipal parks and university campuses to corporate landscapes and brownfield remediations. Examples include college campus renovations at institutions such as University of Texas at Austin and corporate headquarters landscapes for organizations partnering with major firms like Gensler or Skidmore, Owings & Merrill where sustainable stormwater systems, native habitat restoration, and pedestrian-focused designs were implemented. Municipal implementations have involved collaboration with agencies such as New York City Department of Parks and Recreation and planners from City of Seattle to deploy permeable pavements, bioswales, and tree canopy expansion. International interest has been recorded in projects connected to the World Green Building Council network and municipal exchanges involving cities like Vancouver, British Columbia and Melbourne.

Criticisms and Challenges

Critiques of SITES include concerns about documentation burdens for small practitioners and community groups, alignment and overlap with building-focused standards like LEED, and the cost and logistics of long-term monitoring and verification recommended by the program. Observers from landscape practice and public-interest organizations such as Public Interest Law Center and academic critics at institutions like University of Pennsylvania Stuart Weitzman School of Design have discussed equity implications, maintenance responsibilities, and the need for clearer integration with municipal codes and procurement processes. Additional challenges arise when adapting SITES criteria to diverse climatic regions represented by agencies such as NOAA and differing construction norms across jurisdictions like California and Texas.

Category:Environmental certification programs