Sustainable Southern Sites

ASLA Applauds Six Sites in the South

ASLA’s online exhibition demonstrating climate change solutions now features 30 case studies, including six sites in the South. The idea for the exhibition came as a result of the Smart Policies for a Changing Climate report.

The projects include a mix of landscape-based and often nature-based solutions across the US, which range from residential and school landscapes to masterplans for entire cities and counties. There is also a focus on projects that address climate injustices and meet the needs of historically marginalized and underserved communities. 

“These projects clearly show how landscape architects can help all kinds of communities reduce their risk to increasingly severe climate impacts,” said Torey Carter-Conneen, ASLA CEO. “Landscape architects design with nature, which leads to more resilient solutions that also improve community health, safety and well-being over the long-term.”

New for 2021 include the Houston Arboretum and Nature Center and The Kendeda Building for Innovative Sustainable Design in Atlanta.

By 2012, more than 50 percent of the tree canopy of the Houston Arboretum and Nature Center had been lost due to drought and hurricanes made more severe by climate change. By removing trees and restoring the original prairie, savanna and woodland ecosystems found at the Arboretum, landscape architects with Design Workshop and Reed Hilderbrand designed a landscape naturally resilient to future climate shocks.

For the Kendeda Building for Innovative Sustainable Design at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, landscape architects with Andropogon integrated an innovative water management system that captures and reuses 100 percent of stormwater runoff from the building and also cleanses and reuses building greywater in the ecological landscape.

Other sites include the Buffalo Bayou Promenade in Houston by SWA Group; Gentilly Community Adaptation Program in New Orleans by DesignJones; South Cypress Creek and West Junction Neighborhood Design Implementation in Shelby County, Tennessee by Sasaki; and Oakencroft Farm in Central Virginia by Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects. View all 30 projects online at asla.org