Speaker(s): Adam Supplee, RLA, AICP, ASLA, LEED AP | Liam Cleary, Associate ASLA | Nancy Goldenberg
Moderator(s): Kristen Reardon, Student Affil ASLA

Learn about the innovative strategies implemented to transform a former cemetery dumpsite into a natural burial cemetery. The project design team used a fresh design approach which is in stark contrast to traditional industry standards for burial and perpetual care. In 2018, this new cemetery site was the first cemetery to receive SITES certification and only the 8th in the country to receive SITES Gold certification. Get an in-depth look at individual SITES v2 pre-requisites and credits attained by the project and learn about the certification process and working with GBCI to navigate your project from registration through final review.

The GBCI course ID for this course is 920019137, providing SITES-specific CE hours required to maintain SITES AP credentials. Participants will need to pass the exam at the end of the presentation in order to receive a certificate of completion. Participants will need to self-report CE hours through their credentials account on https://sitesonline.usgbc.org.


Participants will need to pass the exam at the end of the presentation in order to receive a certificate of completion. 

By the end of the course, participants will be able to:

1. Identify the pre-requisites necessary for SITES certification.
2. Participants will learn about the stormwater and planting design elements implemented to achieve SITES certification, and how other projects may potentially follow the green design criteria necessary to achieve SITES certification.
3. Identify projects that are suitable for SITES Certification.
4. Participants will learn how Nature’s sanctuary utilized salvaged, recycled and locally sourced materials to earn credits toward SITES certification, and apply similar techniques to their own projects.

Please complete a brief evaluation of this Online Learning presentation.

Speaker(s): Michael Igo, Affil. ASLA, LEED AP, PE
Moderator(s): Jim Davis, ASLA

Fountains are beloved features in many public places and contribute to quality of life while adding environmental benefits, particularly during hot summer months. However, many parks departments and commissioning bodies shy away from installing them due to the perceived high cost of installation and ongoing maintenance. Some recurring questions neighborhoods may face are whether alternative funding models can keep the water flowing if a city or town won’t perform regular upkeep. What are the impacts of a dormant fountain? What are the environmental effects, both positive and negative? We will explore these questions, explain the typical pool, pass through and recirculating systems, and share insights on sustainable best practices.

Hosted by the ASLA Water Conservation Professional Practice Network

Learning Objectives:

• Understand the social value of fountains and water features while balancing the economic and environmental costs of designing and maintaining them in the context of sustainability and the Triple Bottom Line (TBL).
• Familiarize oneself with the basics of water feature layout and design to understand the requirements of equipment maintenance and minimize water waste.
• Provide some examples of converting non-sustainable water features into sustainable ones through recirculation, filtration, and active management.

Please complete a brief evaluation of this Online Learning presentation.

Speaker(s): Nancy Somerville, Hon. ASLA, SITES AP | Mark Dawson, FASLA | Adam Ortiz, Hon. ASLA | Jalonne White-Newsome, PhD

ASLA members may view this presentation and access the professional development exam (1.5 PDH LA CES/HSW) for free after logging in (using your ASLA member ID and password). 

On March 4, 2019, experts from ASLA’s interdisciplinary Blue Ribbon Panel on Climate Change and Resilience presented their report, Smart Policies for a Changing Climate, during a congressional briefing on Capitol Hill. The report outlines a bold vision for 21^st century green infrastructure investment to create healthy, climate-smart, and resilient communities from coast to coast. It is a blueprint for securing a sustainable and resilient future through design and planning approaches as well as specific public policy recommendations.

Though we are all vulnerable to the health impacts of climate change, some groups are disproportionately affected. Climate-related health challenges are an environmental justice issue because certain communities that already experience multiple environmental health burdens are also disproportionately affected by climate change. Our challenge is to put these recommended planning approaches and public policies into practice as standard operating procedure for communities of all sizes and for all types of development.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify how green infrastructure uses trees, plants, and permeable hard surfaces to capture and filter stormwater to reduce pollution run-off, mitigate the urban heat-island effect, and provide community amenities and assets.
• Illustrate how utilizing natural systems and integrating green infrastructure into the built environment can be the most cost effective solution for meeting multiple public policy objectives.
• Discuss how to address environmental justice and racial and society equity issues that impact climate vulnerable communities.

Download ASLA's Smart Policies for a Changing Climate report.


Please complete a brief evaluation of this Online Learning presentation.

Moderator(s): Vaughn B. Rinner, FASLA, SITES AP
Speaker(s): Emily R. McCoy, ASLA, SITES AP

This webinar will give an overview of how to use the recently published ASLA Landscape Architecture Technical Information Series (LATIS) report, A Landscape Performance and Metrics Primer for Landscape Architects, in order to conduct a landscape performance assessment of a site. Attendees will be introduced to landscape performance research strategies and specific methods and case studies for assessing environmental, socio-cultural, and economic performance, including those relevant to SITES v2 credits for performance monitoring.

The GBCI course ID for this course is 0920018701, providing SITES-specific CE hours required to maintain SITES AP credentials. Participants will need to pass the exam at the end of the presentation in order to receive a certificate of completion. Participants will need to self-report CE hours through their credentials account on https://sitesonline.usgbc.org.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify strategies and standardized methods for data collection for use in quantifying and improving landscape performance benefits for environmental, socio-cultural, and economic performance. 
• Learn a variety of methods to assess the effectiveness of conservation and/or restoration activities in order to achieve SITES v2 C4.7: Conserve and restore native plant communities. 
• Identify methods for determining the overall health of a soil during the site assessment, construction, and post-occupancy phases of a project, and how these methods can be applied to achieve SITES v2 Construction P7.3: Restore soils disturbed by construction AND Construction C7.4: Restore soils disturbed by previous development. 
• Explore quantitative and qualitative methods for designing and assessing a site for its ability to support social performance criteria, supporting physical activity of users, in order to achieve SITES v2 C6.5: Support physical activity.

Please complete a brief evaluation of this Online Learning presentation.

Speaker(s): Lisa Cowan, ASLA, SITES AP | Martha P. Sheils | Rachel Bouvier | Marla Stelk

Trends in sustainable design and resiliency require landscape architects to be versed in ecosystem services and measurable benefits. Green infrastructure provides opportunities for valuing natural and built systems. The expert speakers will provide their insights and case studies for design and maintenance strategies, including the SITES v2 framework.

The GBCI course ID for this course is 920019137, providing SITES-specific CE hours required to maintain SITES AP credentials. Participants will need to pass the exam at the end of the presentation in order to receive a certificate of completion. Participants will need to self-report CE hours through their credentials account on https://sitesonline.usgbc.org.

Learning Objectives:

• Gain insight into the public goods nature of natural ecosystems and the flow of benefits concept.
• Understand how monetary values for ecosystem services are derived, and the benefits and pitfalls of that evaluation.
• Learn which financial benefits of green infrastructure are being targeted the most widely by municipalities and design teams.
• Apply the ecosystem services and green infrastructure benefits strategies to the SITESv2 framework and certification including prerequisites and credits.

Please complete a brief evaluation of this Online Learning presentation.

Speaker(s): Steven N. Handel, Hon. ASLA | Nancy Owens, ASLA, LEED AP | Ann Kearsley, ASLA | Joe Berg

Integrating ecological restoration science with the design of cultural landscapes requires a multidisciplinary approach, a project team able to combine spacemaking and science, project programming and ecosystem function, aesthetics and biodiversity. This session examines how the tools and practice techniques from design and restoration ecology influence project goals and outcomes.

Learning Objectives:

• Learn how conventional landscape architecture practices and landscape management frameworks prohibit the development of ecologically based, regenerative, self-organizing landscapes.
• Learn tools and techniques from restoration ecology practice that support natural plant reproduction and the establishment of self-organizing landscapes.
• Learn which design methods advance the biodiversity of pollinators on the landscapes.
• How can education and outreach improve successful outcomes for natural systems based landscape design?

Please complete a brief evaluation of this Online Learning presentation.

Speaker(s): Faezeh Ashtiani, Assoc. ASLA | Frederick R. Steiner, FASLA, SITES AP | Forster Ndubisi, FASLA

With the recent disasters of Hurricanes Katrina, Sandy, and Harvey, as well as the California Thomas fire, there has never been a greater imperative to plan with nature. What is the role of nature in the city? Speakers will offer diverse perspectives to explore this important topic.

Learning Objectives:

• Understand two concepts: First, the idea of nature IN the city. Second, the concept of an Ecology OF the city. The latter considers cities as biological creations and evolutionary adaptation.
• Learn best practices in integrating the environment into the urban fabric.
• Consider the short and long-term impacts of catastrophic Hurricanes Katrina, Sandy and Harvey and other extreme climate events and recognize the urgent need to plan with nature.
• Understand the ecological concept of disturbance patch dynamics and its implication of city planners. What regulatory regime is appropriate if cities are dynamic organisms in constant flux?

Please complete a brief evaluation of this Online Learning presentation.

Speaker(s): Meg Calkins, FASLA, SITES AP | Hunter Beckham, FASLA | April Philips, FASLA

Sustainable design starts with resources on the ground. Dig deeper into the SITES v2 materials life cycle credits from specification to use, maintenance, deconstruction, and reuse. Discover synergies between SITES v2 and LEED v4 materials and resource credits.

The GBCI course ID for this course is 0920018892 , providing SITES-specific CE hours required to maintain SITES AP credentials. Participants will need to pass the exam at the end of the presentation in order to receive a certificate of completion. Participants will need to self-report CE hours through their credentials account on https://sitesonline.usgbc.org.

Learning Objectives:

• Summarize specific credit synergies and differences between Materials and Resource prerequisites and credits for SITES V2 and LEED V4 BD+C.
• Describe three ways that a project can achieve SITES V2 Materials Prerequisite: Eliminate the Use of Wood from Threatened Tree Species.
• Discuss strategies to achieve SITES V2 and LEED V4 credits related to producer responsibility and information transparency (SITES C5.7, C5.8, C5.9 and LEED V4 credits- Building Product Disclosure and Optimization).
• Understand current environmental and human health impacts of a product’s life-cycle and strategies to specify products with reduced impacts.

Please complete a brief evaluation of this Online Learning presentation.

Speaker(s): James K. Stickley, ASLA, LEED AP | Brent Bucknum | Kurt Culbertson, FASLA, FAICP | Scott Shinton, Assoc. ASLA

We have addressed stormwater quality, but what about air quality? Through this session, panelists will present research and built projects to show how to begin to approach this problem that negatively impacts the public health of the most disadvantaged populations in this country and worldwide through landscape design tactics.

Learning Objectives:

• Unpack the historic conception of parks as the lungs of the city and inspire creative thinking about the next great challenge in landscape architecture: air quality.
• Uncover site-specific data which supports the faith-based claim that parks are the lungs of the city.
• We take faith that trees clean the air—is this true? What data supports this claim? What about pollen and allergies? Begin to understand pollutants that can be addressed with plantings.
• Explore how we define air quality in all its complexities: air temperature, humidity, pollen, particulates, etc. Begin to discuss what other kinds of landscape materials can help clean the air.

Please complete a brief evaluation of this Online Learning presentation.

Speaker(s): Jonathan Ceci, ASLA | Jacqueline Bershad, LEED AP | Christopher Streb, PE

In many cities, the threshold between land and sea is abrupt and impenetrable. Baltimore’s Inner Harbor is no exception. A new paradigm is emerging motivated by aquatic conservation and social justice. This session looks at design interventions that are transforming human and ecological interactions across the divide.

Learning Objectives:

• Participants will learn about the key design drivers and factors that contribute to ecological health in sensitive shoreline environments.
• Presenters will share strategies designers can use to collaborate with scientists and other non-designers to frame experiments and develop prototypes that test ideas and collect data.
• Prototyping tests ideas for fine-tuning before scaling-up. Participants will learn how the design process can be structured to allow adaptation of design concepts in response to discovery.
• Placemaking is an underlying goal of all landscape architecture, so participants will learn how ecological visioning plays a constructive role in unlocking the transformative potential of existing sites.

Please complete a brief evaluation of this Online Learning presentation.