50 Shades of Green

House nearing end of construction, last minute decisions, counting dollars, finishing details, and getting ready for the final C.O, is stress to the extreme.  Sound familiar?  Multiply that stress by one hundred with the builder having to submit the necessary particulars on a check-off application when the house is being certified “green.”   I recently overheard a builder blurt out in frustration “there’s many shades of green” when an explanation of what the criteria for landscape certification meant and why his choices were unable to be used.  While there are many green certification programs, there is only one type of “green,” and that is following the selected green organizations’ program criteria correctly.  Green certification takes organization, preparation, commitment, and knowledge of what benefits green certification provides both the builder and his client.  If proper steps are taken from beginning to end, green certification doesn’t have to be an arduous ordeal.

Conversations about what is really green and the much easier greenwashing[1] takes place mainly among researchers, green certifiers, and environmental standards organizations such as United States Green Building Council,  National Green Building Program,  EPA’s Water Sense, Sustainable Sites, and their affiliate state organizations like Florida Green Build Council.  In Florida, the University of Florida oversees the Florida Yards and Neighborhoods program, while the St Johns River Water Management District and other districts’ green certification program, FloridaWater Star certifies new and renovated homes on best water-conserving principles.  Home buyers trust the builder to provide correct information on the best products for their lifestyle and the right certification program.  Builders, who don’t believe that green certification is beneficial to their clients, won’t be able to sell it to them. It will either result in greenwashing or a lost opportunity to provide a truly sustainable product.

Green building is not only about the construction process, inside and out, but includes the property; from the first site survey and shovel in the ground, to final grading and landscape and irrigation installation.  For the best results and less stress, certifying the home and the landscape should be decided upon during the budget negotiations and before the construction begins, so that the application process can be completed successfully easier and within budget. Using a green-certified landscape architect or landscape designer from the beginning is a wise decision for the builder and the homeowner. 

Confusion happens when builders and homeowners don’t understand the numerous benefits and selling points of a certified landscape and irrigation; and start cutting their expenses at the cost of high maintenance and expensive water bills.  Green certification means the best management practices and certified products have been used and there will be financial savings, lower maintenance, and a smart responsibility to the environment, in their client’s future. 

Gone are the days (or at least they should be) where the homeowner is not given a choice on an efficient irrigation system that will cost more upfront but will save the homeowner thousands of dollars but are offered a more expensive energy-saving appliance that will save them $120 a year over the lifetime of the product.  With monthly water and irrigation bills of $200 to $500 becoming commonplace nationwide, why wouldn’t a builder give their clients the option of purchasing a water-efficient landscape and irrigation package? Needlessly paying thousands of dollars over a five to ten year period in water bills? Now that is torture to me.

Builders should partner with certified landscape designers and landscape architects who will provide timely advice and information on best management practices and green landscaping. They will be able to explain how to use the eco-friendly principles to benefit the builder and the homeowners. With current statutes like Florida-friendly landscaping, green certification is only a prelude to future smart building practices in Florida. Certified landscaping and irrigation will allow for more sustainable growth, more satisfied clients, and  help the builder to be on the best sellers’ list for years to come.  

See the Vision House 2008's certified green landscape three years later.
Originally published in From The Ground Up, Building Inspirations Magazine, July 2013.

Teresa Watkins, horticulturist, landscape designer, and environmental consultant. Watkinsalso hosts of the award-winning gardening radio show “In Your Backyard” heard on www.My790am.com  every Tuesday at 1:00pm.  You can contact or send questions to Teresa at www.she-consulting.com.

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[1] A superficial or insincere display of concern for the environment that is shown by an organization.  www.WordReference.com

Do you know the Best Management Principles (also known as BMP's) are for designing and maintaining your yard? The criteria of SJRWMD's Florida Water Star green certification program' landscaping modules and the UF/IFAS's Florida Yards & Neighborhoods nine principles are the best management practices for our state and can be utilized across the country and worldwide.

Best practices start with understanding the process of what plants need to be healthy. In Florida, Extension, Master Gardeners, and other garden experts hear from seasonal residents: "Gardening in Florida is so different than up north." What I explain to my audiences and clients is that once you understand the process of how plants grow - gardening is the same world-wide. While the plant species may change - how to assess and manage your landscape uses the same principles. While the snowbirds think its easier to garden up North, all it is really is doing what their parents did, what their neighbors did. They didn't understand the process of what plants need to grow.

You need to know the conditions of the site, i.e. sunlight, pH, soil moisture. Determine how you want to use the landscape, and how much time you want to invest in maintaining it. Some want their landscape to change with the seasons, or to have lots of seasonal plantings, while others want their landscape to stay the same year after year, with little maintenance. After determining conditions, selecting plants that utilize those same conditions, installing them correctly (correct depth, time of year, and space for mature size), and maintain the landscape appropriately (awareness, weeding, no excessive pruning, no overwatering, or overfertilizing), and you have a low-matinenance, sustainable landscape. BMP's will help gardeners achieve that effectively, reducing needless waste, pollution, costs, and labor.

While every state or organization wants to have their own unique statement as to Landscape BMP's - they really are the same criteria but based on their own state's soils and seasons, and the organization's agenda.

Does your landscaping and maintenance follow Florida-friendly BMP's?  Check it out.

Florida Water Star Silver and Gold Certification

Florida Yards  & Neighborhoods 9 Principles

Harvesting Rain From The Skies

Polish architect students Ryszard Rychlicki and Agnieszka Nowak use gutters that surround the entire building to harvest rainwater for its 500 residents.  Rychlicki and Nowak hope to reduce water use by 25%.

Using rainwater to irrigate is a way of life in Europe and other continents around the world. 

Since 1900 the total water consumption in the US has increased by 1000%. At present, an average American uses five times more water than a citizen of developing countries. Such an increase is related to among others, improved living standards. On the other hand, a national hobby of the Danes is collecting rain water for washing and watering plants. within the last ten years average use of pure water in Denmark dropped by 40% and inhabitants of the so called eco-villages use a third part of the national average.

While acknowledging the health factor of sanitation is important to Americans, we have to really work hard to increase our water efficiency of indoor plumbing and outdoor irrigation.  Using rainbarrels, cisterns, and surface water needs to become more than a hobby - it should become a way of life for our country.

H/T to WebEcoist

Edible Landscaping - Florida Style

UPDATE: Read Teresa's an in-depth article on Edible Landscaping for Green Builder magazine on "Edible Landscaping 02" pages 31 - 37.

The International Builders Show in Orlando January 12th - 15th will be showcasing two demonstration homes, Green Builder's Vision House and ReVision House 2011.   (You can see the homes in detail in Green Builder magazine, January, February, April 2011 issues.)

These homes will feature technology and trends in green construction. Using products that will help homeowners conserve energy, water, and provide better air quality is important in these tough economic times. While current costs for this new technology may be more expensive at the onset, homeowners will reap benefits in reduced bills, lower maintenance costs, and better health.

The Vision House is urban-techno farmhouse introducing vegetables and low maintenance into the Orlando infill city lot. This landscape is perfect for busy professionals, having reduced turf areas, small raised garden beds, and patio containers of fruits and vegetables. In the same College Park community, the ReVision House showcases a Napa Valley Florida-style landscape for homeowners who have more time to be outdoors and are gardening enthusiasts. The larger lot features an edible landscape with nut trees, small orchard, berries, and herbs in containers and as ground covers. The home is situated in a cul-de-sac neighborhood and has full sun in the front yard with shade in the backyard.

Both landscapes have incorporated soil amendments of Sodcaster and Turf Pro in the garden beds and turf areas which will improve moisture retention and decrease the need for fertilizer. At the ReVision House, the compost comes from a more refined technology! BCR Environmental donated organic nutrient-rich, odorless compost of biosolids that  have been incorporated into the soils.  Lechuza, elegant self-watering containers are used indoors and outdoors at both houses, saving the homeowners time and money worry about watering and replacing plants that get neglected.

Landscape species were selected based on proper site conditions and mature size that will allow the landscapes to grow naturally and create a biodiverse urban sanctuary for wildlife.  Proper placement of the shrubs and trees reduce the amount of pruning and future maintenance allowing the plants to grow healthy without water and nutrient competition.  The specially selected plant species at the Green Builder demonstration homes - after establishment - will be able to survive on normal rainfall, supplemented by efficient irrigations systems that will be used during droughts. The maintenance of these yards will be minimum with less mowing, less fertilizing, and less pruning - reducing their susceptibility to pest issues. Both of the homes will be certified Florida Water Star, water-conserving indoors and outdoors. The Vision House 2011 receives SJRWMD's highest Gold certification, while the ReVision House 2011, a renovated home earns the Silver certification.

Sponsors of the Vision and ReVision House 2011

Vision House:

Irrigation: Clearwater PSI

• Lechuza, a division of Playmobil - Self-watering containers
• Lake Jem Farms - Zoysiagrass turf supplier
• Sunniland - Soil amendments, stone mulch
• Davey Tree Experts Company - Tree Pruning
• Florida Water Star Certification

ReVision House:
Irrigation: Bruce Hage Irrigation

Landscaping: 

• Chestnuthill Tree Farm - Berries, grapes, fruit and nut trees
• Lechuza, a division of Playmobil - Self-watering Containers
• Lake Jem Farms - Zoysiagrass turf supplier
• BCR Environmental - Compost/Commercial fertilizer derived from biosolids
• Sunniland - Soil amendments
• Davey Tree Experts Company - Tree Pruning
• Landscape Design, Florida Water Star Certification - Teresa Watkins

Being grounded in saving dollars and making sensible decisions regarding our natural resources will certainly become more important in the coming years. Growing your own vegetables, fruits, and herbs is an easy way to start an edible landscape and  take advantage of Florida's warm weather and abundant rainfall.

Both homes will be featured in the January and March issue of Green Builder and on DIY and HGTV.  You can visit the Green Builder Vision and ReVision 2011 homes during the International Builders Show Jan 12th - 15th from 10am to 4pm.

Teresa's article on Central Florida edible landscaping: Edible Landscaping: So Good You Can Eat Them Right Up

World's Oldest Irrigation Found In Arizona

It seems that Arizona's water issues isn't a modern calamity. Recently unearthed in the Grand Canyon State is irrigation technology that is several milleniums old. Archaelogists have dated the trenches almost 600 years earlier than the primitive watering systems found in ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt.

"These are not the earliest canals known in Southern Arizona, but they are the most extensive and sophisticated engineering [from the period] that we have identified to date," said archaeologist James Vint of Desert Archaeology Inc. in
Tucson.

The site, called Las Capas or "The Layers," sits at the confluence of the Cañada del Oro, Rillito Creek and Santa Cruz River. The name derives from the repeated layers of silt that buried the site until nothing was visible from the surface.

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They identified two main canals bringing water from the Santa Cruz River and feeding it into eight distribution canals, all now buried 3 to 7 feet below the surface. The system could have irrigated from 60 to 100 acres, he estimated. The primary crops were maize, which was introduced into the area before 2100 B.C., and a weed known as amaranth, which can be eaten raw or cooked.

Ancient irrigation systems have been well documented. Lack of water during droughts and in global desert areas have been cited as causes of civilization decline. In the United States, Arizona has archaelogical tourist sites that showcase irrigation methods by native American Indian tribes, such as the Montezuma Castle National Monument outside of Phoenix.

Ancient irrigation ditch near Montezuma Well. [photograph National Park Service]

I wonder if the early aqueducts could be certified under the Florida Water Star Bronze Age program?

In our modern times, Arizona and every state in our union needs more water supply. Having better irrigation systems will help us save more potable water. Correctly installing and maintaining an efficient irrigation system will be encouraged this July with the first Smart Irrigation Month. A new resolution sponsored by Reps. John Linder (R-Ga.), Jim Costa (D-Calif.) and Bart Stupak (D-Mich)has been introduced into the House. H. Con. Resolution 118 promotes the irrigation industry's goal to educate homeowners about the finite potable water supply and the importance of using it "wisely, responsibly and efficiently." Let's hope it streams through the committee process fluidly because every month should be Smart Irrigation Month.