Today, green building certification pays scant attention to landscaping, but it should, according to the Sustainable Sites Initiative, which has just released the world's first rating system for the design, construction and maintenance of sustainable landscapes (with or without buildings).
The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) was created by the U.S. Green Building Council to provide a standard for environmentally sustainable buildings, but only gives a few points of credit for green landscaping. The Sustainable Sites Initiative plans to change that by incorporating state-of-the-art green landscaping principles into next version of LEED in 2012.
Text: http://www.smartertechnology.com/c/a/Global-Challenges/Smarter-Green-Buildings-to-Include-EcoPositive-Landscaping/
