Green Building Starts from the Soil Up, Literally

The product choices for landscape maintenance of a building will have a dramatic impact on both building performance with respect to the foundation stability and the quality of the plant life surrounding the structure. Maintenance products used in the landscape have an effect on growth, water usage and watershed quality. Arguably, landscape practices have a huge impact on the perception of a building's curb appeal, value, and health as well as the utility savings that can be achieved with proper plant selection, placement and maintenance. However, regardless of the design's merit, if the products used to maintain the landscape increase the need for irrigation, leach harmful chemicals into the watershed, or decrease the soil's ability to regulate its moisture content, the results may be costly to the owner. Elevating education for cost effective solutions to incorporate non-toxic, recyclable and renewable energy sources for landscape installation and maintenance will be the focus of this paper.