Certification systems are in place to determine how efficient a structure is, but this typically only extends to the inside of a building. Until recently, there was no way to definitively calculate the sustainability efforts of outdoor structures.
The first three landscapes have officially been certified by the Sustainable Sites Initiative, an effort of the American Society of Landscape Architects and the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center at University of Texas, Austin. The standards systems takes into account features like water usage, plant choice, and maintenance efforts.
Read more about the newly launched system at GOOD.
Photo from Flickr by ChicagoGeek.