Testing begun on sustainable landscape rating system

Testing of the first national rating system for sustainable landscapes has begun, and will continue through June of 2012 using more than 160 projects to look at real-life applications of the credit system. The Sustainable Sites Initiative (SITES) pilot projects represent a mix of project types and scales, with 25% being parks, 20% institutional/educational, 15% commercial, 13% residential, 8% transportation corridors/streetscapes, 8% gardens/arboretums, 6% government complexes, 4% mixed-use, and 1% industrial. They represent an array of ecoregions, with projects in 34 U.S. states, as well as Canada, Spain and Iceland. SITES Pilot Projects will be the first projects in the U.S. and abroad to demonstrate the application of The Sustainable Sites Initiative: Guidelines and Performance Benchmarks 2009.