Our focus will now shift to the impact that Greenwashing has exerted on the design industry and how that is affecting the overall paradigm shift to a more sustainable world. It is important to note that it is more than likely that a majority of design professionals probably don't intentionally greenwash their efforts. However, to survive in our Hyper-Capitalist economic structure, their efforts to provide sustainable and equitable design solutions are often usurped by their Hyper-Capitalist clients desires and demands.
With that in mind, our exploration of the greenwashed site plan must begin with the theoretical and philosophical aims of developing a ecologically and environmentally responsible site plan. There are two important points to keep in mind as we delve into this particular topic; the first is that a majority of the time, the influence which the Landscape Architect can exert on the final technical aspects of a design is often usurped by the influence that Civil Engineers exert on our site development efforts.
While Civil Engineers possess the technical knowledge to ensure that sites function properly with regards to grading and drainage, Landscape Architects also possess a similar knowledge-base which allows for the technical site requirements to be met in addition to possessing the knowledge to develop a sustainable and equitable site plan. This appears to be a side-effect of the lack of public knowledge regarding the technical qualifications which Landscape Architects possess, even though Landscape Architecture has been a recognized profession for over 100-years.
The second point is that responsible site development ideals are instilled in Landscape Architects from a very early stage in the educational experience and continue to be emphasized and extolled throughout one's professional development, licensing and professional practice standards. It is the influence which Hyper-Capitalism has exerted on the overall development industry which has caused many designers to "shelve" and even abandon these ideals.
These are essential points which must be addressed as we embark on a system-wide paradigm shift to a more sustainable and equitable development ideal.
As professionals, Landscape Architects undergo a vigorous and extremely difficult licensing process. This process includes educational requirements, professional practice requirements and continuing education requirements (once a professional passes the LARE). To begin to understand exactly how detailed and vigorous the examination process is for Landscape Architects, simply peruse the recommended reading list provided by the Council of Landscape Architect Registration Boards (CLARB).
In order to understand the basic concepts and ideals which Landscape Architects utilize during the site planning process, we will rely upon an essential text for Landscape Architects; Environmental Planning for Site Development by Anne Beer and Catherine Higgins. This book is one of many which provide designers with the theoretical and technical information required to develop sustainable and equitable site plans for nearly every type of development.
Our discussion begins with the need to understand when site planning is required in the overall context of development. As the authors illustrate, "A site plan is needed when: (1) whenever it is proposed to change the use of an area of land or build on all or part of it; (2) whenever it is proposed to change the way in which an area of land and its associated landscapes is managed and maintained." (Beer, 1990. 3)
If we look back to the concepts and practices of comprehensive and future land use planning, the need for developing a sustainable and equitable site plan becomes even more important when considering the frequency with which developers apply for and are approved for land use plan amendments in order to develop sites according to their Hyper-Capitalist ideals as opposed to the sustainable and equitable development of a community.
"Costs to society are incurred...through: (1) the need to provide adequate infrastructure; (2) the extra work which has to be carried out to protect adjacent natural resources; (3) the need to create new landscapes because of damage to the visual resources caused by the development; (4) the loss of cultural resources; (5) the need to relocate people whose lives are disturbed by an unacceptable land-use change, for instance one which increases the local noise level." (Beer, 1990. 6)
As we can clearly see, the site planning process has far reaching implications which will influence and impact not only environmental and ecological aspects of a community; but also the social, cultural and aesthetic aspects of a community which are rarely codified by everyday community members and virtually never considered by developers. This also helps demonstrate why Landscape Architects should be assuming more control of the site planning process. The training of Landscape Architects far exceeds that of the technical training of Civil Engineers and includes a significant amount of training and education in the areas of the social and cultural impacts of our design solutions.
This point is further illustrated when we examine the broader picture at understanding the impacts and influences that the site planning process can have on our community, our society and our environment. These factors include: "(1) the manner in which people's actions are constrained and limited by the physical environment; (2) the intent to conserve what remains of the plants, animals, insects, etc. that make up the natural world; (3) the need to provide for people's primary needs such as shelter, food and economic activity; (4) the intent to encourage the development of environments which people experience as satisfactory places in which to live, work or play." (Beer, 1990. 10)
A full and comprehensive understanding of this process and its potential impacts on our environment, society and culture is varied and complex, as we have seen from this brief discussion of the ideals with which Landscape Architects are trained to deal with site planning.
You may be asking yourself, "What does this discussion have to do with Greenwashing?" In order to answer that question, we will continue our examination of the site planning process tomorrow with the help of our old friends, Lowe's Home Improvement.
No house should ever be on a hill or on anything. It should be of the hill. Belonging to it. Hill and house should live together each the happier for the other. -Frank Lloyd Wright
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