Sustainability is about integration, addressing multiple issues with a single action, avoiding negative impact, and providing benefits in a multidisciplinary manner. Sustainable sites use natural solutions to mitigate and complement the built environment while protecting diverse habitats and healthy ecosystems. Sustainability can encompass world issues, neighborhood compatibility, cultural expression, accessibility and personal well-being.
Peconic Green Growth has developed some class modules about this subject. If you would like to schedule a presentation please contact us.
Sustainable Strategies for your Home
Built Environment:
- Reduce Heat Island effect by planting trees and maintaining street trees
- Plant to shade pavement
- Shield buildings from the sun with deciduous trees to the south and east
- Shield buildings from the wind with conifers to the north and west
- Shield buildings from noise with planted buffers
- Design swales and rain gardens to slow stormwater run-off and allow recharge
- Incorporate green walls, roofs, and rainwater barrels to hold run-off and reuse beneficially
- Minimize hard surfaces; use permeable paving where needed
- Reuse graywater for irrigation
- Reduce or eliminate pesticide and fertilizer use
- Avoid soil compaction
Environment
- Protect important natural resources with buffers and passive uses
- Conserve natural resources: use, but renew your natural materials
- Restore degraded environments
- Select native plants for local habitat sustenance
- Remove invasive plants responsively
- Reduce water use:
- Select plants that need less water
- Group plants according to their micro-climate and water needs
- Provide dense/ vertically layered plantings to minimize evapotranspiration
- Avoid irrigation except for growing food or establishing plants
- When using irrigation, choose efficient systems, such as drip irrigation withmoisture monitoring,
- Minimize or avoid the use of drinking water for irrigation
- Reduce waste: compost, use recycled and reused materials
- Reduce energy and chemical use
- Select local products
Design
- Understand your site
- Test your soil
- Map your site and assess orientation
- Consider your desires
- Create zones, both for uses and compatible plants
- Consider views
- Maximize the experiences of your site
- Understand your design from different perspectives
- Consider the impacts of season and time
- Be a community asset
