Four years ago the School of International Service patio was a parking lot.
AU transformed the SIS grounds into a sustainable area in 2009 so that students could enjoy the area and the University could boost its green standing.
The area received a notable two-out-of-four stars rating from The Sustainable SITES Initiative this summer, setting a precedent for greening other areas on campus including East Campus.
SIS’s grounds are currently one of 23 projects to be certified by The Sustainable SITES Initiative, according to Grounds Operations Coordinator Stephanie DeStefano.
The Sustainable SITES Initiative measures the sustainability of landscaping by awarding points for the types of plants, water, soil and socialization the site offers, DeStefano said.
The certification process took three years, said Zero-Waste Coordinator Helen Lee, who oversaw the process. A majority of the other locations participating in the program dropped out or have not yet finished the certification process because it is a long process, DeStefano said.
“[The University has] a lot of sustainable landscaping practices, so it makes sense for us to pursue Sustainable SITES where we can, when we can,” Lee said.
The SIS grounds were initially classified as a “gray field,” which meant it had been previously developed and had low quality soil, DeStefano said. The 1.8 acres were formerly a parking lot that AU replaced with SIS, an underground parking garage, patio and gardens.
However, plans for a Korean garden reduced the rating because the plants are not native to D.C. and were shipped in an unsustainable way to AU, Lee said. The plants had already been selected for the landscape by the time the certification process began, Lee said.
Four other universities certified portions of their campuses, according to SITES’ website:
Duke University
Cornell University
Grand Valley State University
The University of Texas at Arlington
All the schools received a rating of one or two stars.
AU hopes to integrate the Sustainable SITES Initiative into East Campus, which will cover the south end of the Nebraska parking lot, Lee said. AU will begin breaking ground on East Campus in the summer of 2014, according to AU’s website. East Campus will also start the process as a gray field.
“We are really invested in our landscaping,” Lee said. “We really love our plants.”
shogan@theeagleonline.com
