70 Questions Landscape Architects Can Ask Industry Partners to Move Forward Climate and Biodiversity Goals - American Society of Landscape Architects
70 Questions Landscape Architects Can Ask Industry Partners to Move Forward Climate and Biodiversity Goals - THE DIRT
ASLA Releases Comprehensive Conversation Guide with Questions on Product Materials, Manufacturing, and More.
ASLA and the ASLA Fund have released Collaborating with Industry Partners on Climate Action and Biodiversity: A Guide to Conversations Among Landscape Architects, Vendors, and Product Manufacturers.
The ASLA Climate Action Committee and Corporate Member Committee curated more than 70 questions landscape architects can ask vendors and product manufacturers about:
- Product:
- Carbon data
- Low-carbon material content
- Recycled material content
- Hazardous material content
- Biodiversity protections
- Use of products in landscapes
- Location of product manufacturing
- Manufacturing facilities
- Company operations
- Equity programs
- Advocacy efforts
There are also additional questions for plant and tree nurseries.
The guide was jointly authored by landscape architects, vendors, and product manufacturers. It incorporates goals outlined in the ASLA Climate Action Plan and Field Guide, the Sustainable Sites Initiative (SITES), and by the International Living Future Institute (ILFI).
“With this guide in hand, landscape architects can ask industry partners the right questions and move the conversation forward. Getting on the same page will lead to deeper collaboration on how to reduce our collective impacts and improve benefits,” said ASLA CEO Torey Carter-Conneen.
“The guide will enable us to expand the dialogue on embodied carbon in materials, the sustainable use of products in landscapes, and supporting equity goals in communities,” said April Phillips, FASLA, Chair, ASLA Climate Action Committee.
Valkenburgh Associates Inc. / Elizabeth Felicella
The guide builds on the ASLA Climate Action Plan and the Climate Action Field Guide for ASLA Members, which chart a pathway for landscape architects to achieve zero greenhouse gas emissions in their projects and operations and increase carbon sequestration by 2040.
In 2022, the Climate Action Plan was developed by a high-profile Task Force of five landscape architects chaired by Pamela Conrad, ASLA, founder of Climate Positive Design, and a 17-member Advisory Group. It outlines a bold vision for 2040 and 71 actions to be taken by 2025.
Our Vision for 2040:
All landscape architecture projects will simultaneously:
- Achieve zero embodied and operational emissions and increase carbon sequestration
- Provide significant economic benefits in the form of measurable ecosystem services, health co-benefits, sequestration, and green jobs
- Address climate injustices, empower communities, and increase equitable distribution of climate investments
- Restore ecosystems and increase and protect biodiversity
ASLA also has clear goals for global biodiversity. ASLA has committed to advancing the global movement to protect and restore at least 30 percent of terrestrial, coastal, and marine ecosystems by 2030 (30 x 2030).
Related Knowledge Center: Climate economics
Climate change is now a driver of the world’s economy. The impact is profound:
- Catastrophic weather events — hurricanes, floods, droughts, high temperatures — are more frequent and more extreme. The cost can be measured in both the initial damage caused and the longer-term impact on the economy.
- Vulnerable communities are increasing climate-related investments, hardening infrastructure and taking other protective measures.
- Investment in carbon capture and storage technologies is increasingly rapidly.
- Governments are making investments and crafting regulations to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
On top of all of this is the cost of uncertainty. As the Fourth National Climate Assessment, released in 2018 by the U.S. Global Change Research Program, says, “The assumption that current and future climate conditions will resemble the recent past is no longer valid.”