As most Portlanders know, our city has earned a reputation as a leader in green building design and development. Two great examples are the Oregon Health & Science University Center for Health & Healing along Portland’s South Waterfront and Portland Center Stage’s Gerding Theater at the Armory. Both were among the first buildings in the country to earn a platinum LEED certification from the US Green Building Council.

And now there is an emerging effort to expand LEED certification beyond building structures to also include the building site and surrounding landscape. I was alerted to this effort by Stacey Triplett at Metro in Portland. A national group called The Sustainable Sites Initiative is in the process of developing guidelines that ultimately would be incorporated into future LEED certification standards by the USGBC. According to the Initiative group:

Landscapes provide valuable services such as climate regulation, clean air and water, and improved quality of life. However, conventional land practices often limit, rather than enhance, the ability of landscapes to provide these important services. The Sustainable Sites Initiative was founded to address this concern and investigate and define sustainability in land development and management practices.

If this effort interests you, check out the preliminary report issued by the Initiative group to collect public comment.

Closer to home, Nature in Neighborhoods at Metro has a design competition, called Integrating Habitats, that’s attracting worldwide interest and hopefully worldwide entries. The aim of the competition is to generate innovative ideas and site designs that protect and enhance water quality, as well as fish and wildlife habitats.

Thanks to Stacey for giving me the heads up on these two programs. It’s a hopeful reminder that many smart people in Portland and elsewhere are quietly, creatively and urgently working to restore a sustainable balance between our manufactured and natural environments.