Landscaping is Changing the Conversation Around Green Real Estate. Top 10 things property people need to know.

Posted by Eastern Land Management on

January is Quality of Life month and with sustainability playing an increasingly more important role in how commercial real estate companies invest in green performance, the benefits of landscaping has emerged as an actionable priority.

From site design and infrastructure to LEED considerations to amenities and workplace wellness, new research suggests that nature will have the largest and most easily quantifiable impact on quality of life.

Here’s how:

  1. Health & wellness

The Covid pandemic flipped perceptions of workplace norms, leading to a rethink of the role air quality, natural light and quality outdoor space influences health and well-being. This has led to reconfiguring landscaped areas for outdoor conferencing and working, creating walking trails and bike paths for fitness, building out green roofs and terraces for encourage social interaction, and increasing the number of trees.

  1. Sustainability

As a philosophy and a practice, sustainability has influenced the built environment for years. But with concerns around extreme weather events, climate action planning and the need for increased environmental resilience, landscaping has become an essential key performance indicator for driving occupancy, higher rents, higher tenant retention and higher property value – all while reducing energy use, waste, and environmental impacts.

Getting up to speed. What’s next?

Nature, by way of landscaping and its ability to refresh and revitalize, is an unparalleled remedy to urban stress. When implemented in a way that also protects environmental health, the benefits to human health increase exponentially.  Ten things ELM can help you do now:

  1. Implement a water conservation and irrigation management plan, combined with low-water use landscape strategies and comprehensive guidelines for erosion control and storm water management.
  2. Reduce landfill waste through recycling and composting.
  3. Increase biodiversity, habitat health and plant life through best practices.
  4. Reduce chemical use.
  5. Improve soil health through mulching and microorganisms.
  6. Improve plant and pest management with biological controls, and beneficial insects.
  7. Create a long-range strategic landscape plan that includes ongoing landscape performance improvements.
  8. Transform underutilized areas into perennial meadows.
  9. Use advanced technologies for energy-efficiency and improved resource management.
  10. Create and maintain healthy and high-performing outdoor amenity spaces for people to spend more time in nature.

To learn more about how Eastern Land Management can improve quality of life through landscaping, contact company president Bruce Moore Jr. at (203) 316-5433.

Photo: Stamford Towers, Stamford Connecticut. A commercial landscape sustainably maintained by ELM for CBRE.

 

ELM’s green infrastructure program is tackling urban stormwater.

Posted by Eastern Land Management on

Stormwater runoff is a leading cause of urban water pollution. When rain, snow, sleet fall on impervious surfaces, such as parking lots, roads, rooftops and other hard surfaces, the water washes off and carries sediment and pollutants on its way into streets and storm drains, and subsequently into rivers and lakes and watershed.

“Green infrastructure – both hardscape and natural systems, such as bioswales, rain gardens and other vegetated biofilters – is a functional, attractive, environmentally-friendly and effective way to reduce the volume and flow of runoff,” said Bobby Papotto, ELM’s enhancement manager, who is overseeing a large-scale stormwater project in Westchester County NY.

“After Hurricane Ida came through last year, there was massive flooding, roadway erosion and safety issues due to collapsed shoring and insufficient filtration systems.  We began the project as a storm response effort, working with local engineering teams and the town’s permitting department to build a new retaining wall and a complex swale filtration system using a mix of sand, gravel, and soil amendments.”

“The design of this project went far beyond repairing storm damage. It has effectively provided a mechanism to reduce the volume and velocity of runoff, reclaimed water and created an important environmental asset that serves multiple functions,” added Bobby.

Green infrastructure offers an integrated solution to stormwater management, solving problems and providing benefits at the same time. This includes reducing pollutants and localized flooding, conserving water, and increasing property and economic value through improved site aesthetics and performance.

To learn more about ELM’s green infrastructure program, or ways to address water usage by reducing demands for supplemental irrigation through smart water management, contact Bruce Moore Jr. at 203.315.5433