"Landscaping solutions include natural fertilizers like mulch and compost. Biological controls for pests include companion planting, creating a suitable environment for natural predator insects, and using pheromone traps."

"If you're using native and adaptive species, really you won't need fertilizers and pesticides," says Eddie Wu, an associate at The HOK Planning Group in Canada.

"HOK and its architectural practice Urbana Architects, together with BGHJ Architects of Charlottetown, are working in joint venture on the Jean Canfield Building, a new Government of Canada services building in the Prince Edward Island capital, designed to meet LEED Gold certification requirements."

"We're planting native and adaptive species that will require almost no irrigation, only in the first two years until they're established," Wu explains. "So this will reduce water consumption. There's also a plan to collect greywater in a cistern for use in irrigation when it's necessary during a drought."

Another challenge in the Prince Edward Island project is to use local materials—somewhat of an issue on an island.

"We're using permeable paving where we can," Wu says. "There's gravel in the space between the pavers so that rainwater can penetrate and replenish the ground water. We have to be careful with the lighting, because it can't shine upwards. It has to be at a certain angle because of the dark sky policy in the city. The furniture is made from recycled material, and the stone walls are made from local stone."

HOK's Al Waab City project in Doha, Qatar, is a mixed-use plan with emphasis on pedestrian comfort. "The landscaping must create some green, inviting places for people to be, while at the same time respond to the realities of a desert climate. One of those realities is that even the groundwater requires desalinizing, which uses energy resources. The solution is to use native species in the more intensive, people-friendly plantings and to scale the vegetation back in the zones according to water consumption, eventually ending with zero-water-consumption stone and concrete features. The integrated design team is also working on ways to incorporate a greywater recovery system for those areas with irrigation needs. Elements inspired by the undulating wind patters of sand dunes and Islamic mosaic and stonework are incorporated into the landscaping."

Source: "LEED-ing Landscapes," Building, May 2006, by Julie Allin.