Landscape professionals have a major role to play. Among other things, sustainable irrigation can help protect habitat, contribute to storm water management, reduce fossil fuel usage and conserve water. Across the country, green industry providers are lending their efforts in countless ways. Green roofs and walls, rainwater catchment systems, rain gardens, native plantings and no-mow zones are just a few examples.
The professionals at Landtech are following suit by shifting the way we think about the future of irrigation. Programs like LEED and SITES have created a whole new way of thinking for us. We have witnessed firsthand how those with expertise in sustainable irrigation can provide high value perspective to developers, landscape architects, engineers and homeowners. Irrigation consultants are playing a valuable role in bettering the environment while at the same time boosting the image of the entire industry.
While many in the irrigation industry see the rising trend of construction projects forgoing or minimizing irrigation to gain LEED and SITE credits as a threat, we are looking at this as an opportunity to engage. Efforts to conserve are not a passing fad. As irrigation professionals, we see that we have an important role to play as leaders in this movement. At first touch, LEED and SITE credits seem like a threat to our bottom line. However, the reality is that water is a scarce resource and we, as irrigation professionals, possess front-line knowledge and experience that give us an edge in providing value to the growth of the conservancy movement.
LEED projects require a different mindset, and we know the platform of products that effectively accomplish water conservation. We know what will work best for the specific needs of a project. Addressing irrigation from a design/build approach is usually not effective because irrigation contractors often don’t know what products to use to get LEED or SITE credits. At Landtech, we know exactly what needs to be done to meet the calculations for those water-efficiency credits. As experts in irrigation and devout followers of state-of-the-art technology, we create the right roadmap to get the results that are in demand in this era of green development.
