About

In 2021, ASLA joined with Architecture 2030 to call for the landscape architecture, planning, architecture, development, and construction professions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in their projects and operations by 50-65 percent by 2030 and achieve zero emissions by 2040.

ASLA also ratified the International Federation of Landscape Architects’ Climate Action Commitment, which calls for limiting planetary warming to 1.5°C (2.7 °F). The commitment is supported by 70,000 landscape architects in 77 countries, the largest coalition of landscape architecture professionals ever assembled to advance climate action.

In 2020, ASLA and its members formed a Climate Action Committee, which has guided climate action priorities and laid the groundwork for the Climate Action Plan.

In 2018, ASLA and its 15,000 members became one of 63 cultural organizations to sign the We Are Still In Declaration, demonstrating the depth of landscape architects' commitment to climate action. Some 3,800 leaders representing 70 percent of the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) and 65 percent of the population have signed the declaration, committing to the goals outlined in the Paris Agreement and America’s contribution to it.  

Working with federal and state policy makers and agencies, ASLA Government Affairs increases awareness of the profession and advocates for policies that use landscape architecture to design more sustainable communities.

Landscape architects lead the way in planning and designing low-carbon multi-modal transportation corridors, which include bike lanes and paths, sidewalks, and access to public transportation. As a Steering Committee member of the National Complete Streets Coalition, ASLA advocates for a federal Complete Streets policy.

As a member of the High Performance Building Congressional Caucus Coalition, ASLA highlights how the building industry is working with federal agencies to use landscape to increase building energy efficiency.

SITES Rating System 

ASLA co-founded and co-developed* the Sustainable Sites Initiative® (SITES®), the nation’s first voluntary rating system for sustainable landscapes, with or without buildings. Now owned and administered by Green Business Certification Inc. (GBCI), SITES is propelling more sustainable planning and resilient design, construction, and maintenance of landscapes. SITES has been adopted by the U.S. General Services Administration and the state of Rhode Island for all capital projects.

*ASLA, the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center at The University of Texas at Austin, and the U.S. Botanic Garden  

Best Practices 

ASLA has commissioned 70 case studies on climate-smart and sustainable design:

Designing Our Future: Sustainable Landscapes offers 40 case studies that demonstrate how landscape architects are leaders in sustainable landscape design. Sustainable planning and design, which preserves, develops, and enhances natural resource for future generations, is the basis of any climate solution.
 
ASLA Climate Action Plan: Case Studies offers 30 case studies that demonstrate how landscape architects help communities become more resilient to sea level rise, flooding, extreme heat, and wildfires.

Education

At the ASLA Conference on Landscape Architecture, attendees learn about cutting-edge sustainable landscape planning and design practices and earn professional development hours (PDH), which are required to maintain licensure. More than 70 percent of courses are focused on sustainable planning, design, construction, and maintenance practices.

Through the Landscape Architecture Accreditation Board (LAAB), an autonomous ASLA committee, ASLA promotes climate action and sustainable planning and design as key parts of landscape architecture education at the undergraduate and graduate levels.

Communications

Through ASLA's social media accounts, website, and publications, ASLA connects design professionals, academia, and policy makers to up-to-date news on climate change, sustainable landscape design, water management through green infrastructure, sustainable transportation, and sustainable urban development trends in the U.S. and worldwide.