Landscape decisions made early in design have lasting consequences for environmental performance, site resilience, and project success.

Join us for a practical course exploring how thoughtful site design can preserve native vegetation, improve stormwater performance, reduce urban heat impacts, and support healthier long-term landscapes—even in highly constrained urban and brownfield conditions.

This session examines how architects can make informed site planning decisions that protect valuable vegetation during development while addressing some of today’s most pressing environmental challenges. Participants will review best practices for limiting disturbance to impacted soils, improving infiltration to reduce pressure on combined sewer systems, and selecting landscape and paving strategies that help mitigate urban heat island effects.

Through real project examples, the course also highlights sustainable planting techniques for both ground-level and rooftop conditions, offering practical approaches that can be applied across a wide range of project types.

Participants Will Learn How To:

✔ Quantify the value landscapes bring to site performance and project outcomes
✔ Understand common challenges in establishing healthy long-term plantings
✔ Identify practical strategies that improve planting success in difficult site conditions
✔ Review case studies demonstrating sustainable landscape techniques at grade and on structure