BWP CHOSEN FOR SUSTAINABLE SITES INITIATIVE PROGRAM
July 2010
The Sustainable Sites Initiative (SITES) announced the selection of the Burbank Water and Power campus as one of the first landscapes to participate in a new program testing the nation's first rating system for green landscape design, construction and maintenance. This Burbank project is among a number of international pilot projects evaluating the new SITES rating system for sustainable landscapes, with and without buildings. Sustainable landscapes can clean water, reduce pollution and restore habitats, while providing significant economic and social benefits to land owners and cities.
The BWP project is an exemplary model in sustainable design from its high-efficiency heat recovery steam generator to the shared bikes located throughout the facility for use as employee transportation. Other features include the plant's power generation which uses recycled water for steam, a recycled water irrigation system managed by climate-based irrigation controllers, landscape areas planted with native and drought tolerant species, and a vegetated green roof. Additionally the campus-wide project will include a public green street demonstration project running along the western edge of the campus. This innovative project will demonstrate several storm water management technologies.
The Sustainable Sites Initiative is an interdisciplinary effort by the American Society of Landscape Architects, the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center at The University of Texas at Austin and the United States Botanic Garden to create voluntary national guidelines and performance benchmarks for sustainable land design, construction and maintenance practices.