The appearance of commercial properties sends a message to customers and businesses.
Businesses work hard to offer products and services that meet their customers' needs.
Incorporating trees and other natural features helps create a positive environment that attracts and welcomes customers. In fact, recent studies have shown that 74 percent of the public surveyed preferred to shop at commercial establishments whose structures and parking lots are beautified with trees and other landscaping. While improving a business's appearance, incorporating trees and other natural landscapes also helps the local environment by reducing the heat island effect that buildings and paving create, reducing stormwater and associated costs of management, reducing air and water pollutants and providing habitat for wildlife. The workshop will focus on creative approaches to commercial development that have a positive effect on the economy, the environment and our community. Participants will explore issues relating to commercial development including sign visibility and size, building design criteria, construction techniques that minimize environmental impacts, marketing value and benefits of incorporating natural features into commercial developments and parking lots, creating low maintenance landscapes, and examine case studies that profited by protecting nature.