Describes the basics of environmental landscaping to help you reduce heating and cooling costs, water costs, and yard maintenance while creating a yard that invites wildlife and controls pests without chemicals. The Resource Guide , by Wesley A. Groesbeck and Jan Striefel. Identifies sustainable landscaping and gardening information sources, products, and materials. Materials Selection and its Impact on the Environment Consider each material with respect to its impact on the environment. For example, selecting local materials helps strengthen the local economy, as well as eliminating the need for transporting materials, which in turn reduces pollution, fuel consumption, and other transportation-related environmental impacts.
Some materials have more of an impact on the environment than others.
Some woods are harvested from destructive forestry practices. This online guide is a design tool that can be used to overlay environmental issues on the design, construction and operation of new and renovated facilities. Software BEES 2.0 is Building for Environmental and Economic Sustainability software that allows comparisons of the environmental impacts of an assortment of building materials. This software was developed by NIST, the National Institute of Standars and Technology, and may be downloaded free of charge.