A Critical Evaluation of the Sustainable Sites Initiative's Guidelines and Performance Benchmarks 2009 as Applied to the Design and Development of the Orem, Utah Intermodal Center

Author

Jeffrey E. Dzikowski, Utah State University

Date of Award

5-2012

Degree Type

Report

Degree Name

Master of Landscape Architecture (MLA)

Department

Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning

Committee Chair(s)

Keith M. Christensen

Committee

Keith M. Christensen

Committee

David T. Anderson

Committee

Roslynn G.H. Brain

Committee

Bo Yang

Abstract

In 2006 the American Society of Landscape Architects, the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, the United States Botanical Garden, and additional stakeholders joined together to form the Sustainable Sites Initiative^TM (SITES^TM), an organization dedicated to the promotion of sustainable land development and management practices. As part of this effort SITES recently released its Guidelines and Performance Benchmarks 2009, a document which provides a voluntary guideline and rating system for the development, operation, and maintenance of sustainable landscapes.

This guideline and rating system is currently being tested through the Sustainable Sites Initiative pilot program, in which a select group of approximately 150 projects are participating in an initial trial of the SITES certification process. In an effort to provide SITES with in-depth feedback from one of its pilot program participants, the following study involved an interview of a group of key informants who were responsible for development of the SITES pilot application for the Orem Intermodal Center. Through inductive analysis of the data collected from the interviews, this study evaluated the effectiveness of the SITES Guidelines and Performance Benchmarks 2009 as applied to the design and development of the Orem Intermodal Center project. The results and implications of this evaluation are discussed within the study. The study’s findings have also been forwarded to SITES, with the expectation that this information will help inform refinement of the Guidelines and Performance Benchmarks prior to the widespread release of SITES in 2013.

Comments

This work made publicly available electronically on October 2, 2012.

Recommended Citation

Dzikowski, Jeffrey E., "A Critical Evaluation of the Sustainable Sites Initiative's Guidelines and Performance Benchmarks 2009 as Applied to the Design and Development of the Orem, Utah Intermodal Center" (2012). All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023. 191.
https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/gradreports/191