Trees and Buildings and Carbon – Oh My!

As more clients look toward sustainable design, it is easy to forget that sustainability doesn’t just mean a LEED-certified building. While not every project has the budget for low-carbon products, Mother Nature has given us the best tools for solving our carbon issue – nature.

Carbon sequestration or storage?is the process of capturing, securing, and storing carbon dioxide away from the atmosphere. In the United States, buildings?account for 74% of electricity consumption and a third of greenhouse gas emissions, and construction accounts for 11% of global carbon emissions.

Landscaping is not just a worthwhile investment for the aesthetics of a building but also for sequestering carbon. Forests, farms, and grasslands are responsible for capturing about 25% of carbon emissions globally, a number that quickly decreases with every new development that exacerbates deforestation. While landscape architects can’t replant a forest for every new building, each project can work toward creating a robust landscape.

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For example, if a mixed-use project with multiple buildings totaling one million gross square footage is constructed, we could estimate that it produces 12,500 CO2 tons (1 CO2 ton = 2,204 lbs) per year with no added carbon sequestration materials. On average, one tree can sequester 110 lbs of carbon a year, though this number depends on variety, age, and location of a given tree. We would have to replant 250,455 trees to make up for this building, which is nearly impossible. Instead, landscape architects and?architects can work together to come up with creative solutions that combine low-carbon building products with natural-born products, like trees and shrubs, to meet sustainability goals.

An extensive green roof system is capable of absorbing approximately five pounds of CO2 (depending on the scope and size of the green roof). While this may not seem like a lot, creating a unique building shape with multiple exposed roofs allows this small number to start compounding. When you pair this with the trees, shrubs, and flowers planted throughout the open areas of the site, that daunting number suddenly but gradually gets within reach. Green roof systems also have the benefit of reducing heat gain in our cities, an added bonus for the local community.

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The best landscape architecture is a blend of art and science, sustainability, and good business sense. In designing outdoor spaces, we prefer to work with nature rather than against it, and the best results come when landscape design begins early and takes into consideration native plant life. Let Cooper Carry work with you to create sustainable designs that will be sensitive to the environment and reflect the character of any site.?