Too often, landscapes, infrastructure and buildings are designed without regard to their harmful impact on our scarce resources, essential ecological systems and quality of life. Population growth and development are causing our communities to use more resources than ever before, which means more waste. We must think beyond the building to gain the benefits of healthy ecosystems.

It’s been quite an exciting year for SITES. We launched the SITES AP professional credential, certified our first round of projects under the SITES v2 rating system and witnessed SITES becoming a truly global program as projects registered around the world.

Greenbuild is the world’s largest conference and expo dedicated to green building. It is the go-to place for the industry to convene and shape the future of the green building and sustainability movement.

This year, SITES and sustainable landscape design will be featured throughout the conference. Join us in Boston from November 8 to 10 for renowned speakers, engaging sessions, an interactive exhibit hall and valuable networking.

Southern California faces a variety of unique environmental and climate-related challenges that can be addressed through more sustainable land development practices. The SITES rating system can be used to develop landscapes on sites with or without buildings and takes into account significant water scarcity, coastal issues and high urban density concerns.

Learn how you can integrate GBCI’s SITES v2 rating system into the development and ongoing maintenance of your projects. Register for our SITES Workshop at Greenbuild China on October 16, 2017.

This article was originally published on July 17 as "What LEED Did for Buildings, Sustainable SITES Will Do for Landscapes—and Not a Moment Too Soon," by Robert Nieminen, on Retrofit Magazine. Read the full article.

Even though SITES is a global standard, each project that uses the rating system exists within a particular local context. Different communities are using SITES to address the very specific environmental challenges they face. Around the world, leaders have begun identifying opportunities to scale SITES regionally and locally, as well as how to best work with state and city governments to do so.

The LEED v4 and SITES v2 rating systems can easily be used in tandem. Last fall, in an effort to simplify the process for projects interested in benefiting from pursuing both SITES and LEED, we published our SITES and LEED Synergies document, which outlined a list of substitutions between LEED and SITES. 

You decided to become a SITES Accredited Professional (SITES AP), you took the exam and you passed. Congratulations!

What's next? Here's a breakdown of what you can do.

Please note that this article is the sole opinion of the author and is not endorsed by GBCI.

Do you want to earn your SITES AP credential, but are crunched for time to study for the exam? I enjoy learning, but I hate taking tests and am a busy person who doesn't have a lot of time to spend a studying for an exam. Here's the plan I followed to pass the exam on my first try: