Overview

Guidelines and Performance Benchmarks.This set of prerequisites and credits combines current research, technology, best practices and performance goals for the design, construction and maintenance of sustainable sites. Released on November 5, 2009, the document has incorporated public feedback from two interim reports released in 2007 and 2008.

Included within the Guidelines and Performance Benchmarks 2009 is the SITES rating system, which assesses specific site performance on a 250-point scale, with points awarded based on credits covering such areas as site selection, the use of materials, restoration of soils and vegetation, and sustainable practices in construction and maintenance.  Credits can apply to projects ranging from corporate campuses and transportation corridors to public parks and single-family residences. Click here to learn more about the Rating System.

A companion document, titled The Case for Sustainable Landscapes, provides a set of arguments—economic, environmental, and social—for the adoption of sustainable land practices; additional background on the science behind the performance criteria the guidelines and performance benchmarks; the purpose and principles of the Sustainable Sites Initiative; and a sampling of some of the case studies the Initiative has followed.  Download both reports here.

Pilot Program. Beginning in June 2010, pilot projects will test various aspects of the Sustainable Sites Initiative rating system (Guidelines and Performance Benchmarks 2009) using a cross-section of project types, sizes and geographic locations. Feedback from the pilot projects will be incorporated into future versions of the SITES rating system. An updated Guidelines and Performance Benchmarks will be released in 2013, when the rating system will be open to public enrollment. Click here to learn more about the two-year Pilot Program.

Reference Guide. The SITES Refernce Guide will be a user guide describing how various pilot projects achieved sustainability goals. It will document the practices that worked in solving site problems as well as evaluating each project.