This article was originally published as "Driving Sustainability Beyond the Building" in the September/October issue of USGBC+. Read the original version.
Can landscape architecture help save the world? The way Christian Gabriel, the national design director for landscape architecture at the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), describes the federal agency’s recent work in the field makes a compelling case for the affirmative.
Take, for an example, how an evolving approach to landscaping, such as delaying cleanup of vegetation that would have previously been deemed an eyesore, is creating crucial foraging space for honeybees—in a time when colonies and other pollinators are dying off at unprecedented rates, yet are responsible for more than 50 percent of the world’s food supply and $25 billion of the annual U.S. economy.