According to the 2015 1st Quarter American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) business survey https://tinyurl.com/l2t9rd9, leaders of landscape architecture firms report significantly higher levels of billable hours, hiring and inquiries for new work, "suggesting an industry-wide spring thaw has arrived."

The first-quarter survey was fielded April 17 to April 30, 2015, with 191 primary firm contacts responding.

The majority of firms (82.02 percent) reported stable to significantly higher billable hours during the first quarter, a jump from the 74.67 percent from the previous quarter. Similarly, 85.34 percent reported stable to significantly higher inquiries for new work, a notable rise from 76.75 percent in the fourth quarter of 2014.

Year to year, 80.52 percent of firms reported that billable hours were stable to significantly higher, a number virtually unchanged from the first quarter of 2014 (80.17 percent). Additionally, inquiries for new work (83.24 percent) dipped slightly from the first quarter of 2014 (84.64 percent).

The optimism felt by firms seems to be translating into future jobs, according to the survey. Of firms with two or more employees, 61.54 percent said they planned to hire during the second quarter of 2015, a notable rise from the previous quarter (50.63 percent). Some 55.26 percent of firms with 5-9 employees will be hiring landscape architects, both experienced and entry-level.

"Firms have good reason to be upbeat about their economic prospects," said Nancy Somerville, CEO and executive vp of ASLA. "Many are reporting more opportunities for projects as well as strong expectations to hire. We're confident that these conditions will persist throughout the year."

The survey also revisited questions from a third quarter 2010 Business Quarterly survey about why clients choose sustainable design techniques. The top reasons remained virtually unchanged. They include meeting government requirements (54.79 percent), saving money on utility or maintenance costs (40.96 percent), reducing environmental harm (39.36 percent) and adding marketing cachet (31.91 percent). In the 2010 survey, the top reasons were listed as meeting government requirements (50.4 percent), saving money on utility or maintenance costs (43.1 percent), adding marketing cachet (38.7 percent) and reducing environmental harm (38.1 percent).