Products, Vendors, CAD Files, Spec Sheets and More...
Sign up for LAWeekly newsletter
The 12-month period since last summer might be dubbed The Year of the Green Roof. The year has also seen legislative progress for landscape architects with new practice acts in New Hampshire and West Virginia. Below are some highlights from the past 12 months.
An ASLA survey shows that more Americans are aware of landscape architecture as a profession.
The survey asked a sample of 2,000 U.S. adults to describe their level of familiarity with the term ?EUR??,,????'??landscape architect,?EUR??,,????'?? rate the likelihood that nine various activities would be performed by a landscape architect, and identify the level of education they believe is required of a landscape architect.
Data from this survey and a similar survey in 1998 demonstrate an increase in awareness of landscape architecture among general consumers since that time.
Eighty-seven percent of respondents in the 2006 survey indicated that they have at least heard of the term ?EUR??,,????'??landscape architect,?EUR??,,????'?? and 65 percent claimed to be at least somewhat familiar with this term.
The top three activities that respondents in the 2006 survey identified as being performed by a landscape architect were improving the landscape of a home (72 percent), designing a public park or recreational facility (65 percent), and making a downtown street more attractive to increase retail customer traffic (54 percent).
Perry Howard, FASLA, of Greensboro, N.C., is selected as society president-elect. Howard is program coordinator for the landscape architecture department at North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University. The Fellow has served as the coordinator for the university program since 1989, after serving as a vice president at EDSA in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. He will be the society?EUR??,,????'???s 2007-08 president.
?EUR??,,????'?????????EUR??,,?EUR New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch (D) signed legislation that creates a new practice act for the state of New Hampshire. The state strongly supported the bill, including a unanimous vote for H.B. 1458 in the state?EUR??,,????'???s House. The Granite State Landscape Architects (a section of the Boston ASLA chapter) fought back against a strong push by opponents in the Senate, who wanted to dump the bill in favor of a ?EUR??,,????'??study?EUR??,,????'?? on the issue.
?EUR??,,????'???? Back in May, Colorado Gov. William Owens® vetoed the Landscape Architects Professional Licensing Act, leaving the state (with Vermont) as the only state in the U.S. lacking a title act or a practice act for landscape architecture.
?EUR??,,????'?????????EUR??,,?EUR ASLA Federal Government Affairs Manager Scott Kovarovics meets with staff of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee to discuss the importance of balancing effective security with openness and freedom of movement.
Soon after the meeting, President Bush nominates Lurita Alexis Doan to the GSA position. Following this nomination, ASLA provides the committee with questions relating to Doan?EUR??,,????'???s philosophy about balancing security while maintaining public access. GSA is the federal government?EUR??,,????'???s landlord and owns and/or leases thousands of buildings nationwide.
ASLA?EUR??,,????'???s JobLink service, which, on average, lists more than 200 jobs per month, is improved to help firms and landscape architects connect more easily. The enhanced JobLink lets job seekers search listings by several criteria to help them find the right job.
ASLA?EUR??,,????'???s Louisiana Chapter installs a park for the day in an on-street parking space for its ?EUR??,,????'??Park from Parking?EUR??,,????'?? event, which was part of the Downtown Spring Spectacular in Baton Rouge. Many people stops by and ask about it, particularly when everyone is gathering downtown for the Live After Five free concert across the boulevard from the site.
The local CBS news crew, WAFB-TV, stop by to film for a piece that airs later that night. Louisiana did such a great job of adding a little green space to the city that many residents ask the chapter to keep the park up for Earth Day.
?EUR??,,????'?????????EUR??,,?EUR More than 140 trustees, chapter presidents, presidents-elect, students, and other ASLA leaders from across the country have 172 meetings with senators, representatives, and their staffs during Lobby Day 2006. ASLA members from 47 states traveled to Washington, D.C. to brief federal officials about security design, hazard mitigation, and our Congressional Fellows program. Many offices are very interested to learn about the role landscape architects play in security design.
?EUR??,,????'?????????EUR??,,?EUR Six individuals receive honorary ASLA membership. Honorary membership is among the highest honors ASLA may bestow upon non-landscape architects, and since its founding in 1899, the Society has conferred honorary membership upon only 94 individuals. The 2006 honorees include U.S. Senator James Jeffords, U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur, Ron Leighton, ASLA?EUR??,,????'???s Director of Education and Academic Affairs, Mayor Laura Miller of Dallas, Texas, Zandra Miller, ASLA?EUR??,,????'???s Associate Director of Finance and Business Operations and U.S. Rep. Mark Udall.
The ASLA green roof landscape is officially dedicated during National Landscape Architecture Month on Frederick Law Olmsted?EUR??,,????'???s birthday. That afternoon, a distinguished panel of guests arrive for the official green roof dedication. The Honorable Linda Cropp of the District of Columbia City Council helps cut the ribbon. Michael Van Valkenburgh, FASLA; Dennis Carmichael, FASLA; Steven Peck, President of Green Roofs for Healthy Cities; and ASLA Executive Vice President Nancy Somerville all speak briefly.
?EUR??,,????'??Having blooming plants around you, at and above eye level is a very different experience than having them just around your feet,?EUR??,,????'?? Somerville said.
The 3,300-square-foot roof is designed by Van Valkenburgh?EUR??,,????'???s firm. It replaces a standard black-tar surface on the 10-year-old brick building. Visitors to the roof climb a staircase to reach an aluminum-grate landing suspended above various succulents. Sweet fern and fragrant sumac grow among other plants in deeper soil on the roof over the staircase platform. Two formerly imposing air return units are also hidden within slopes of semi-intensive plantings that include African ice plants, evergreen moss flox, and various leafy stonecrops, anchored by a system of steel cables.
Making the roof accessible adds a hefty expense, with a staircase and entryway taking up two-thirds of the $950,000 budget.
To track the green roof?EUR??,,????'???s environmental effects, ASLA has installed monitoring equipment that will track storm water runoff, water quality, and air temperature to compare with data from the conventional roof on the building next door. This data is available at www.asla.org along with visual coverage from a web cam.
Green roofs can more than double the lifespan of a roofing membrane by protecting it from sunlight and temperature variations.
?EUR??,,????'?????????EUR??,,?EUR ASLA announces the names of 31 members for induction as 2006 Fellows.
The new Fellows will be inducted during the ASLA Annual Meeting in Minneapolis on Saturday, Oct. 7 and will thereafter use the suffix ?EUR??,,????'??FASLA?EUR??,,????'?? after their names, denoting recognition of their achievements by their peers.
?EUR??,,????'?????????EUR??,,?EUR More than 20 ASLA chapters announce plans to highlight landscape architecture during the society?EUR??,,????'???s National Landscape Architecture Month. The events range from public design workshops, to symposiums on smart growth, to office visits for perspective landscape architects.
West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin (D) signs legislation that upgrades the state?EUR??,,????'???s landscape architect licensure law from a title act to a practice act. Under a title law, anyone could practice landscape architecture as long as they did not use the title ?EUR??,,????'??landscape architect.?EUR??,,????'?? In the past two sunset cycles, landscape architects faced serious opposition; however, this year there was no major discussion and the upgrade passed.
ASLA launches a campaign to encourage its members to use their ASLA designation to indicate that they are members of the national professional association for landscape architects.
ASLA members should, the society said, use their designations for the following:
The West Virginia Senate approves legislation to upgrade the state?EUR??,,????'???s landscape architecture licensure law from a title act to a practice act.
ASLA announces that the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) predicts that employment of landscape architects will grow between 18 and 26 percent through 2016, a faster-than-average rate when compared to overall employment. The BLS notes that a growing population means there will be more residential and commercial construction and that landscape architects will be needed to perform the landscape planning for these projects.
HGTV seeks two residential landscape architects for its growing lineup of design-related television. The cable network was looking for the landscape architects for two shows: ?EUR??,,????'??Extreme Rooftops?EUR??,,????'?? and ?EUR??,,????'??Great Outdoor Rooms.?EUR??,,????'??
A group of product manufacturers, suppliers, and contractors in the business generously offered donations and discounts to help close the ASLA green roof budget gap created by increased materials and labor costs due to the Gulf Coast hurricanes. In November, ASLA?EUR??,,????'???s Board of Trustees voted to proceed with the project on schedule despite significant budget increases due to demand generated by hurricanes Rita and Katrina.
ASLA participated in a meeting arranged by Congressman Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.), Hon. ASLA, to discuss a proposal to convene a regional dialogue to develop a long-term vision for rebuilding and restoring the Gulf region. The proposal focuses on assessing the public values of the region through electronic ?EUR??,,????'??town hall?EUR??,,????'?? meetings with local residents who have been dispersed around the country. ASLA lent its expertise to the work of the RPA to map the environmentally sensitive areas in the Gulf region. ASLA members were invited to participate in the Louisiana Recovery and Rebuilding Conference, which is being cosponsored by the AIA and APA at the request of Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco and the Louisiana Recovery Authority.
Francisco Uviña, University of New Mexico
Hardscape Oasis in Litchfield Park
Ash Nochian, Ph.D. Landscape Architect
November 12th, 2025
Sign up to receive Landscape Architect and Specifier News Magazine, LA Weekly and More...
Invalid Verification Code
Please enter the Verification Code below
You are now subcribed to LASN. You can also search and download CAD files and spec sheets from LADetails.