John Deere Participates in the Sustainable Sites Initiative™

John Deere, (with a ZTrak 700 Series mower, seen here) has collaborated with Duke University, Duke Smart Home Program and North Carolina State University. The goal is to develop a sustainable turf and landscape that will meet the high standards set by SITES and allow for us to study means to achieve the broadest possible benefit from the landscape project.
Photo courtesy of John Deere

CARY, N.C. — John Deere announced that it will be participating in a new program testing the nation’s first rating system for sustainable landscape design, construction and maintenance. Deere will join more than 150 other projects from 34 states as well as from Canada, Iceland and Spain. The international pilot project program will evaluate new SITES rating system for sustainable landscapes, with and without buildings.

“Sustainability is an important concept that has value for turf and landscape design, construction and management,” said Dr. Mark Schmidt, project coordinator, John Deere. “Smart and sustainable solutions can be utilized in the full lifecycle of a landscape to help optimize the economic, social and environmental benefits of the landscape.

SITES, a partnership of ASLA, the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center at The University of Texas at Austin and the U.S. Botanic Garden, selected the John Deere project based on its extensive environmentally friendly elements. A few of the sustainable practices in the John Deere project included managing rainwater on site, protecting and restoring soil conditions, and managing turf and plants with responsible and precise application of fertilizer and pesticides.

SITES will use feedback from this and the other selected projects during the pilot phase, which runs through June 2012, to revise the final rating system and reference guide by early 2013. The U.S. Green Building Council, a stakeholder in the Sustainable Sites Initiative, anticipates incorporating the guidelines and performance benchmarks into future iterations of its LEED® Green Building Rating System™.

– Courtesy of John Deere Ag and Turf Division