"Ecosystem Benefits" Targets

Hi James, Thanks for posting.  Don't have much to add to this other than we'd be interested in also using the Ecosystem Intellegence Screening and Design Tools!     We've been working on our own internal ecological focus and are gaining momementum but not too much to share.  Happy to chat about our progress and goals offline if you're interested 

Hi All! Couldnt help but sharing that this conversation reminds me of the "We are the Ark" movement:  https://wearetheark.org/  Ultimately, we need to protect healthy biodiversity (so protecting climate stability is just one part). Another recent book by David Attenborough explains this well: "A Life on Our Planet" . These references are a little out of the typical information sharing for this group but, I find can be realy important for big picture conceptual thinking. Our firm would certainly be interested in an Ecosystem Intellegence Screening and Design Tool.  It would be helpful to be able to reference quickly how to support local species and avert invasives, for example etc...

Hi everyone - With all of this talk about Ecosystem services and measurement tools, I wanted to make sure you all know about the group at Ecosystem Intelligence, run by Kevin Halsey and his partner Kenna Halsey. They've been working on this problem since 2011, and have developed some pretty cool tools in this regard. I haven't had the opportunity to use their tool on a project, but I can vouch for the depth and rigor of the research they've done over the last 10+ years! Clark

Hi all, I keep meaning to reply to this thread. The way I figure it, one big problem the built environment is having with land use and ecology, aka ecosystem benefits/impacts, aka Design for Ecosystems could be described as a) taking up too much land and constantly using more, b) thereby reducing and interrupting continuous habitat used by native plant and animal species, and c) planting non-native/non-food/non-habitat plantings. Therefore, in the very narrow sense of looking at the utility of the site by plants and animals before and after we touch it, I have been asking our design teams to measure the square footage of vegetated area on a site pre-project and post-project, the subset square footage of vegetated area devoted to native species, and a minimum diversity of native species selected to plant on the site. I then calculate % increase or decrease in habitat. It's a rough estimate, but the idea is to get teams to think about whether they could include rebuilding habitat for plants and animals while they are designing for humans. I feel like it's a level of understanding that is understandable to teams even without a more complex analysis of ecosystem services provided. (Stormwater also obviously a big deal, etc.) We're interested in other tools, and wondering how others help make this goal tangible to teams, or any other feedback... On Mon, Nov 27, 2023 at 1:05 PM Sara Bayer wrote:

Hi All, I am looking for expertise or data focused on embodied water - the water footprint of construction materials. If you have any sources, I'd appreciate hearing about them. Jean Carroon FAIA, LEED Fellow Principal 420 Boylston Street, Boston, MA 02116 Direct 617.850.6651 | Main:617.262.2760 Jean.carroon@goodyclancy.com [Goody Clancy logo]

Hi all, it's not really an answer to your target question, but Simona's post made me think of this. Check out the Ecosystems tab on this year's COTE Top Ten Superspreadsheet. COTE worked with ASLA and Sasaki to revamp it this cycle to look at vegetation quality as well as quantity. The spreadsheet asks for areas of vegetation by type, pre and post development, and then wraps that info into a vegetation quality score. It's a quick and dumb way to talk to your teams about how things got better (or didn't) after your project that's more than square footage of green space but less than doing a Pathfinder or Carbon Conscience analysis. Spreasheet can be found here: https://content.aia.org/sites/default/files/2023-08/COTE_Super_Spreadsheet_Version_4.1.0.xlsx