Emory University
OP-9: Landscape Management

46 acres of Roads; 14.3 acres of service drives; 31.68 acres of sidewalks; 34 acres of surface lots; 19.28 acres of parking decks; 71.86 acres of buildings; and 30 acres of water for a total of 247.12 acres of land excluded from the area of managed grounds. These totals are based on a 2017 inventory.

The Emory University community has long recognized that the original, hardwood forest lands of Emory represent irreplaceable value for current and future generations of Emory students, staff, and faculty. Recognizing that all of Emory’s forest areas need a comprehensive management plan, the Committee on the Environment and Campus Services partnered to develop an Emory University Forest Management Plan. The goal is to create, restore, enhance, and maintain its forested areas. Within the 355 acres that are managed organically, no inorganic fertilizers or chemical pesticides, fungicides and herbicides are applied and the following best practices are followed: • Grass is mowed as needed, generally every week. Aeration is performed as required but no less than two times per year. • Manual weed control is practiced. • Adequate fertilizer is applied to ensure all plant materials are healthy and growing vigorously and amounts depend on species, length of growing season, soils, and rainfall. Only environmentally approved products are used. • Frequency of irrigation use is determined by rainfall amounts, temperature, season, and demands of plant material. • Forested acreage is managed by guidelines outlined in our Forest Management program (http://www.campserv.emory.edu/fm/documents/exterior/forest-management-plan.pdf). In 2014, Emory University became the first university in the country to ban neonicotinoid pesticides and implement a comprehensive pollinator protection campaign.

http://news.emory.edu/stories/2014/09/er_bee_pledge_commitment/campus.html

Integrated Pest Management (IPM) practices are followed for disease and insect control. IPM is a four-tiered series of pest management evaluations, decisions, and controls. The four tiers are as follows: 1. Set an action threshold or a point at which pest populations or environmental conditions indicate action must be taken 2. Monitor and identify pests 3. Prevent pests from becoming a threat using effective and cost-efficient practices. This includes using cultural methods, such as selecting pest-resistant plant varieties and planting plants in the proper environment to reduce stress. 4. Control of pests using effective, less risky pest controls which include the use of highly targeted chemicals, such as pheromones to disrupt pest mating, or mechanical control, such as trapping or weeding.

The Emory Sustainability Vision set a goal to "restore forested lands and control harmful invasive species on the university campus." The Grounds department targets English Ivy, Chinese Privet, Wisteria, and non-native volunteers in our forested areas using mechanical and selective chemical control measures. In conjunction with this goal, the “use of native plant materials” is included in the Elements of the Emory Vocabulary recorded in the Campus Master Plan Update 2005. All plant material shall comply with the Landscape Master Plan Palette included in the Emory University Campus Design Guidelines. The Landscape Master Plan Palette is a list of plants native to plant hardiness zone 7. Plant material not included in the Landscape Master Plan Palette must be approved by the Emory University Superintendent of Roads and Grounds and the Emory University Landscape Architect.

Emory practices continual streambank restoration and management, including hosting groups of students to plant pollinator-attractive plants in 25-foot streambank buffers across campus to enhance pollinator habitat while employing green infrastructure to slow and clean stormwater and runoff. Cisterns are located around campus that allow for harvested rainwater to be used wherever the water is needed for irrigation, and in some buildings, for toilet flushing. Bioretention swales have been constructed in several areas, which are designed to filter stormwater runoff from pavement and slow the flow of water before it returns to the watershed. Emory is committed to restoring and maintaining the connectivity of Emory's forests, particularly the natural corridor along South Peachtree Creek from Wesley Woods, through Harwood Forest and the Lullwater Preserve, within the context of its Piedmont origins.

Emory's Design and Construction Standards state that "Emory supports the reduced use of potable water for landscape irrigation purposes. The design team should evaluate strategies such as specifying Indigenous plant species requiring little or no irrigation, the use of high-efficiency micro-irrigation, storm-water, and/or HVAC condensate harvesting. Following this guidance may enable the project to achieve the Water Efficiency Credit 1 – Water Efficient Landscaping under the current LEED rating system." The Standards also state that "[a]ll Emory projects shall attempt to meet and exceed the requirements of Sustainable Sites Credits 6.1 and 6.2 – Stormwater Management: Quantity and Quality Control under the current LEED rating system. . . . [E]mphasis shall be placed on reducing impervious cover, increasing on-site infiltration, reducing or eliminating contaminants from runoff, and stormwater harvesting."

The Emory Campus Services Grounds Department collects the following wood and/or green waste materials and processes in the natural campus landscape.  This material includes leaves, grass clippings, brush, compostable garden materials, trees, tree trunks, tree stumps, holiday trees, flowers, and seeds, natural mulch, straw, pine straw, and dirt.

Emory's Design Guidelines state that "all projects shall attempt to meet and exceed the requirements of Sustainable Sites Credit 7.1 – Heat Island Effect: Non-Roof under the current LEED rating system. Generally, emphasis shall be placed on reducing heat islands to minimize impacts on microclimates and human and wildlife habitats by providing shade and/or light-colored/high-albedo materials in an acceptable combination to provide coverage for at least 50% of the site's non-roof impervious surface. . . . Beyond the requirements of the credit, any projects utilizing materials which are allowed by the design standard, but which have a low reflectance (i.e. red brick, asphalt, etc.) shall be offset by other materials in the project to reduce the heat island effect. For example, if 100 square feet of asphalt is required on the project, 100 square feet of area, beyond the 50% to meet credit requirements should be included for another design element such as shade or high-albedo concrete."

The Emory Grounds Department uses an environmentally friendly product for de-icing; however, de-icing product availability fluctuates annually. Emory's preference is Calcium Magnesium Acetate (CMA) as it is less corrosive on concrete and less harmful to vegetation. In 2014, Emory University became the first university in the country to ban neonicotinoid pesticides and implement a comprehensive pollinator protection campaign. Emory's Design & Construction Standards state that the use of neonicotinoids and plant material (trees, shrubs, groundcovers, plants, turf, and seed) treated with neonicotinoids is not acceptable. All plant materials must be certified to have been produced or grown without the use of neonicotinoids, and all contractors must provide certification that all plant materials are neonicotinoid-free.

All data reported in this section are from September 2020-August 2023

Emory's Pollinator Protection Plan http://news.emory.edu/stories/2014/09/er_bee_pledge_commitment/campus.html

Lullwater Comprehensive Management Plan: http://emoryforest.emory.edu/lullwater/lcmpfinala.pdf

Emory's Forest Management Plan: http://sustainability.emory.edu/uploads/press/2014/04/2014040910595134/forest-management-plan.pdf  

(The Forest Management Plan was being updated at the time of reporting, but a newer version is not yet available).

Emory's No Net Loss of Tree Canopy Policy: http://www.campserv.emory.edu/fm/documents/forest_canopy.pdf Tree inventory (in progress): https://emoryuniversityga.treekeepersoftware.com/index.cfm?deviceWidth=1366

Land Classification Plan (2017): https://sustainability.emory.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/2017-Land-Classification-Plan.pdf 

(The Land Classification Plan was being updated at the time of reporting, but a newer version is not yet available).