Seneca Polytechnic
OP-9: Landscape Management

Using Google Earth, the Sustainability Office and the Grounds teams from each campus delineated the campus land into categories: buildings, parking lots, development, green spaces, unmanaged green spaces and specialty uses e.g., soccer fields.

The way a space was determined to be not regularly managed or maintained was if it was not managed and/or maintained by Seneca (including agricultural land leased out to farmers by Seneca at King Campus).

We kept in areas for the indicator of managed grounds that are not regularly maintained, as they are still technically managed by us even if we leave them naturalized.

Seneca practices organic landscape maintenance on all turf and garden areas on the campus. As per our IPM plan, pesticides are avoided at all costs, and we aim to treat invasive and pests with natural, cultural and biological techniques. The use of organic fertilizer is encouraged on campus, and we plan to increase this method over the next year with our manure spreader. This will allow us to recycle manure from the barn and spread it on our farmland. This will help reduce the need for chemical fertilizers.


SUMMARY OF IPM/INVASIVES PLAN
IPM uses knowledge of pest and host biology, as well as biological and environmental monitoring, to respond to pest problems with appropriate management tactics and technologies. Below is a summary of how we control pests and invasive species at Seneca.

We are focused to follow an initiative-taking and preventative approach, incorporating a variety of control and treatment options for invasive species. Control and treatment options use a combination of physical removal of species and environmentally friendly treatment techniques, including biological herbicides when suitable. Monitoring is done regularly, with documentation of targeted areas to determine what worked, where improvements should be made, as well as to determine costs and benefits.

Pest management is done on a strict need-by-need basis and only if required beyond a perceived threshold. Monitoring and recording are implemented to begin the process, with action and control designated if it is determined the pest is deemed a threat to the plant/tree. Similar approaches are implemented with rodent pests in buildings and around the barns/paddocks. Appropriate actions are taken to prevent as well as control pests in these areas. We use current and comprehensive information on the life cycle of pests and their impact on the environment. With this information, we pair it with our IPM, to manage pest damage in the most economical means with the least possible hazard to the people, property and the environment.

Controls are used in order of lowest threat first, with emphasis made on environmentally friendly and naturally occurring control methods whenever possible. Any controls or actions other than these are used only as a last resort when no other option is available.

QUINN DESIGN LANDSCAPE DESIGN
Seneca has a long-standing relationship with Quinn Design Associates for our landscape design. All our large-scale landscape designs follows the below principles, which shape ecologically beneficial campuses and reduced maintenance and resource use demands. See attached document for details.
- Build Community
- Meaningful Spaces
- Economic Sustainability
- Environmental Sustainability (LID, Native Species, Connectivity, etc.)
- Social Sustainability

THE LANDSCAPE DESIGN & MAINTENANCE STANDARDS
The standards use the principles of sustainability (energy and emissions, water, waste, land, leadership, and community), in addition to Seneca’s specific sustainability priorities, to guide how our landscapes are designed and maintained. It employs all elements of Low Impact Development (LID) and include conservation and restoration of existing green spaces and integrate the ecologically safe and beneficial maintenance of each species in the species inventory for each identified maintenance zone (a scale from naturalized to fully maintained) at the design stage. This also includes no mow zones and supplementary procedures e.g., salt management. It includes requirements/standards for the RFP stage and a guiding document for further consultations. This is currently being finalized and is being embedded into our upcoming Updated Landscape Plan for Newnham Campus.

PLANT STEWARDSHIP
Seneca strives to protect existing forests and vegetation, by removing invasive species, such as buckthorn, periwinkle and more. We plan our landscaping around planting and maintaining native plants, along with educational species. Our gardens are planned out to encourage growth of plants that can easily co-exist, thrive and are drought tolerant.

SOIL STEWARDSHIP
Seneca practices soil saving techniques on our farmland and in our paddocks. Fertilizing is done where necessary, and organic fertilizer options are used prior to chemical. Composted food waste, coffee grounds and manure are all used throughout the campus. Striped topsoil and clean fill from projects is relocated to areas of need.

For any new civil or landscape work, we try to encourage water infiltration (using rain gardens, stabilized aggregate, or permeable pavers). Any new civil work generally includes the use of a storm water management tank with a slow-release mechanism. These two items are generally a requirement of by-laws.

All our wetland areas, rivers and lakes are protected, and we strive to maintain high standards of minimizing any disturbance in and around these areas. We encourage minimal water usage by having irrigation feeds from recycled water, along with numerous drought tolerant plantings and rain gardens on campus.



LANDSCAPE DESIGN AND MAINTENANCE STANDARDS - EXCERPT


Principles of Sustainability – Water and Low Impact Development
Low Impact Development (LID) is an aspect of green infrastructure (GI) and is the practice of designing a built environment, including green spaces, which aid our built environment in minimizing the impact on natural water cycles. It emphasizes water conservation and quality, and is intended to help green spaces retain, filter and percolate water into the ground rather than resulting in stormwater runoff. This often includes green infrastructure projects like bioswales, water retention features, green roofs and permeable pavement. It also includes passive design including cooling tree cover, native and low resource intensive vegetation that require minimal irrigation after the integration period. To minimize water use for our landscapes, drip irrigation is used wherever possible.

Core tenants of LID are as follows:
- Preserve natural areas wherever possible
- Minimize development impact on hydrology
- Plan to prohibit stormwater runoff to exit the site
- Implement LID methods in a decentralized and potentially microscale manner
- Implement pollution/effluent prevention measures

All proponents must demonstrate how the design embeds these principles. Furthermore, the following standards are included. With “*” provided on mandatory responses:

*All energy and water consuming equipment/products will be required to be third party verified as water efficient i.e., Watersense or equivalent
- Yes
- N/A

*Select all forms of low impact development this project will pursue in efforts to reduce water demand from landscaping in addition to improving site ecological integrity and reducing heat islands:
- Native species
- Drought tolerant species
- Bioswales
- Permeable pavements
- Water recovery systems
- Other

*Outdoor water use reduction projections included in design
- Yes
- No
- N/A

Will use the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) WaterSense Water Budget Tool or local equivalent to project outdoor water use reductions
- Yes
- No

*Demonstrated how the design will present the water flow on site and it’s plans to place measures (vegetated slope tops, bioswales, rain gardens, etc.) necessary to limit stormwater overflow, and demonstrate how these measures can determine this result. See LEED BD + C, Sustainable Sites, Rainwater Management, for more information (Appendix D)
- Yes
- No
- N/A

Seneca uses reclaimed materials for landscapes wherever possible as a best practice and demonstration of sustainability. Our end-of-life of our landscaping materials leftover from landscaping projects are handled appropriately for waste, recycling and organics and recorded with our construction logs, seen in our construction waste credit submission.

Waste generated through ongoing maintenance is also separated and disposed of appropriately using our waste, recycling and organics infrastructure.

In some cases, organic waste, including landscape waste, is deposited into our on-site composters at York and Newnham campuses. For on campus farms, all organic waste is disposed of in the compost system.

Wood mulch is also made on site from fallen, dead and invasive trees, and all product is kept and used on site in gardens, trails, in the composter and horse paddocks. Alternatively, we also use fallen/dead trees to create natural seating areas around the campus and trails.


LANDSCAPE STANDARDS PRINCIPLE OF SUSTAINABILITY - EXCERPT

Waste Reduction
Waste reduction is the first step of an effective waste management program and involves measures to limit the amount of waste that is generated before it is introduced into the waste stream to be managed through waste or recycling streams. This is accomplished by investigating ways to reduce the need for the procurement of new products and materials overall.

Reuse & Recyclability
The most sustainable product or material is one that already exists. To reduce our demand for virgin materials and present innovative solutions, Seneca will investigate potential reuse opportunities and purchase upcycled/reclaimed materials wherever possible. Potential end uses of reused or recycled materials include:
- Wood used in landscape barriers
- Mulch from Seneca’s compost system

Within this principle, materials that can be recycled at their end of life are prioritized.

All proponents must demonstrate how the design embeds these principles. Furthermore, the following standards are included. With “*” provided on mandatory responses:

Use of reused or recyclable landscape materials i.e. reclaimed wood
- Yes
- No

Formal communication and/or plan for using the compost and/or mulching from on-site composter?
-Yes
- No

Seneca carefully plans where trees are planted each year, to help encourage energy efficiency. This includes but is not limited to windrow breaks along roads and open fields, shade trees near buildings and large plantings and sidewalk trees to minimize the heat island effect.

LANDSCAPE STANDARDS - EXCERPT

Principles of Sustainability – Land

Green Infrastructure
Although features of green infrastructure (GI) may occur naturally, it is a practice that aims to reduce the impacts of the built environment on the environment and mitigate against climate change. GI general is encouraged at any available opportunity. Beyond LID measures, GI includes:
- Green roof technologies
- Green walls
- Urban agriculture
- Tree lined streets and pathways to reduce urban heat islands and conserve energy required for cooling
- Ravines, parks, forests and other environmental spaces
- Renewable energy projects

LEED requires green spaces, vegetated roofs and reflective roofs to cover a larger surface area than paved and/or land covered by buildings.

All proponents must demonstrate how the design embeds these principles. Furthermore, the following standards are included. With “*” provided on mandatory responses:

*Provision of a species inventory for each landscape zone with associated maintenance
- Yes
- No

*Provide a species inventory per zone that provides the following information (select all included)
- Landscape zone
- Specific area
- Species name (s)
- Source and determination of sourced within 100km of the site
- Disclosure if species is native or non-native
- Measures to manage invasive species
- Soil nutrient requirements
- Sun exposure requirements
- Maintenance required to manage the landscaped area and species according to desired aesthetics of zone
- Any specific pest management controls (this is particularly important if key habitats for species are to be placed in vegetated areas i.e., beehives)
- Other species-specific care required for long-term health e.g., annual reseeding

Design includes the appropriate allocation of each landscape zone
- Yes
- No

At least 25% of the calculated outdoor open space is vegetated space planted with two or more types of vegetation or have overhead vegetated canopy. See LEED BD + C Sustainable Sites, Open Space, for more information (appendix D)
- Yes
- No

Use of only organic and/or ecologically safe methods of fertilizer
- Yes
- No

Soil health measures taken and formally embedded into design & maintenance plan (e.g., allowing of organic debris to remain on soils to replenish nutrients, selection of nitrogen fixing species adjacent to species that deplete soil nutrients, annual soil aeration methods)
- Yes
- No

Erosion protection embedded in design and/or maintenance plan
- Yes
- No
- N?A

Soil compaction methods present
- Yes
- No
- N?A

Restoration of disturbed soils that will ultimately be used as habitat or green space, with any imported soils determined ecologically responsible by third party organization and vegetation to follow LEED requirements. See LEED BD + C Sustainable Sites, Protect and Restore Habitat, for more information (appendix D)
- Yes
- No
- N/A

Compliance with snow removal policy
- Yes
- No
- N/A

Allocation of snow deposition areas, located over drains/in drainage pathway and not on top of vegetation
- Yes
- No
- N/A

A minimum of 50% native species
- Yes
- No

Number of species per area of land determined to meet biodiversity standards
- Yes
- No

Aligns with or does not alter the breakdown of landscaping zones, allowing for the maintenance of the diverse landscape typologies of Seneca campuses and promotes conservation of our naturalized spaces
- Yes
- No

BEST PRACTICES
When planning projects, whether past, current or future, we aim to use all natural resources and materials. We discourage the use of fiber cloth, wire baskets and plastics in the landscaping we do on campus. Education focuses on clean planting, soft scaping and hard scaping, with an emphasis on environmentally safe products.

SNOW AND ICE REMOVAL STANDARDS
Snow and Ice removal is embedded into the RFP for our external contractors who manage our grounds outside of immediate building footprint. It outlines that contractors must demonstrate how they use ecologically responsible materials and other sustainable processes and products. Contractors are responsible for the snow and ice management of these external areas but are managed by Seneca facilities. Specific procedures are then laid out in the work plan, which include the use of brine and closure of non-essential walkways to reduce volume of salt deposited and responsibilities for removing access salt and blowing along paths to widen snowbanks to reduce the use of salt, and the use of eco-friendly alternatives in the parking garages where traditional salts damage the pavement.

A new Living Lab project is underway in which students will investigate the effectiveness of eco-friendly alternatives for different land cover types. From this, the facilities team will implement their findings in their work plan.