University of Pittsburgh
OP-9: Landscape Management

Land excluded includes building footprints and impervious surfaces.

On April 5, 2017 the University, with Phipps Conservatory as a Consultant, published Sustainable Landscape Design Guidelines. The guidelines address design criteria such as plant selection (native and adaptable only), minimizing hardscape and using permeable materials, stormwater management, habitat, biodiversity, and all other ecosystem services. The guidelines are consistent with the University's recent achievement of becoming Phipps Sustainable Landscape Accredited. Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens, Pitt's neighbor in Pittsburgh's Oakland community,
recently established this accreditation to provide educational resources for landscape and lawn care professionals. Accredited Campus Sustainability organizations must attend a three-day accreditation course, pass an exam, pledge to provide sustainable land care according to the Northeast Organic Farming Association (NOFA) Standards for Organic Land Care, and attend a minimum level of relevant landscaping education every two years. Over the next 2 years, the University will be incorporating more organic products into its landscaping operations. An assortment of new products will be evaluated for effectiveness over this period, and the most successful products will be incorporated into our standard maintenance procedures. A concerted effort has been made in recent years to increase the quantity of perennials, native and drought-tolerant plants, using more native plants that require less watering and maintenance. Organic products such as compost, mulches, and mushroom manure are used in flower beds to enhance the nutrient value of the soil. Very little synthetic fertilizer is used on campus, and opportunities such as compost teas are being explored to further reduce the use of these products. All landscape waste is composted off-site, and mulching lawnmowers are used to return nutrients to the soil through grass clippings. All mulch used on campus is made from recycled natural materials and is purchased from the same vendor who takes the University's landscape materials for composting. Many hillsides have been planted with trees, shrubs, and groundcovers to reduce stormwater runoff and mowing requirements, and several large concrete areas have been replaced with green space. Irrigation is limited, and where necessary, irrigation is provided during optimal times to reduce water usage. The few irrigation systems on campus are being outfitted with rain sensors that will be activated according to the moisture levels in the soil. This will not only reduce the amount of water used for irrigation by only irrigating when necessary, but will also help to reduce rain run off resulting from saturated soils. The University recently purchased 7 new drop spreaders for the application of snow melting materials on sidewalks. The spreaders do a much better job of applying materials more directly to sidewalks than the older rotary spreaders, thereby reducing the amount of over-cast materials getting into soils and impacting plants and lawns. During the winter of 2015/16, the University realized an estimated 50% reduction in the amount of materials required during normal snow and ice events.

A concerted effort has been made in recent years to increase the use of native and ecologically appropriate, low maintenance plants, following an approved plant list in the Sustainable Landscape Design Guidelines (SLDG). The University does not purchase any plant materials from the SLDG invasive plant list and designs landscapes for appropriately sized plants that will require limited maintenance. During construction & renovation projects, the University installs fencing around the root zones of trees and shrubs and does not permit construction activities in those areas. If necessary, trees and shubs are removed and stored, then replaced at the end of the project or installed in alternate locations on campus. The University is working on a more detailed tree maintenance program to better document and improve campus tree management and has been working to plant additional trees in many areas. A study is in progress to evaluate the health and structural condition of all trees in the area surrounding our signature Cathedral of Learning. This area is the largest green space on campus and contains the largest collection of trees on campus. This study will form the basis of our Campus tree plan. A project at an on-campus elementary school enlisted volunteers to clear a large hillside of invasive species and transform the area into nature trails and an outdoor classroom setting. As noted above, new drop spreaders have significantly reduced the amount of snow melting materials required to clear sidewalks by eliminating overspray, resulting in less impact to surrounding plants and lawns. Pitt-Bradford is Tree Campus USA certified.

The University has installed green roofs in eight campus locations to reduce stormwater runoff and lessen the impact on the City of Pittsburgh's aging stormwater system. A large rain garden was installed in 2016 to absorb stormwater runoff from the University's most visible lawn space on campus outside the Cathedral of Learning. A new lawn was installed and was designed with specialized materials and a drainage system to drain directly to the new rain garden. Bioswales were constructed as part of a new construction project to provide natural drainage to the site. Several student rain gardens have been constructed in problem areas on campus, and sites are being evaluated for additional installations. A natural underground aquifer was discovered during construction of a campus building and an access point was built into the project to allow access to the untreated water. The water is collected into a specially designed truck and is used in summer months for watering flowerbeds and hanging baskets. The small number of irrigation systems on campus are being outfitted with rain sensors designed to operate only when soil conditions dictate. This will not only reduce the amount of water used for irrigation, but will also reduce run off from saturated soils. Since the publication of the Sustainability Plan in December 2017, all new projects consider green infrastructure first, including the collection of roof runoff for reuse as cooling tower or boiler make up water as well as irrigation.

All landscape materials removed from campus are picked up by a local contractor for composting. This contractor also serves as the University's vendor for mulch, compost, soils, and other materials. It is very possible that the materials sent by the University for composting come back to campus as soil amendments for campus landscaping. The University is changing from recycled mulch to shredded bark or leaf mulch which is free from contaminated woods and dyes. Mulching lawnmowers are used, dropping clippings back on the lawns to reduce landscape waste.

The University has very limited accent lighting on campus, and has been working to reduce this over the years. For campus safety, our standard outdoor lighting is energy efficient as well. When purchasing new landscaping equipment, alternative fuel equipment (such as electric and propane) is being phased in to reduce the University's reliance on gasoline-fueled equipment. In addition, we have been working to reduce the number of non-native plant species and use untreated groundwater from an underground aquifer to water flower beds and hanging baskets on campus. Low maintenance trees, shrubs, and groundcovers have been planted in many areas to reduce mowing requirements and reduce run-off and erosion. Nine green roofs and several rain gardens have been installed to reduce the impact on Pittsburgh's aging stormwater infrastructure. Low-impact ice and snow melting materials are also used.

The University recently purchased 7 new drop spreaders for the application of snow melting materials on sidewalks. The spreaders do a much better job of applying materials more directly to sidewalks than the older rotary spreaders, thereby reducing the amount of over-cast materials getting into soils and impacting plants and lawns. During the winter of 2015/16, the University realized an estimated 50% reduction in the amount of materials required during normal snow and ice events.

Please see our Sustainable Landscape Design Guidelines:
http://fm.pitt.edu/sites/default/files/pictures/Design_Manual/DIVISION-S.pdf

Please see pages 16-17 of the University's 2013 Report on Sustainability: http://www.sustainable.pitt.edu/reports/2013-report

Additional photos and information: http://www.facmgmt.pitt.edu/sustainability/campusgreening.html

The building footprint and undeveloped land data is not currently available, but the University's urban campus is very dense with a very limited amount of undeveloped land. We have entered estimates for these areas.