Grounds Team Plans More Sustainable Campus Landscaping
The Grounds Team had to overcome significant obstacles during the last two growing seasons including labor, materials, and equipment shortages. This has prompted the team to initiate a comprehensive review of how they can become more resilient and sustainable for the future.
Like everyone else in the world, our Grounds Team staff watched the world change seemingly overnight in March 2020. The team knows that any redesign of the campus landscaping plan should contribute to fiscal and environmental sustainability, which is reflected in SUNY Brockport’s Goal 3 - To be a sustainable institution for the 21st Century.
A Sustainable Landscape Master Plan is very similar to a conventional landscaping plan in that it provides the policies to guide future landscape design and maintenance decisions. A critical distinction is that a master plan for sustainable landscapes also serves as the guidebook to transitioning toward a healthier campus with ecologically viable practices. A Sustainable Landscape Master Plan provides a future landscape plan, recommends sustainable landscape practices, identifies implementation methods, and offers mechanisms for tracking progress.
Over the coming winter months, the team will work closely with the Facilities Planning Team, professional landscape architects, and many members of our campus community to develop the new Sustainable Landscape Master Plan.
A few benefits of a Sustainable Landscape Master Plan:
- Enhance the visual appeal of the campus and usability for all.
- Reallocate time, money, and resources spent on current unsustainable practices to new initiatives.
- Identify educational opportunities.
- Provide a visual planning tool locating current and future sustainable landscape practices.
- Provide a sustainable grounds maintenance program with guidelines for future landscape changes and maintenance needs.
Some stats on what the Grounds Team cares for:
- 464 total acres of land and water
- 210 acres are mowed and/or landscaped
- Multiple athletic fields must be kept to NCAA standards of play.
- 20 acres of parking lots
- 6.5 lane miles of roadway
- 25 miles of sidewalks