March 2021 - Parks & Recreation - 26

CONSERVATION

Gauging the Value of
the SITES Rating System
By Paul Wessel

t the 2009 launch of the SITES rating system - a tool for the
creation, maintenance and improvement of sustainable landscapes (tinyurl.com/y2zz4kqc) - NRPA's then-chief public
policy officer and Sustainable SITES Initiative Steering Committee member Richard J. Dolesh announced: " The new system has potential to make a large impact on local and regional parks throughout the
country. Many park planners, landscape architects and park administrators
have told us that they've always felt there is a lack of an equivalent system
for landscapes to the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) rating system, the international standard for green building, and thus,
there was no way to receive credit for exemplary practices. "

George " Doc " Cavalliere Park in Scottsdale, Arizona, was designed to preserve open space and demonstrate sustainability.
26 Parks & Recreation

| M A R C H 2 02 1 | PA R K S A N D R E C R E AT I O N .O R G

PHOTO COURTESY OF STUART ISETT

Center, the U.S. General Services
Administration and the U.S. Green
Building Council, among others,
and updated in 2014 to SITES v2
(tinyurl.com/y4apb7vc), is bearing
fruit. Scores of local parks have
drawn inspiration and guidance
from the SITES certification process.
" SITES was invaluable in helping us transform Boedekker Park
into a safe, inviting and green oasis in San Francisco's Tenderloin
- the city's densest and poorest
neighborhood that is also home to a
large population of children and se-

PHOTO COURTESY OF BILL TIMMERMAN,
TIMMERMAN PHOTOGRAPHY

Barbara
Tulipane,
NRPA's
then-president and CEO, also
weighed in: " This initiative directly
supports our forward-looking ideas
regarding stewardship in efforts to
connect children with nature, to
increased development of community gardens in parks, and our
efforts to gain funding and federal
resources for parks to serve as catalysts in promoting livable communities. " (tinyurl.com/y52e5xes)
In the decade since, the program
pioneered by NRPA, the American
Society of Landscape Architects,
Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower

niors, " explains San Francisco
Recreation and Parks Department
General Manager Phil Ginsburg.
" Nature is woven throughout the
project, allowing urban residents to
reap the mental and physical health
benefits of time in nature. "
In Nashville, Tennessee, home
of the SITES v2 Gold-certified
Centennial Park, " the principles of
sustainability guide decision making on all of our capital projects, "
says Tim Netsch, assistant director
for planning and facilities development at Nashville Metro Parks and
Recreation. " For landscape projects, SITES has proven to be a useful tool to help organize our sustainability strategy, ensure that we
cover the full breadth of considerations and quantify the outcomes. "
" In this day and age, we focus
too often on the here and now, " reflects Kevin Burke, director of design at the Atlanta BeltLine. " That
is why we adopted SITES for the
Atlanta BeltLine. SITES ensures
we optimize the parks for the community, providing both short- and
long-term benefits. "
The growing list of municipal
park projects certifying or requiring certification ranges from small
neighborhood parks to regional

Kirke Park in Seattle, Washington, once an obsolete site, is now
a dynamic neighborhood park.

http://www.tinyurl.com/y2zz4kqc http://www.tinyurl.com/y4apb7vc http://www.tinyurl.com/y52e5xes

March 2021 - Parks & Recreation

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