Challenging times call for even smarter plans and strategic initiatives to be deployed by building owners and managers. Commercial real estate industry leaders involved in operating large portfolios, corporate campuses or single assets must examine all aspects of a budget to find ways to maximize value, yet still achieve the highest standards of performance in order for a property to compete in the marketplace. One area of potential high impact and significant ROI is a landscape plan that is grounded in efficiency and sustainability and is aesthetically polished.
Water Conservation Strategies for Property Owners and Managers
- Switch from overhead irrigation to a more efficient drip system with the installation of smart weather-based controllers that measure precipitation, solar radiation and wind, and adjust automatic systems as needed.
- Maintain landscapes that are in harmony with the environment by reducing green waste, nurturing healthy soils, creating wildlife habitats and reducing storm water runoff.
- Analyze water usage trends and develop a water management plan to ensure irrigation systems operate efficiently, irrigation runoff is reduced and reclaimed water is used.
- Practice hydrozoning or grouping plants with similar water requirements on the same irrigation valve to reduce over-watering.
- Install flowering perennial plants to provide a sustainable and cost-effective replacement for seasonal color changes.
- Implement a rotation schedule for water features so fewer operate at one time, reducing energy costs.
- Retrofit your landscape with sustainable, water-efficient landscapes and native, drought-tolerant plant materials to reduce the use of natural resources and decrease the amount of maintenance required.
- Optimize the placement and health of trees around your buildings to increase shade and reduce energy costs.
- Maintain the landscape naturally by using pruning techniques that highlight the individuality of each plant
- Explore public programs offered by water districts, cities, or other entities that provide rebates or credits for upgrades on controllers, efficient irrigation, drip conversions or rain shut-off sensors
A key component of a smart landscape is water conservation. For owners and managers in arid regions, it is a fact of life. But for some, water may not be perceived as a precious resource simply because it seems to be plentiful in the area in which they operate. Even though water is relatively inexpensive, it is a limited natural resource. Adopting a smart water management program now is a critical component to operating a commercial site at peak efficiency at all times, not just when drought conditions or irrigation restrictions exist.
Companies ranging from technology giants such as Cisco, Applied Materials, Sun Microsystems, Yahoo! and Genentech to asset owners and managers Jones Lang LaSalle, Carr America, CB Richard Ellis, Grubb & Ellis, Equity Office and The Irvine Company are learning that landscape and water management can enhance the bottom line financially and in a number of other ways. Making the grounds aesthetically pleasing and more sustainable can play a role in attracting new tenants and creating a better working environment to retain current ones.
A good example of smart adoption of water conservation measures in the commercial office park environment is Cisco Systems in San Jose, which over the past decade adopted a greener and more ecologically friendly landscape program and at the same time reduced its landscape operating costs. Cisco, which provides networking equipment and network management for the Internet, made the changes at the suggestion of ValleyCrest Landscape Maintenance, its landscape company since 1998. Over the past decade, overall landscape costs at the expansive campus have declined significantly.
Cisco’s landscape management plan focused on three components: horticultural improvements, reducing water consumption and reducing landfill waste. The goal was to determine how much water was being consumed and what high water-using plants were being used, as well as determining their water and fertilizer needs. Ascertaining what resources were being used to sustain their level of landscape helped show what was currently being spent for water usage and maintenance costs and revealed some opportunities to improve.
An extensive analysis of the vegetation on the company campus was conducted to pinpoint which areas consumed the most water and took the most time to maintain. A program was developed which encompassed a plant density reduction plan, resulting in the removal of some plants that required significant amounts of water. Plants that required watering five days were replaced with shrubs requiring only two days of irrigation, representing a 60 percent decrease in the amount of water needed.
Water-conserving drip irrigation systems are being systematically installed and all 48 buildings on the campus were retrofitted with smart weather-based controllers which lower irrigation water usage on average 24 percent a year. In California alone, Cisco saves more than 81 million gallons of water from the company’s water conservation efforts as reported in their 2007 Corporate Citizenship Report.
Multicolored flowerbeds at Cisco’s sprawling campus were converted to attractive swatches of low maintenance iceberg roses. Ornamental hedges were replaced with drought-tolerant shrubs that require less maintenance but still have the desired visual impact. Nearly four dozen water features spread throughout the campus were either converted to landscape beds or were shut off completely, saving considerable water and energy. The average water feature on the campus annually uses 87,350 gallons of water and consumes 24,528 Kilowatt hours of electricity. The savings from not running seven fountains add up to more than four million gallons of water each year.
Ten Smart Irrigation Tips
Irrigation can account for more than 50 percent of a properties’ water consumption. Here are some ways to water smarter:
- Water early in the morning right before dawn. It reduces losses to wind and evaporation.
- Water only when needed
- Adjust sprinklers to avoid waste and ensure uniform distribution
- Test the spray patterns of sprinkler systems; check for clogged lines and mixed nozzle sizes of sprinkler heads; and be sure to repair leaks
- Use drip irrigation for ornamental shrubs to reduce water usage
- Install rain shut-off devices or in-ground moisture sensors
- Set lawn mower blades higher to increase ground shade and water retention in soil
- Mulch around shrubs and planters to reduce evaporation and cut down on weeds
- Use a broom, rather than a hose to clean driveways or sidewalks
- Use a hose with an automatic shut-off nozzle
Perhaps one of the largest challenges on a large office campus is green waste reduction. Bagging and dumping grass cuttings is labor intensive — to say nothing of the water needed to maintain a vivid green appearance and the fuel used to cut and transport it. Turf reduction programs in areas of Cisco’s 98-acre campus helped to produce less green waste. And in the turf areas that remained untouched, use of specially designed equipment to mulch the grass clippings on-site resulted in reductions in water and fertilizer usage, which is good for the environment and the bottom line.
Landscape is a primary element for companies looking to achieve LEED standards. Existing buildings undergoing LEED certification must score a minimum of 34 points out of a total of 92. With 14 points potentially coming from the landscape, it is just plain smart to incorporate advanced water technologies, sustainable plant material and renewable resources. These efforts include landscape retrofits, new technologies to reduce water usage, and recycling tree clippings and composting on-site to reduce landfill waste.
Many companies are looking at their landscape as a means to reduce their environmental footprint. For example, at Genentech, architects designing new buildings wanted recommendations for an aesthetically appropriate but also water efficient plant palette. Applied Materials wanted to track how many LEED points it could earn via the landscape category. Though certification comes later in the process, a plan was developed specifying what perennial plants should be used, how the company could qualify for waste reduction, how many points could be earned by converting all irrigation to drip irrigation, and which trees to plant to generate savings in heating and cooling costs.
The success stories speak for themselves – through proper planning and execution, a strategic landscape management plan can help meet both corporate environmental and financial objectives, especially in these times of increased awareness and attention to the bottom line. Proactive planning and a collaborative partnership between building management and their landscape partner can yield big returns.
About the Author
Eric Santos, the Division Irrigation Advisor for ValleyCrest Landscape Maintenance is Certified with the Irrigation Association and a EPA Watersense Partner. He can be reached at esantos@valleycrest.com.
