Some Information on Neighborhood Design, LEED Style.

Due to a last minute cancellation by the USGBC Landscape Architect, Tom Stearns had little information to convey on the newest LEED ND Initiative. To supplement this LEED Seminar, we are providing this article. Future Events will focus in on this initiative, regenerative and sustainable design as programs develop- Editor.
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LEED-ND: A New Framework for Sustainable Development

• The new Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Neighborhood Development rating system, or LEED®-ND, is the first national system to evaluate neighborhood design. It is devised to ensure that a development’s location and design meet specified high levels of environmentally responsible, sustainable development.
• There are currently 238 projects in 39 states and six countries participating in the LEED-ND pilot program, according to the U.S. Green Buildings Council (USGBC).
• New Jersey has five LEED-ND pilot projects, including Wesmont Station in Wood-Ridge, which won a Smart Growth Award from New Jersey Future in 2006. The project will be built on a 154-acre brownfield site and include a new planned train station, 737 residential units, 130,000 square feet of retail, a public square, a community center and a new middle school.
• The LEED-ND program encourages projects that support transit. Residents in ZIP codes selected for LEED-ND pilot projects are twice as likely to take public transportation as residents in all urban ZIP codes, as defined by the USGBC.

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'Going Green' Takes on Added Meaning

The popularity of LEED certification, which ranks buildings based on criteria such as energy use and building materials, is on the rise. Yet in a state like New Jersey, where the transportation sector accounts for more than one-third of carbon emissions, truly “going green” requires a more holistic approach than simply looking at buildings.

To that end, the U.S. Green Buildings Council has been piloting LEED-ND, a new rating system developed in concert with the Congress for the New Urbanism and the Natural Resources Defense Council. LEED-ND goes beyond individual buildings to look at sustainable practices on a neighborhood level. Projects are judged on clear and specific criteria in four categories: Smart Location and Linkage; Neighborhood Pattern and Design; Green Construction and Technology; and Innovation and Design Process.

For example, recognizing the need to reduce car trips, LEED-ND requires limited parking, wider sidewalks and mixed uses aimed at encouraging walking and bicycle use. Under these criteria, many of New Jersey’s older communities would already meet several LEED-ND requirements by virtue of being compact, mixed-use and walkable. Only in the last half century has New Jersey veered away from this positive land-use pattern in favor of low-density, auto-dependent sprawl. Today, the popularity of the LEED-ND program suggests the pendulum may be swinging back again.

LEED-ND offers value to various entities. Towns seeking to be environmentally and socially sustainable may incorporate LEED-ND principles into their master plans and zoning. Builders can use the green movement’s cachet to market their developments and encourage architects and planners to use the program as well. To the state, LEED-ND provides a clear framework for sustainable development and a strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The USGBC expects the LEED-ND program to become established as a full program in less than a year. For more information on LEED-ND, visit the USGBC’s website at http://www.usgbc.org.

New Jersey Future’s 2008 Redevelopment Forum will feature a workshop on LEED-ND. It will explain the program and—through the lens of Wesmont Station and the experiences of Orange/East Orange—explore the benefits green certification can provide to communities and developers alike. For a full list of workshops, please click here.

If you have any questions about this issue of Future Facts, please contact Jay Corbalis, Research Associate, at jcorbalis@njfuture.org, or Jan Schultheiss, Policy and Planning Analyst, at jschultheiss@njfuture.org.

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Dear Fellow NJASLA Members - Because of an on-going techinal difficulty we've been experiencing as well as a last-minute change to this year's slate of candidates, I must ask you once again to vote for in this year's election for President-Elect, First Vice President and Secretary.  It's been a little difficult but I truly believe that we have it solved this time!  Please vote with confidence that this time will be it! Go to www.njasla.org.

The deadline for voting is April 25, 2008

Looking ahead, the New Jersey Chapter has decided to realign its election calender with National's.  This means that the Chapter will be sending out a Call For Candidates in mid-May for the next year's slate.  Available at that time will be the President-Elect, the Second Vice President and the Treasurer's positions.  I urge you all to take a moment and think about nominating someone who you think would be a good officer of the Chapter or even think about running for office yourself!   It really is a good way to give back to the LA community and it's actually fun!

Cordially,

Jeff Grob, ASLA
President
New Jersey Chapter

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NJASLA Encourages Families to Participate in the
NJDEP Global Warming Summer Challenge

Global Warming Summer Challenge

Challenge Highlights:

The challenge begins on Monday, July 16 and ends on Friday, August 31, 2007.

The Challenge:
Youth and parent/guardian must work together to:

Sampling of Online Sites to Explore for Fun While Learning:

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Some thoughts on “GREEN TOAD” neighborhoods through Regional Planning 

First printed in the Philadelphia Inquirer, Fri, Jan. 18, 2008
By Dianne Brake

When people think of ways to reduce greenhouse gases, talk usually centers on solutions such as cutting industrial smokestack emissions, encouraging Americans to drive hybrid cards, building more "green" buildings, using solar power, and replacing incandescent lightbulbs with fluorescent ones.
But here's a key solution that rarely comes up when people discuss the climate crisis: better land-use planning that links smart growth to transit.

In the fight against greenhouse gases, most of the regulatory attention continues to focus on smokestacks and other "point" sources in the industrial sector. Government officials often feel helpless to address the portion of emissions that comes from the growing number of car and truck trips.

In New Jersey, this is a serious problem, since transportation accounts for the largest source of carbon dioxide emissions: Almost 40 percent of greenhouse gases come from cars, trucks and other vehicles, while industry is responsible for 16 percent of emissions, according to the state Department of Environmental Protection.

Hybrid cars, high-occupancy vehicle lanes, and more-stringent tailpipe emission standards can help, but much more needs to be done. We must plan for increased use of transit by creating places that encourage more zero-car and one-car households and dramatically reduce the number and length of vehicle trips taken by everyone else.

Recently, Gov. Corzine introduced a measure to create "urban transit hubs" by offering tax credits to companies that build or lease office space located within a half-mile of a transit station. Such efforts are important, but much more needs to be done.

What can help? Regional thinking, since transportation is not something that can effectively be addressed on a town-by-town basis. The next step is to work at the county level to help communities determine the best ways to get vehicles off the road. Here's where the land-use planning comes in. "Transit villages" and other pedestrian-friendly "Main Street"-style communities are ideal planning choices for reducing vehicle miles traveled. Public-transit use has been identified as one of the best ways Americans can help to combat climate change. Research shows that if one person switches from driving to taking public transit, his or her household's annual carbon footprint can be reduced by 10 percent.
New Jersey is ahead of the game when it comes to transit. The state boasts one of the nation's most extensive public transportation networks and is second only to New York in the percentage of residents who commute to work by public transit, according to census data.

New Jersey is also at the forefront of a national movement to promote more transit-centered development. In 1999, the state established a Transit Village Initiative, spearheaded by the Department of Transportation, and has accepted 19 communities into the program, including Burlington City, Collingswood and Pleasantville. An official "transit village" designation results in priority funding from some state agencies, grant eligibility, less administrative red tape, and increased interest from developers following acceptance into the program.

The problem? Too many of the state's designated transit villages are not located in areas where jobs are projected to grow. In addition, many of the state's largest employers are not located near transit.
New Jersey needs to get its act together - and soon. We have the second-most-polluted air in the nation and, with 127 miles of coastline, we stand to lose more than $20 billion in tourism revenues from our Shore communities if ocean levels rise, as predicted, from global warming. Our three nuclear reactor plants are located near the Atlantic Ocean and Delaware Bay as well.

Transit villages would provide a much-needed boost to our economy. With more and more New Jerseyans fleeing the state because of congestion and a lack of affordable housing, transit villages offer New Jersey a unique opportunity to create communities with homes that workers can afford in locations that are transit-friendly and close to the where the state's employment centers are.

Another fringe benefit? Transit village residents report being decidedly happier with their communities than are other New Jerseyans.

Dianne Brake is president of PlanSmart NJ, a Trenton-based land-use research and advocacy organization.

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Rutgers University SEBS Cook Campus Landscape Architect Department Celebrates Landscape Architecture Month with final trio of Fall Lectures

April 23 and 30 at 4:00PM in Room 110,
Cook Douglass Lecture Hall

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Message from C2Ed

After December 31, 2007, continuing education and L.A.R.E. readiness courses will no longer be offered through the C2Ed website.  We thank you for your support and apologize for any inconvenience this decision may cause.

Continuing Education Courses:

Although C2Ed will not be providing continuing education courses after December 31, 2007, we will continue to maintain your records of course completion for a period of six years.  In the event that you are audited by your licensure board, CLARB can provide verification of participation on your behalf for previously completed C2Ed courses. 

If you purchased any of the following printed correspondence courses from the C2Ed website, they must be completed and returned to the Council office by June 30, 2008.  Courses received after June 30, 2008 may not be accepted by your board for licensure renewal. 

Please return completed final exams for scoring to:

            CLARB
            3949 Pender Drive
            Suite 120
            Fairfax, VA  22030

L.A.R.E. Readiness Courses:

CLARB will continue to provide practice tests for sections A, B and D, and Diagnostic Vignettes for sections C and E of the L.A.R.E.  Please visit the CLARB website for additional information.

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REPRINT/REMINDER
Playground Equipment – Permit, Code and Compliance items

More 200,000 children are treated in U.S. hospital emergency rooms each year for injuries associated with playground equipment. Handbook for Public Playground safety,2007,USCPSC

NJ Department of Community Affairs adopted playground safety guidelines pursuant to P.L. 1999, c.50 (N.J.S.A. 52:27D-123.9 et seq.) as part of the Uniform Construction Code as the Playground Safety Subcode, N.J.A.C. 5:23-11.  This subcode requires the upgrade and improvement of all playgrounds.  The upgrade of all playground elements is required by October 18, 2007 for all governmental and for-profit private entities.  The definition of a playground is “an improved area designed, equipped, and set aside for play of six or more children, which is not intended for use as an athletic playing field or athletic court, and shall include any play equipment, surfacing, fencing, signs, internal pathways, internal land forms, vegetation, and related structures.”

Compliance deadlines are as follows:
*  October 18, 2004 - All governmental, nonprofit and for-profit private entities operating playgrounds shall upgrade their playgrounds by replacement or improvement as necessary to comply with this subcode for surfacing.
*  October 18, 2007 - All governmental and for-profit private entities operating playgrounds shall upgrade their playgrounds by replacement or improvement as necessary to comply with this subcode for all other elements, or, in the case of governmental entities, at such earlier date as State funds are made available for such purpose.
*  October 18, 2014 - All nonprofit entities operating playgrounds shall upgrade their playgrounds by replacement or improvement as necessary to comply with this subcode for all other elements.

NOTE:  All construction or alteration of playgrounds, playground equipment and surfacing that are subject to the Playground Safety Subcode also are required to comply with the applicable provisions of the Barrier-Free Subcode (N.J.A.C. 5:23-7).  In accordance with N.J.A.C. 5:23-7.19(d) and ICC/ANSI A117.1-03, Sections 302 and 303, surfaces of all routes and spaces required to be accessible shall be stable, firm and slip-resistant.  Sand and gravel can not be used as surfacing materials when new equipment is being installed, or a new safety surface is being put in place, and the barrier-free subcode is applicable.

Playground upgrades and new installations are required to comply with the 1997 edition of the "Handbook for Public Playground Safety" (HPPS), Pub. No. 325, which is produced by the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission and adopted by reference as the Playground Safety Subcode.  The HPPS guidelines govern design, installation, inspection and maintenance of playgrounds and playground equipment.  These guidelines can be found on the Internet at: http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/pubs/325.pdf. 

Lastly, permits are required for any element of playground construction that is subject to the permit requirements of the State Uniform Construction Code, N.J.A.C 5:23.

Source:  NJ Department of Community Affairs, Division of Codes and Standards

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