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Living lightly : minimizing impact and maximizing function of suburban yards

University of British Columbia

Conventional suburban designs require extensive energy inputs and produce of great quantities of waste, resemble nature but in a highly manicured, low-functioning manner and are based on an unnatural aesthetic that is constantly at odds with natural processes. If we are to design better suburban yards, we must consider the ecosystems approach and environmental health when making design decisions. Homeowners, armed with knowledge of best-practices and the right attitude can make choices that positively affect how their yards function and greatly reduce their yards’ impacts on the environment while saving time, money and energy. The suburban yard could function to mitigate the disturbance of the house by supporting the cycles and flows of natural systems while contributing to the health and economy of the individual and the community. This ecologically-inspired manner of decision making, multiplied across thousands of suburban yards, will result in a significant reduction of the strain that the suburbs have on our human-designed infrastructures and our natural resources.

Text

2010-01-16

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http://hdl.handle.net/2429/18187

Landscape Architecture

University of British Columbia

UBCV

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