PLANNING A LANDSCAPE THAT QUALIFIES FOR THE LEED WE CREDIT 1: WATER EFFICIENT LANDSCAPING By

ii The green building movement has recently gained strength and is becoming a major driver in a wide array of construction industries. The USGBC is a nonprofit organization composed of industry leaders who have developed a quantifiably rating system known as LEED®. Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design is a point based ranking system that measures building performance based on a set of measurably sustainable criteria. A major point category set forth by LEED is water efficiency and has application for those in the landscape design, construction and maintenance industries. The focus of the project is to design a landscape based on LEED WE credit 1, Water Efficient landscaping, through following the instructions for attaining the credit as specified by the 2009 LEED Reference Guide for Green Building Design and Construction. The project will serve as a guide explaining the LEED rating system and how it relates to landscaping and water efficiency