Leonardo Academy Announces Availability of Offsite Native Vegetation for Earning LEED® Credits

(3BL Media / theCSRfeed) Madison, WI - April 13, 2011 - Leonardo Academy announces availability of offsite native vegetation for earning LEED® native vegetation credits at its Valley Ridge Preserve. The 145-acre Valley Ridge Preserve is owned by Leonardo Academy and is located in the Driftless Area in Richland County, Wisconsin. Valley Ridge Preserve is a research, demonstration, and education site for sustainable land management. Leonardo Academy President, Michael Arny, said, “This is a win-win program. The participants earn LEED® points using native vegetation at Leonardo Academy’s Valley Ridge Preserve and their donation to Leonardo Academy helps us maintain and improve the native vegetation at the preserve.”  

The U.S. Green Buildings Council’s LEED rating system includes credit for maintaining native vegetation on building sites, which can be earned with onsite or offsite native vegetation. If it is offsite, twice as much area is required. Mr. Arny said, “The great thing about this credit is that it provides both an incentive for building owners and managers to maintain native vegetation and an offsite option that makes the credit accessible to urban LEED projects that do not have room onsite for enough native vegetation to earn the credit.“   An example of the use of this offsite native vegetation is provided by American Landmark Properties. They used native vegetation on Leonardo Academy’s Valley Ridge Preserve to earn points under the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design for Existing Buildings: Operations and Maintenance (LEED®-EB: O&M) rating system for its 1100 Superior building in Cleveland, Ohio. American Landmark Properties made a contribution to Leonardo Academy to support maintenance of one acre of native vegetation at Valley Ridge Preserve for five years and Leonardo Academy provided the necessary documentation to support earning LEED Sustainable Sites native vegetation credit.    Building owners and managers interested in learning more about using offsite vegetation for the LEED native vegetation credit and supporting Leonardo Academy’s Valley Ridge Preserve are encouraged to contact Leonardo Academy. More information: www.leonardoacademy.org/services/land/native-vegetation-credits.html  

Leonardo Academy is a charitable nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing sustainability with its programs and services, and its Valley Ridge Preserve is a research and demonstration site for sustainable land management. Leonardo Academy works to restore the native plant communities on the property and to model sustainable land management practices for other land owners. Native vegetation improvements and maintenance activities include prescribed prairie burns, oak savannah restoration and eradication of invasive species.

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