PSLD 250 Introduction to Sustainable Design (4 credits)
Introduces students to the concept of sustainability defined as working within an environmental system to meet today's needs without jeopardizing the needs of tomorrow's generations. It will present how the natural processes of air, water, and forest systems interact as an ecosystem. The class material will emphasize using an approach to design that first avoids, then minimizes, and finally mitigates the loss of natural resources.
This course teaches students to identify native plant material. Participants learn to distinguish species and select appropriate plant materials for various uses. This course includes a day-long visit to the Adkins Arboretum on Maryland's Eastern Shore for further study of native plants.
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PSLD 251 DL Ecological Restoration (1 credit)
Many plants, imported from exotic parts of the world that have been popular in ornamental horticulture for their beauty and vigor have escaped the confines of the garden and have invaded our woodlands. Invasive exotic plant species create serious resource management problems and threaten natural diversity, habitat for fish, wildlife and native plants, soil stability, and ecosystem processes. Students will learn the importance of ecosystem restoration and techniques for removal of exotic invasives, a popular community activity.
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PSLD 252 Tools for Sustainable Design (3 credits)
The importance of energy efficiency in today's world cannot be overstated. Students will learn about the energy life cycle of landscape materials. The sequence of "reduce, reuse, recycle" as an approach to material selection and design will be introduced. Students will explore using natural resources such as wind and sun to advantage when siting buildings and developing landscape designs.
Water is an essential element of life, yet human use of water is wasteful and polluting. To sustain life we must learn how to protect, purify, and conserve our water supply. Students will learn how to approach non-point source pollution and water conservation on a site by site basis.
Soil is the basic building block of sustainability, supporting plant materials necessary for shade, shelter, clean air, clean water, food, and medicine. Friable aerated soil cleans stormwater as it infiltrates into ground water. Students learn the importance of soils in urban conditions, for tree planting and residential gardens.
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PSLD 253 DL The Green Scale Spectrum (2 credits)
Buildings are responsible for one-third of energy use in the United States, and a substantial portion of the total energy consumed world wide. Students will learn the different systems used to assess sustainability of building design such as Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, (LEED), Energy Star, and Earthcraft. These systems consider how the site is handled, selection of materials in building design, the use of energy, indoor air quality, and use of water.
Students will learn the leading edge principles for sustainable design to reduce the human "ecological footprint" or the measure of how much natural capital is required to sustain our current lifestyle. In order to combat global warming, purify the air, reduce heat island effect, and increase water quality, we must change the paradigm of our living environment and learn how to design for a new urbanity with nature at the core.
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PSLD 254 Sustainable Design Methods (2 credits)
This course builds on the foundation course in native plants by providing a studio in which to apply native plant design to specific sites. Students will work with native plant materials to produce conceptual designs with aesthetic and ecological priorities. Students will be presented with design challenges of various different microclimatic and habitat conditions to produce the most sustainable solutions.
A "green roof" is different from a structurally intensive roof garden because it provides a thinner more extensive living roof system creating multiple benefits. In addition to environmental benefits of mitigating storm water runoff, helping abate ground level ozone, and providing wildlife habitat, they also increase energy efficiency by providing added insulation. Students will learn what it takes to design, select plants for and install a green roof.
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PSLD 255 DL Sustenance and the Landscape (1 credit)
The American tradition of maintaining a chemical-dependent lawn is both wasteful in its intense use of resources and harmful to other parts of our ecosystem. Edible landscaping can provide a multi-functional landscape, introducing native crop-producing plantings into our urban and suburban landscapes, and adding a new dimension of aesthetic appeal to otherwise strictly ornamental gardens. Students will learn strategies and techniques of introducing edible materials to the landscape and will explore the efficiency of these measures in the sustainable management of resources.
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PSLD 256 Sustainable Design Charrette (2 credits)
This course is intended as a studio design capstone experience to foster an understanding of how to unify sustainable elements in a single creation. Students will build and expand upon techniques learned during the previous coursework.
Students will conceive of a site, divided from the larger ecosystem by political boundaries, as part of the larger life cycle. Students will work in a concentrated charrette (short-term focused design, development and juried presentation process), either singly or in groups, to develop a site design that is fully sustainable.
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