Report on Sustainability 2009

Princeton has a legacy of landscape planning that is sensitive to water use, chemical inputs and maintenance costs. The University seeks to preserve that legacy. Continuous monitoring and careful decision-making processes early in design are vitally important.

Goal: Apply an integrated landscaping approach that helps to restore the quality and capacity of the regional watershed.

Progress:

• Building projects completed in the past five years and confirmed projects in the near future will result in the transition of more than 50,000 square feet (1.15 acres) of impermeable surface area into land that will allow water infiltration, demonstrating that new building projects can positively impact development sites. Princeton also is planting more than 10 acres of woodland, increasing low-maintenance wooded areas by more than 10 percent.
• For example, existing woodlands south and west of the new Chemistry Building will be strengthened by removing invasive species and planting shrubs and 180 new trees under the Campus Plan. Between Washington Road and the new Chemistry Building, the Washington Road stream will be restored.
• Since 2002, the University has employed an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) program. When pesticides are used, they are applied in a targeted, limited fashion. 
• University records indicate an average of 4 tons of synthetic fertilizer use each year over the last decade with a decreasing trend to about 2.5 tons in 2008.
• In recent years, the University has increased the use of zero-turn mowers to reduce mowing time, adjusted mowing heights to reduce frequency of mowing, increased use of mulching mowers and shifted toward grass species that require less maintenance.
• As of 2008, 100 percent of landscape trimmings are composted and reused on site.
• The University has adopted a stormwater management plan incorporating strategies to restore the watershed.

• Continue to collect and analyze data to track changes in open space and permeable surfaces.
• Complete the campus reforestation project, which will increase the amount of woodlands on campus by 10 acres along the southern end of Elm Drive, near Whitman College and surrounding the new Chemistry Building by 2012.
  
• Track the use of fertilizers and pesticides, both by Grounds and Building Maintenance and landscape sub-contractors.
• Report on sustainable plant selection and soil-health enhancing procedures.
• Explore alternative fuels for maintenance equipment and continue to improve the efficiency of maintenance operations.
• Track irrigation water usage.

Read about the University's Landscape Plan (.pdf) from the 10-year Campus Plan.
 

• Native plants should be used whenever possible with plant diversity in mind.
• Determine the right plant for the right location.
• Increase perennial plantings in gardens.
• Investigate and evaluate plants for disease and insect resistance.
• Create a healthy soil environment for turf and plantings (trees and shrubs).
• Apply chemicals in a targeted, limited fashion.

"In the implementation of the 10-year Campus Plan, Princeton has stood strong by the commitments for water run-off quality improvements through a campus-wide program of decreasing the area of impervious surfaces and by supporting landscape-
based solutions for water treatment and retention."
—Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates Inc., Landscape Architects