Page 8 - New England Condominium April 2021

8 NEW ENGLAND CONDOMINIUM
-APRIL 2021
NEWENGLANDCONDO.COM
PLANTS,...
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cording to the Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA). The less we can apply chemi-
cals, fertilizers, pesticides, and even water to
our manicured environments, the better it
is for both our planet and our pocketbook.
Not only does overuse of these elements have
negative effects on the environment and our
health, but it’s expensive.
The move to a sustainable landscape need
not be immediate, nor need it be an extreme
overhaul of an existing plan. “The whole goal
of moving toward sustainability is to subtly
change it into a more vibrant-looking land-
scape and create a healthier environment,”
Lupfer says. “It should be a process of tran-
sitioning from a traditional landscape to a
more sustainable one. A healthier landscape
means that plants don’t need as much atten-
tion, since they are growing as they should
and are not afflicted by disease and don’t need
artificial food to keep them alive and flourish-
ing.”
One quick and easy way to save green by
going green is to control irrigation. Lupfer
estimates that watering plants and grasses
only as needed, rather than using a timer or
other automatic schedule, can save 60% to
70% on water bills. These savings can really
add up over time, and require little to no ini-
tial financial output. “You don’t have to put in
new systems or spend any money up front,”
he advises of this practice. “This is something
everyone can do right now.”
With a little more effort—but a lot of
payback both financially and sustainability-
wise—installation of a rain garden will allow
storm water run-off to be collected and used
for the property’s irrigation, rather than be-
ing wasted and leeching impurities into our
waterways. “Rain gardens are becoming very
popular,” says Debbi Edelstein, executive di-
rector of the New England Wild Flower So-
ciety in Framingham, Massachusetts. “The
water you use in rain gardens will feed back
into the soil and not run off the site. That way,
nature is managing the water. You don’t have
to manage the water when the site has been
designed properly by making it a sustain-
able landscape. When you make a sustain-
able landscape, you make a maintenance-free
landscape.”
Look Toward the Future
Even a small investment into an associa-
tion’s landscape design or maintenance can
have big payoffs for the long-term financial
and physical success of the property. By the
same token, what might seem like a costly
change or addition at first might have posi-
tive repercussions for the future. For example,
Lupfer points out that investing in permeable
pavers reduces the amount of land needed
for drainage solutions like retention ponds or
drains, leaving more of it available for other
uses. A thoughtful plan for an underused
outdoor space can add exponential value and
desirability for a community and its home
owners.
Making landscaping decisions with an eye
on the environmental shifts brought about
by climate change and other factors is also
a smart move. David Mendelson and Anna
Maria Morales of QG Landscape based in
New York tell
New England Condominium
that in new developments, builders and de-
signers are planning outdoor spaces that can
remain open further through the seasons.
They are accounting for not only climate
change, but the changes currently taking
place as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
“Outdoor spaces have always been a sought-
after commodity,” says Morales. “Now with
COVID, everyone wants to social distance,
and they want to be outside. … We have to
adapt to the new normal.”
Martin Rosen of the Office of Planning
and Sustainable Communities at the New Jer-
sey Department of Environmental Protection
(NJDEP) reinforces the benefits of a holistic
approach to landscape design and mainte-
“When you make a
sustainable landscape, you
make a maintenance-free
landscape.”
—Debbi Edelstein
nance. He says, “As land itself becomes scarce
and ever more precious, outdoor spaces need
to be designed to deliver value in as many
ways as possible; i.e., increasing land values,
rewarding the senses, promoting environ-
mental quality, and enhancing mobility. Sus-
tainable landscapes incorporate and balance
the human desire for beautiful and functional
landscapes with the imperative to preserve
valuable resources.” Looking at every aspect
of a development site—its topography and
layout, natural and artificial lighting, hard-
scape and softscape, vegetation, irrigation,
and intended or potential uses—can create
a landscape that is sustainable both now and
for years to come.
It’s Easy Being Green
Contrary to the famous assertion of Ker-
mit the Frog, being green is easy—and this
goes for any multifamily property. Even small
and inexpensive changes to the way an asso-
ciation or corporation plans and maintains its
outdoor spaces can have major implications
for the value of the property, the health of the
earth and its inhabitants, and the commu-
nity’s bottom line. Understanding the inter-
relationship among the three greens—plant-
ings, money, and sustainability—will help
any condo, HOA, or co-op achieve a beautiful
landscape that is pleasing and useful to resi-
dents, friendly and beneficial to the planet,
and a long-term value proposition for today’s
challenging times.
n
Darcey Gerstein is Associate Editor and
Staff Writer for New England Condominium.
`
accelerated some of this thinking. While pri-
vate outdoor space has always been a highly
sought-after amenity in a dense urban envi-
ronment like New York, a whole year-plus of
staying home and keeping socially distant has
put an even higher premium on convenient
access to fresh air and greenery.
“I have a client building on the East Side
[of Manhattan] that had this dead space in
the back of the building,” says Morales. “All
of a sudden, they’re like, ‘This is dead space,
we’re doing nothing to it. Let’s put up a nice
fence around it; let’s put some pavers down.
Let’s put a couple of benches.’ And now the
kids have somewhere to run and play; the
parents have an area to be able to get some
fresh air. We’re also incorporating some
planters with some greenery to kind of sepa-
rate little seating areas.”
And that building community is far from
alone in their desire to enliven unused or un-
derused spaces; “People are now realizing,
‘Hey, let’s make the best of this dead space,’”
Morales continues, “or, ‘Let’s revamp our
space to accommodate today’s needs.’”
On top of considering the community’s
population and pandemic-related needs, co-
ops and condos also have to factor in a unique
slate of physical and logistical considerations
as well. “With respect to an interior, on-grade
courtyard,” says Mendelson, “you can have
issues where maybe it’s adjacent to residents’
apartments or spaces. So you have to mitigate
what you’re going to do in the space because
it is next to someone. You clearly don’t want
to have dogs and children running around
making a lot of loud noise adjacent to peo-
ple’s units.” Mendelson also cautions about
the need for thoughtful placement of lighting
for the same reason — nobody wants a flood-
light pouring through their bedroom win-
dow all night. Additionally, urban buildings
have to contend with what may lie beneath
their foundations—from utilities to parking
to telecommunication cables to mass transit
infrastructure. What’s down there can dictate
what can be planted or built on a given site.
What About Local Climate &
Soil Conditions?
The overall climate of a region will be a
major determining factor in landscaping
choices for any multifamily community or
David Mendelson and Anna Maria Mo-
rales are principals with QG Landscape in
New York, and are well-versed in collabo-
rating with boards and committees to make
use of outdoor areas. Where possible, they
suggest trying to carve out sections of space
for different purposes: shaded nooks for
passive activities like reading or meditat-
ing; paved areas for high-impact games or
groups; planters and shrubs to separate areas
and provide visual interest. Even small spaces
can be designed in a way to maximize usage
and accommodate different populations; un-
surprisingly, the coronavirus pandemic has
SMART...
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