1 Learning Outcome: Students will demonstrate a clear understanding of the 
principles and best practices of landscape ecological assessment and design process

Measurement: Final review of multi-part applied project

2 Learning Outcome: Students will demonstrate a clear understanding of how to 
access information and resources relevant to land use and design

Measurement: Completion of composite site inventory and analysis

3 Learning Outcome: Students will demonstrate a clear understanding of how to use 
and access the variety of equipment, techniques, and published sources for obtaining 
site information

Measurement: Completion of composite site inventory and analysis

4 Learning Outcome: Students will demonstrate a clear understanding of the 
relevance of site information to determine land use, design, and sustainability

Measurement: Creation of suitability analysis and design alternatives

5 Learning Outcome: Students will demonstrate a clear understanding of the current 
and historic literature of landscape ecological processes and principles for the 
purposes of landscape architectural design

Measurement: Creation of suitability analysis and design alternatives

6 Learning Outcome: Students will demonstrate the ability to properly interpret 
specialized site information (maps, surveys, aerial photos)

Measurement: Completion of composite site inventory and analysis; creation of 
suitability analysis and design alternatives

7 Learning Outcome: Students will demonstrate the ability to properly organize 
relevant site data for design

Measurement: Completion of composite site inventory and analysis; creation of 
suitability analysis and design alternatives

8 Learning Outcome: Students will demonstrate the ability to properly make use of 
available tools to compare and select alternative design strategies using site 
information and performance metrics

Measurement: Creation of suitability analysis and design alternatives

9 Learning Outcome: Students will demonstrate the ability to properly apply 
principles of sustainability to a specific site based project and to communicate 
the implications of design alternatives

Measurement: Creation of suitability analysis and design alternatives

10 Learning Outcome: Students will demonstrate a clear recognition of competing 
values of site development, preservation, and restoration

Measurement: Quality and success of master plan design

11 Learning Outcome: Students will demonstrate respect for intrinsic values of 
natural systems and cultural systems

Measurement: Quality and success of master plan design

12 Learning Outcome: Students will demonstrate responsibility for health, safety, 
and welfare in land use issues

Measurement: Quality and success of master plan design

13 Learning Outcome: Students will demonstrate awareness of global environmental 
issues related to land planning and design

Measurement: Final review of multi-part applied project

Lectures and projects will be selected and presented in support 
of the following topical outline:

Sustainable site design is a continually evolving goal of 
professional landscape architecture practices.  It involves 
analysis of the landscape structure, function and change from 
pre-settlement conditions through the implementation of 
proposed design interventions. This course is studio-based, 
with a corresponding lecture component organized around current 
research, tools and strategies for sustainable site design. 

In the course two to three projects are selected based on 
complexity and relevance to the course topic, which meet the 
learning objectives of the studio. Service-learning and 
community engagement opportunities are integrated into the 
studio to allow students the experience of negotiating between 
design ideals and community/stakeholder needs.

Each project in the studio includes the following structure:

Site Inventory 
•Data collection
•Data presentation
•Data analysis
	
 Literature Review
•Issues of sustainable practices 
•Site-specific information
•Current technologies and design solutions to similar project 
types

Initial site programming
•Collecting stakeholder interviews/feedback
•Development of initial site program

Site Analysis
•Identify criteria for suitability analysis
•Create criteria-specific suitability analysis

Site Master Planning/Conceptual Design
•Composite suitability analysis to reflect goals and objectives 
of project
•Develop alternative design scenarios for evaluation based on 
general sustainability principles and suitability analysis

Design Development and Communication
•Development of the preferred design scenario
•Evaluation of preferred scenario based on sustainability 
metrics
•Communication of design elements and sustainability strategies 
to stakeholders

Construction Design
•Development of detailed site development construction plans
•Production of grading, layout and landscape documents
•Communication of design intent through illustrative master 
plan, site enlargements, section-elevation, perspective 
drawings and other methods such as 3D modeling.