Questions of sustainability have affected nearly every aspect of engineering and maintenance in commercial and institutional facilities. While the impact might be facilitywide, it might be the greatest on grounds management, according to an article from on Facilities Maintenance Decisions the FacilitiesNet website.

Grounds managers now must view nearly every decision — from landscape design considerations to the equipment used to maintain the grounds — with a clear focus on the way it will impact the environment.

What is grounds sustainability? While answers to this question tend to focus on the use of fertilizers and other chemicals, grounds sustainability goes far beyond this issue to include plant selection, irrigation system design and use, snow and ice management, and equipment selection.

A grounds sustainability program examines the whole picture and sets a course of action that meets the needs of the application in a socially and environmentally responsible manner. The challenge for managers is to modify their existing practices to ones that promote environmental stewardship without sacrificing economic and aesthetic performance.

Read the article.