Land and Natural Development (LAND) Code offers a pioneering method to develop sites in harmony with natural processes that is solidly based on peer-reviewed scientific findings. While the LAND Code can be readily used in conjunction with LEED, EPA, and other guidelines, it features several unique characteristics, including:
Recommendations based on peer-reviewed scientific research
Rating scheme that weights each development and land use practice based on its environmental benefit and difficulty of implementation
Straightforward, step-by-step system that is accessible to non-experts
Focus on land rather than buildings
Extensive use of photographs and diagrams to illustrate practices and procedures
After an introduction, the book begins with chapters covering water, soil, air, living resources, energy, and materials. Throughout these chapters, the authors recommend tested and proven strategies that minimize disruption of the natural processes. Each chapter provides background, describes benefits for both developers and ecosystems, and recommends protective strategies in simple, non-technical language (a glossary is provided explaining all terms not in common usage). A toolbox of environmental engineering methods to implement the strategies follows, and the final chapter of the book provides a series of examples of actual development projects in which a variety of approaches have successfully attained sustainable development. With its emphasis on scientific understanding, the LAND Code offers you the information needed to make and implement decisions for ecologically sound land development.

DIANA BALMORI, PhD, is the founder of New York City–based Balmori Associates, a firm that is internationally recognized for its success in realizing complex urban projects that integrate innovative sustainability systems and patterns of use within an overarching sense of place. Her firm has created master plans ranging from a blueprint for Bilbao, Spain, to the design for the Farmington Canal Rail Trail to a waterfront park on the Mississippi River. Balmori Associates is implementing a 46,000-square-foot network of green roofs in Long Island City, New York. She has been appointed to the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts through 2007. Balmori teaches at the Yale School of Architecture as well as at the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies.

Acknowledgments
CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION
What This Book is About
Why This Book
How to Use This Book
How Land Code Points Were Determined
How We Use the Term Sustainability
How This Book Came About
CHAPTER 2 WATER
Site Drainage
Impervious Surfaces
Stormwater Quality
Water Conservation and Reuse
CHAPTER 3 SOILS
Erosion Prevention and Control
Soil Health and Integrity
CHAPTER 4 AIR QUALITY AND MICROCLIMATE
CHAPTER 5 LIVING RESOURCES
Living Resources Conservation Plan
Preserving and Restoring Habitat
Buffering Critical Habitat
Landscape Connectivity
Road Placement and Design
Native Species and Landscape Heterogeneity
Selected Resources for Identifying Native and Invasive Species
CHAPTER 6 ENERGY
CHAPTER 7 INDUSTRIAL ECOLOGY AND MATERIALS
CHAPTER 8 ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING
Erosion Prevention and Control
Stormwater Management: Runoff Quality and Quantity
Renewable Energy
Computer Models
CHAPTER 9 DIFFERENT PATHS TO SUSTAINABILITY
Case Studies
Points Checklist
Glossary
References
Index