Creating a Market Advantage through Sustainable Site Development

Mar 12, 2010 at 10:30 am
Room # 408

Presented by: Heather Swift, Cohabitats, Ellen Southard, Cory Parker, Jones and Jones Archictects & Landscape Architects

Session Description:

Our panel will focus on stewardship, process and market relevant tools that create a competitive edge while supporting a healthy balance between human and wild habitats. We’ll present Northwest case studies and methods of sensitive site development. Audience participation is encouraged.

Speakers Bios:

Cory Parker, ASLA: Senior Associate, Jones and Jones Archictects & Landscape Architects

Cory Parker’s expertise is in transforming landscapes through ecological and cultural restoration. He has 16 years of experience as a landscape architect, managing environmental planning, interpretive centers, parks and open space, as well as stream and river restoration projects. He works for Jones & Jones, an interdisciplinary firm that holistically integrates buildings and landscapes. Since joining Jones & Jones in 2001, he has managed many projects, including landscape and stream restorations associated with the reconstruction of Montana’s US Highway 93; four cultural centers for Oregon State University’s diversity program; interpretive plans for two farms in the Puget Sound basin with certified “salmon safe” streams; and the master plan of the Paynes Prairie constructed wetland public use concept plan and visitor center. Before Jones & Jones, he worked with L.C. Lee & Associates, collaborating with wetland ecologists, botanists, and soil scientists to re-create complex, riparian ecosystems. He has also worked for the Natural Resources Conservation Service, designing master plans of parks, urban stream corridors and streets for local governments and tribes. Cory received his Master of Landscape Architecture degree from the University of Washington (with a thesis on people’s perception of urban riparian landscapes) and his Bachelor’s degree in landscape architecture from the University of California at Davis.

Heather Swift: Sustainable Sites Consultant

Heather is founder of Cohabitats (www.cohabitats.com), a consulting collective of professionals that provides advisory services for land conservation, conservation development, habitat restoration and wildlife planning for building projects. Heather has worked extensively in the green building industry for the past seven years and worked for fifteen years as a marketing professional. She founded Cohabitats upon completing two years of intensive wilderness and naturalist training at Wilderness Awareness School where she learned Washington flora and fauna, animal habitat and behavior, ethnobotany, bird language, wilderness survival skills, mentoring and animal tracking. She is a guest instructor at Alderleaf Wilderness College and the marketing instructor for Antioch University Seattle's Masters in Management program. Currently, Heather is creating a plan for wildlife and habitat restoration for GreenWorks Development Group’s green cottage-housing project in Newcastle which is based on her nine months of wildlife tracking research on the site. She is also conducting pre-development research and planning for a 200 acre project on the Olympic Peninsula. Recently, she assisted the Pearl River County Office of Planning and Development in creating an educational program for developers to plan for conservation and open space within development projects. Other clients include Bear Creek, Woods Creek Preserve, GreenWorks Realty and the Northwest EcoBuilding Guild. Heather holds an M.S. in Management from Antioch University Seattle where she is on the faculty and holds a B.A. from Scripps College (a member of The Claremont Colleges).

Ellen Southard, Site Story

Ellen Southard, has focused her career on providing consultation for sustainable infrastructure, low impact development, and best management practices for open space throughout the Western States. She has worked closely with numerous public agencies leading stakeholder involvement abd community charrette processes for brownfield redevelopment, parks and recreation projects. Most recently she led the community process for Little Squalicum Park Master Plan, a super fund site in Bellingham, WA. Southard has been involved with a large number of communitybased initiatives that support historic preservation and cultural corridor formation. She is particularly interested in developing conservation district guidelines, zoning overlay, and Main Street programs in small towns and urban corridors to support cultural sustainability. Her approach to planning and preservation is from the human ecology and human interest perspective. The evolving business model that she has created embraces a healthy work environment, social responsibility, and a nonhierarchical approach to collaboration. Trained in the Natural Step process, in 2008 she lead the site design of PCC’s Salmon Safe store in Edmond’s, WA, the first LEED Platinum grocery remodel in the country. She currently represents Stewardship Partners as an outreach coordinator for Salmon Safe’s Residential checklist. She has been a built Green Member for 8 years. In 2010 with her sister, Patti, she formed Site Story a practice dedicated to human ecology assessment, sustainable consulting and values alignment.