Idaho ASLA Chapter Honors Health District Building's Sustainable Landscaping

The Idaho-Montana Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects recently honored Panhandle Health District's two-year-old building in Hayden, Idaho, for its landscaping with native plants and inventive storm-water management, receiving the highest honors for Landmark Landscape Architects.

The 6.7 acres surrounding the building were developed to become a self-sustaining site by the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality and Landmark Landscape Architects, a division of Architects West, community members and agencies, and Panhandle Health.

Storm-water management and low-impact development was the focus of the project, with key emphasis on sidewalk selection, planter placement and choice of plants to help protect the Spokane Valley-Rathdrum Prairie Aquifer.

The project manages storm water, not allowing it to drain untreated into the aquifer. Panhandle Health installed a 37,000-gallon cistern to gather rainwater for irrigation for lawns and drought-resistant native plants. Consultants estimated the process saved 100,000 gallons of fresh water in a year, enough to support a single household.

For more information, visit www.phd1.idaho.gov.

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