Sustainability Focus of Conference

The Midwest Ecological Landscaping Association, in cooperation with the United States Green Building Council, will hold its annual conference at the Chicago Botanic Garden in Glencoe, Ill., from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Feb. 26.

Keynote speaker will be Lois Vitt Sale, LEED Accredited Professional architect and director of sustainability for Nelson Design Consortium. She will address issues related to the value and challenges of developing industry standards for sustainability.

The featured speaker will be Garth Conrad, MELA president-elect, and environmental chair of the Association of Professional Landscape Designers, speaking on “What is a Sustainable Landscape?”

There will be a panel discussion on Developing and Promoting Standards of Sustainability featuring speakers from the U.S. Green Building Council, the Sustainable Sites Initiative and MELA.

A special feature will be two round table discussions on elements of the conference theme — Nature at Work: Creating Professional Standards for a Sustainable Green Industry — both on issues of sustainable landscaping such as irrigation, soil, construction materials, plants and energy, as well as on elements of the industry such as design/build, maintenance, growers, plant-health professionals and retail.