Land and Natural Development (LAND) Code

Land and Natural Development (LAND) Code offers a pioneering method to develop sites in harmony with natural processes. 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, a system that is accessible to non-experts, and extensive use of photographs and diagrams to illustrate practices and procedures.

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.

GABOURY BENOIT, PhD, is associate dean for research and professor of Environmental Chemistry and Environmental Engineering at the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies. At Yale, he is also director of the Center for Coastal and Watershed Systems and codirector of the Hixon Center for Urban Ecology. Dr. Benoit's research focuses on the behavior, transport, and fate of chemicals in natural waters, soils, sediments, and biota. Special areas of interest are non-point source pollutants, toxic contaminants, and human–environment interactions in urban areas.