From a University of Michigan-Flint press release:
The University of Michigan-Flint’s Urban Alternatives House has been selected as one of the first landscapes to participate in a new program testing the nation’s first rating system for green landscape design, construction and maintenance. The selection was made by the Sustainable Sites Initiative™ (SITES™).
SITES selected the Urban Alternatives House based on its extensive environmentally friendly elements. These sustainable practices include: removing invasive trees from the site, developing a landscape that includes space for food production, native plantings, rain gardens and managing rainwater on site.
The Urban Alternatives House will join more than 150 other pilot projects from 34 states as well as from Canada, Iceland and Spain as part of an international pilot project program to evaluate the new SITES rating system for sustainable landscapes, with and without buildings. Sustainable landscapes can clean water, reduce pollution and restore habitats, while providing significant economic and social benefits to land owners and municipalities.