“The LEED standards for sustainable construction discourage lawns because they require not only watering but also mowing — and gas-powered lawn mowers are a significant source of air pollution. “

So reports the Chronicle of Higher Education’s Buildings & Grounds blog. But the post goes on to report that “as colleges begin thinking in terms of reducing their carbon footprints, grass doesn’t look so bad after all.”
“Grass — like trees — does a great job of removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, according to landscape architects who took part in a session on open space at the annual meeting of the Society for College and University Planning…In hot weather, they added, grass helps keep an area significantly cooler. “

Read the entire article here