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In a new guide to Portland, landscape architects share what makes the city sustainable.

Nearly a dozen Portland professionals volunteered to help write the 鈥�Landscape Architect’s Guide to Sustainable Portland.鈥� The American Society of Landscape Architects‘ online guide will go live Oct. 7; designs of 50 sustainable sites throughout the city will be highlighted.

It is the third such guide ASLA officials have put together with the help of members. A was released two years ago and one to Boston came out last year. Each guide is authored by local landscape architects who offer insights on sustainable projects.

The aim is to inform and inspire landscape architects, architects and planners from elsewhere as well as provide a resource for city residents and tourists, said Jared Green, ASLA senior communications manager.

鈥淲e were looking for a way for designers to communicate directly with the public,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e really wanted to reach out directly and communicate that these places didn’t just magically appear. We’re trying to convey in a subversive way that everything around you, your whole environment, is a designed experience. We wanted to explain that and the value of some of these places.鈥�

Portland, renowned for environmentally conscious urban design, was a natural choice to be included in a collection of guides to sustainable cities, Green said.

鈥淏asically, everyone in America can learn from Portland,鈥� he said.

When national ASLA officials this past spring approached Portland-area members for help writing a guide to the city and suggestions for the best sites to highlight, Carol Mayer-Reed, a partner with Portland-based Mayer/Reed, gladly volunteered. The city’s landscape architects can offer keen insight on how Portland became so sustainable, the ASLA fellow said.

鈥淲ho knows the city better than a bunch of landscape architects?鈥� Mayer-Reed said. 鈥淨uite a few of us volunteered.鈥�

Unlike ASLA’s guides to Washington, D.C. and Boston, which are organized by neighborhood, the Portland guide is broken up into categories such as water, transportation, food, health and energy. Each category is authored by a different landscape architect and features sustainable aspects of publicly accessible sites throughout the city.

鈥淲e decided we’d take what makes a sustainable city and how does landscape architecture fit into that,鈥� said Brian Bainnson, board member for the ASLA Oregon chapter and one of the authors of the Portland guide.

When the guide is released, the information will be available online as a virtual tour with photos of each site. Users also will be able to print maps or view them on a mobile platform.

The guide won’t be written for strictly a landscape audience, Bainnson said.

鈥淚t’s really 鈥� a guide not just for landscape architects and architects, but for people who are visiting and want to see some interesting places,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he hope is that it reaches a broader audience who are interested in design and landscape and urban landscapes.鈥�

Mayer-Reed was responsible for the portion of the guide that discusses water, including sustainable stormwater management, water quality and Willamette River access. Among the projects discussed in the section are Governor Tom McCall Waterfront Park, the Amy Joslin Memorial Eco-Roof on the Multnomah County headquarters building and rain gardens at the Oregon Convention Center.

Participation in the guide project was insightful for Mayer-Reed.

鈥淚 found myself being able to tell the history of a lot of the green infrastructure projects that have been developed in Portland and now exported to other parts of the country,鈥� she said.

Portland landscape architect Rebecca Wahlstrom authored the portion of the guide discussing sites that support sustainable food production, such as urban agriculture education at Zenger Farm, food carts and the Portland Farmers Market. It was easy to convince a group of landscape architects to write about what makes Portland sustainable, she said.

鈥淎 lot of the (professionals) are concerned about the environment, and if we can educate people about good, successful projects, that’s all the better,鈥� she said.

Mayer-Reed said she’s hopeful that the guide will encourage planners and designers outside Portland to incorporate sustainable features like bio-swales into their projects.

鈥淭here are all these places in the country that don’t know how to get programs like this started,鈥� she said.