Tom Benjamin RLA, LEED-AP BD+C has been an innovator in the field of landscape and sustainable design for more than 20 years. His unmatched insights into low-input resilient design, natural habitat and ecosystem restoration as well as the planning, implementation, and maintenance of therapeutic wellness gardens sets him apart from other landscape architects. His collaborative and holistic approach to planning, emphasizing realistic operations and management practices, has produced an extensive list of long-term landscape success stories that have met compliance needs. In fact, Tom’s projects have repeatedly been recognized as leaders in linking exemplary environmental compliance with human use of the quality spaces he’s created.
Tom has an unwavering commitment to resilient design that integrates energy, waste, water, and food systems. He has pioneered countless best practices with low-input native plantings for many client and building types including medical institutions, senior housing facilities, public facilities, commercial buildings, residential developments, and private residences. His work has often encompassed the creation and enhancement of natural, passive storm water filtration systems in both developed and natural contexts. He specializes in the full project lifecycle spanning conceptual planning through design, construction, and monitoring phases.
Tom has lectured at Harvard, MIT, and at many professional conferences. He teaches at Greenfield Community College and with the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. His classes tie the built environment to natural systems to advance less resource-intensive landscape design and maintenance approaches. He is a masterful educator and has inspired stakeholders from maintenance staff to top leadership.
Services include:
- Landscape design
- Master planning
- Construction management
- Operations and maintenance guidance
- Natural ecosystem restoration
- Remediation/reclamation design
- Sustainable systems consulting
- LEED and SITES consulting
- Therapeutic/ wellness garden design
- Public outreach and education
Awards:
- President’s Award
- Boston Society of Landscape Architects Honor Award for Reclamation and Resource Conservation
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Award for Excellence in Environmental Design
- American Planning Association’s Award for Excellence
Career highlights include:
- More than 5,000 acres of developed sites and natural areas enhanced
- More than one million native plantings specified and installed in the landscape
- Over 100,000 cubic yards of compost applied to replenish depleted soils
- Over 250,00 cubic yards of food scraps and yard waste diverted from landfills and reused as compost
- Over 500 full-size truck loads of cut tree trunks and brush reused to stabilize slopes and shorelines
- Over 20,000 lbs. of synthetic fertilizer avoided
- Over $1 million in hard drainage infrastructure costs averted
- Lawn-mowing costs, noise and emissions reduced by 50-75%
- Over 1 billion raindrops captured and pretreated naturally in dense rootzones
- Over 100 clients pleased with and inspired by the results