Webinar Title: Landscape Equipment Sustainability Strategies
Webinar Date: March 12, 2026
Speaker: Dr. Paul Bartley, Assistant Professor, Landscape Environmental Stewardship, Department of Horticulture, Auburn University
Moderator: Dr. Shimat Joseph, Turfgrass Entomologist, UGA
Duration: 55:54
Series: Green & Commercial
CEU Categories: Cat 10 (Private Applicator), Cat 21 (Plant Agriculture), Cat 24 (Ornamental and Turf), Cat 27 (Right-of-Way), Cat 32 (Regulatory Pest Control)
Summary
Dr. Paul Bartley, who leads the Auburn University Outdoor Power Equipment Consortium (OPEC), presented side-by-side research comparing gas-powered and battery-powered landscape equipment across runtime, work capacity, noise output, cost, and return on investment. Bartley opened by framing the green industry’s scale — 235,000 landscapers employed in the Southeast alone, a $1.5 billion economic impact in Alabama — and argued that equipment transitions driven by noise complaints and legislation should be treated as market opportunities rather than mandates.
A national survey of roughly 200 landscape business owners, ranging from one-truck operations to firms with 2,500 employees, found that reliability, work capacity, and ease of maintenance ranked highest in equipment purchasing decisions. Power source, noise pollution, and air pollution ranked lowest. When gas-only operators were asked whether they would adopt battery equipment if their concerns about work capacity and power were addressed, 85% said yes.
Bartley’s lab and field testing of string trimmers and backpack blowers showed that battery-powered tools match or exceed gas in trigger-time runtime, but the gap widens under load. Gas string trimmers covered 6,000–7,000 feet of chain-link fence per tank; some battery trimmers managed a quarter of that distance. For backpack blowers, the most popular gas model completed about 497 simulated clearing tasks; the best-performing battery blower completed roughly 300, and others closer to 175. Recharge cycle limits compound the disparity — most lithium-ion batteries are rated below 2,000 cycles, and some tools would need over 5,000 recharges to match the gas blower’s work output.
Noise testing told a different story. Battery backpack blowers measured 82 dBA at the operator (below the NIOSH 85 dBA threshold) and 60 dBA at 50 feet — four times quieter than gas blowers at the same distance, because the dBA scale is logarithmic. Battery-powered hedge trimmers earned Bartley’s strongest endorsement: “a 10 out of 10,” the first tool he recommends landscapers try.
An Auburn campus case study estimated that switching Zone 1 — the “face of campus,” maintained by a staff of 85 — from gas to battery equipment would require roughly $45,000 in capital cost across three performance tiers, with ROI arriving after about eight years at full retail pricing. Bartley also presented early autonomous mower data from Greenzie (an Atlanta-based retrofit company) and a Doosan Bobcat prototype. Autonomous mowers cut less efficiently than manual operators but enabled a dual-mower strategy — one operator running a manual mower while supervising an autonomous unit — that improved efficiency by 55% and reduced labor costs by 40%. Safety testing of obstacle detection systems showed 93% detection probability with camera-based sensing, but performance degraded at higher speeds and around turns, particularly for low-profile or prone obstacles.
Video Timestamps
Use the timestamps below to navigate to specific topics in the video.
0:00 Introduction — Dr. Shimat Joseph introduces Dr. Paul Bartley
1:18 Bartley begins: sustainability through the LESS framework
2:29 “Do more with LESS” — energy, labor, cost, emissions, noise
3:50 Urbanization and the importance of green spaces
6:07 Green industry economic impact in the Southeast
7:03 COVID-19 and shifting public perception of landscape equipment
9:07 Legislative landscape — California AB 1346, noise-based bans
10:01 Georgia’s preemption bill and HOA-level restrictions
11:00 Equipment transitions as market opportunities
11:25 Auburn Outdoor Power Equipment Consortium (OPEC)
12:45 Industry survey — 200 business owners rate purchasing priorities
14:04 Principal component analysis of purchasing factors
15:16 Company size does not predict equipment concerns
15:47 Battery adopters: noise pollution was the top factor
16:24 Gas users: work capacity is the main barrier to switching
17:25 Would gas users switch if concerns were addressed? (85% yes)
17:47 Runtime vs. work capacity — string trimmer testing
19:02 Field test: chain-link fence trimming distance per charge vs. tank
20:03 String guard removal reduces battery runtime by 30%
21:08 Fuel breakeven analysis — 31 to 385 hours across brands
22:10 Backpack blower testing — runtime and force plate analysis
25:00 Work output comparison: gas (497 tasks) vs. battery (175–300)
26:30 Recharge cycles and battery degradation over time
28:20 Decibel dynamics — noise is not just loudness
29:07 The dBA scale: ambient measurements from home to stadium
31:00 Noise comparison: gas vs. battery blowers at operator and 50 feet
32:20 Mower noise — battery mowers slightly above 85 dBA
32:40 Auburn campus case study — Zone 1 “face of campus”
34:01 Capital cost analysis across three battery performance tiers
35:07 ROI timeline: breakeven at about eight years
36:08 Against bans, for incentives, prefer no legislation
36:54 Autonomous mowers — Greenzie and Doosan Bobcat
38:00 Autonomous mower operation and app-based work planning
39:00 Test protocol: two plot designs, four mower configurations
40:40 Energy consumption: watt-hours vs. milliliters of fuel
41:08 How many batteries do you need? (fuel tracking method)
42:00 Autonomous mowers less efficient: slower turns, more overlap
43:00 Lifetime cost and per-acre ROI for autonomous mowers
44:03 Dual-mower strategy: 55% more efficient, 40% lower labor costs
44:30 Safety testing — obstacle detection with baby mannequins
45:25 Camera-based (93%) vs. radar-based detection rates
46:20 Speed-detection trade-off and low-profile obstacles
47:05 Data to decisions — know your equipment usage
47:36 Capital cost is the most critical factor
47:51 Counterfeit Makita battery fire warning
48:15 Charging infrastructure and battery capacity considerations
49:00 Acknowledgments — OPEC, graduate students, USDA AMS
49:20 Q&A begins — pollinator impact of quiet autonomous mowers
51:45 Q&A — hedge trimmers (“10 out of 10”)
52:40 Q&A — chainsaws, string trimmers, battery blower recommendations
53:45 Q&A — robotic mowers in arboretums and neighborhoods
55:10 Closing remarks and CEU logistics
Questions & Answers
Q: How do battery-powered tools compare to gas in actual field work, not just runtime?
A: Bartley’s testing showed that battery and gas tools produce similar trigger-time runtimes in the lab, but the gap appears under load. Gas string trimmers covered 6,000–7,000 feet of chain-link fence per tank, while some battery trimmers managed only a quarter of that distance. For backpack blowers, the most popular gas model completed about 497 simulated tasks; the best battery blower completed roughly 300, and the lowest-performing battery blower completed around 175.
Q: What did the industry survey reveal about landscapers’ equipment priorities?
A: Roughly 200 business owners nationwide rated reliability, work capacity, availability, and ease of maintenance as their top concerns when purchasing equipment. Power source, noise pollution, and air pollution ranked at the bottom. Cost fell in between — landscapers treated it as secondary to performance, suggesting they will pay more if the equipment performs as expected.
Q: Are smaller landscape companies more affected by the gas-to-battery transition than larger ones?
A: No. Bartley’s cluster analysis found that company size did not predict concerns about equipment transitions. The smallest and largest operators shared the same range of concerns. Differences tracked with personality and operational style, not with firm size.
Q: How much quieter are battery blowers compared to gas?
A: At the operator position, a battery Husqvarna backpack blower measured 82 dBA compared to 102 dBA for a gas Echo backpack blower. At 50 feet from the operator — roughly bystander distance — the battery blower measured 60 dBA and the gas blower about 80 dBA. Because the dBA scale is logarithmic, that 20 dB difference means the gas blower produces four times the noise at bystander distance.
Q: What is the return on investment for switching a commercial operation from gas to battery equipment?
A: In Bartley’s Auburn campus case study, replacing all gas-powered handheld equipment for Zone 1 maintenance required roughly $45,000 in batteries and tools. At full retail pricing with no deals or incentives, ROI arrived after about eight years. The lower the capital cost at purchase, the faster the breakeven — making battery cost reduction and package deals the single most important factor in adoption.
Q: How do autonomous mowers compare to manual mowing in efficiency and cost?
A: Autonomous mowers took longer to complete the same area — they turn more slowly, overlap more, and operate at lower speeds. Over a 3,000-hour lifespan (six years at 500 hours per year), manually operated mowers were cheaper per acre. But using a dual-mower strategy — one operator on a manual mower supervising an autonomous unit simultaneously — improved efficiency by 55% and cut labor costs by 40%.
Q: How safe are commercial autonomous mowers around obstacles?
A: Bartley’s testing, which intentionally placed obstacles in extreme scenarios to expose weaknesses, found a 93% detection probability with a camera-based system and lower rates with a prototype radar-based system. Detection degraded at higher speeds and during tight turns. Low-profile and prone obstacles (like the baby mannequins used in testing) were the hardest to detect. Bartley emphasized following manufacturer guidelines and warned that “we’re one tragedy away from this technology being set back.”
Q: What’s the current state of legislation restricting gas-powered landscape equipment?
A: Most current legislation across the U.S. cites noise rather than emissions, following California’s AB 1346. Georgia passed a preemption bill preventing municipalities and counties from enacting bans more restrictive than state law. But restrictions can still appear at the HOA and community level. Bartley frames these pressures as opportunities to differentiate services rather than threats to resist.
Q: Which battery-powered tool does Bartley recommend landscapers try first?
A: Hedge trimmers. Bartley called battery-powered hedge trimmers “a 10 out of 10” and said they are the one tool that “far exceeds the efficiency of their gas-powered equivalent.” He has not met a landscaper who was disappointed after trying one. They are slightly heavier than gas equivalents, but quieter, and multiple brands perform well.
Q: What should operators watch out for when buying batteries?
A: Bartley warned about counterfeit batteries — a colleague bought what appeared to be Makita batteries from a reliable source, but they turned out to be fakes that caught fire. He also flagged charging infrastructure as a planning factor: one performance tier in the Auburn case study required over 60 batteries to maintain a single campus zone, and operators need to consider whether they can safely deploy and charge that many batteries from a trailer in the field.
Additional Resources
- Auburn University Outdoor Power Equipment Consortium (OPEC) — contact Dr. Paul Bartley, Department of Horticulture, Auburn University
- Greenzie — Atlanta-based company providing autonomous mowing retrofit technology for commercial mowers
- Doosan Bobcat — manufacturer of autonomous mower prototypes tested in the study
- USDA AMS — funding support acknowledged for the research
Processed for the UGA Center for Urban Agriculture / GTBOP Archives