With a growing interest in sustainability as a whole, many communities have adopted performance standards and incentives to promote sustainable design. As sustainable design becomes more desirable among communities, barriers and challenges are introduced as well. We address these barriers and suggest strategies to overcome them, providing insight on how to choose the ideal green infrastructure practice.
How to Suceed in Your Green Infrastructure Project
1. How to Succeed with
Your Green
Infrastructure Project
March 26th, 2015
Presented by: Kari Mackenbach, CFM, BCES
Melissa Hess, PE, CFM
2. | West Virginia Construction & Design Exposition | March 25th and 26th, 2015
Agenda
10:00-10:15 Welcoming Remarks and Overview
10:15-10:45 Steps to a Good Green Infrastructure Project
10:45-11:15 Focused Lessons Learned from Communities’
11:15-11:30 O&M Dictates the Type of Practice to Install
11:30-11:45 Common Pitfalls of Green Infrastructure Projects
11:45-12:00 Wrap-up and Questions/Answers
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Overview of Green
Infrastructure
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Definition of Green Infrastructure (GI)
No standard definition, but described as addressing:
Storm water management
Energy efficient buildings
Climate change
Heat stress
Biodiversity
Food production/urban agriculture
Air quality
Clean water and healthy soils
Quality of life through recreation, shade, and shelter in and
around towns and cities
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American River’s Definition
Green infrastructure is an approach to water management that:
Protects,
Restores, or
Mimics the natural water cycle
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EPA Definition of Green Infrastructure
Also known as low-impact development principles:
Preserving and recreating natural landscape features
Minimizing effective imperviousness to create functional and
appealing site drainage
Treating storm water as a resource rather than a waste
product
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What else is Green Infrastructure?
Helping communities come closer to attaining the
CWA standards
Public Perception (sustainable cities)
Helps with your floodplain management strategies
Leverage State and Federal Program Dollars
Opportunity to “marry” multiple public work efforts
(streetscaping, sidewalks, parks, floodplain &
stormwater management)
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Natural Water Cycle: Pre-Development
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Natural Water Cycle:
Post-Development
Increased
imperviousness
increases flows
Puts structures
and people in
harm’s way
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Distributed
Stormwater Features
Traditional Regional
Technique
Distributed Stormwater Controls
Close to Runoff Sources
Integrated Stormwater
Controls
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How much does
an individual home affect stormwater runoff?
Street
Driveway
House
Stormdrain
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How much does
an individual home affect stormwater runoff?
Street
In a 1” rainfall
Potential Runoff:
5,422 gallons
2,500 s.f.
“impervious” x 1” rain =
1,542 gallons
of runoff
Stormdrain
1,500 s.f. house (& patio) x 1” rain =
925 gallons of runoff
+ “Green Concrete” Compacted Lawn
8,390 s.f. “impervious” x 1” rain (if infiltrates first ¼” of rain)
= 3,880 gallons of runoff
1,000 s.f. driveway
x 1” rain = 617
gallons of runoff
13. | West Virginia Construction & Design Exposition | March 25th and 26th, 2015 13Photos: David Dods, URS
Consequences
• Property Loss
• Public Safety Hazard
• Damage to Public Infrastructure
• Major Sediment Source
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How is Green Infrastructure &
Flooding Connected?
Seeing the Significance of the
Hydrologic Impacts of
Urbanization Over Time
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How is GI Important for Floodplain
Management?
Combining with water quality projects/initiatives
– NPDES permits
– Storm water utility fees
– Erosion issues (due to high flow volumes)
Land use planning
Post-flood rebuilding
Mitigation projects
Require for development in the floodplain
Reducing flows from development
Other?
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Green Infrastructure Flood Benefits
Not going to impact:
– 100-year flood
May impact:
– 1-year flood
– Frequent nuisance
flooding
– Frequent storms
Often significant financial
benefit for controlling frequent
storms
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17. | West Virginia Construction & Design Exposition | March 25th and 26th, 2015
AFTER
BEFORE
• Residential
Neighborhood
• Rain Garden Retrofits
• Long-Term Monitoring
2006 Neighborhood Application
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Burnsville, MN
Paired Study of Residential Street
Runoff Control
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17 Rain Gardens Installed
Diagram courtesy of the City of Burnsville, MN from their
Burnsville Stormwater Retrofit Study
• 5.3 acres treated and 7.5 acres controlled
• Average treated lot < .5 acres
• Average total rain gardens < 1 acre
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Blue: Control
Red: With Rain
Gardens
Diagram courtesy of the City of
Burnsville, MN from their Burnsville
Stormwater Retrofit Study
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Steps to a Good Green
Infrastructure Project
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Project Goals
CSO/SSO mitigation
Storm water concerns
Distressed Parcels
Community Reinvestment
Floodplain Management
Visual impacts
Other CIP projects
Costs
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Selected Sites Overview – Putting the
Puzzle Together
Is the land public?
What are the limiting factors?
Does it make cost effective sense?
Is it an all green solution?
How much do I have to capture?
What about maintenance?
Is it already functioning as green?
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Green Infrastructure Types
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Rain Gardens
Retrofit between existing curb & sidewalk
URS PictureURS Picture
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Photo URS
Rain Gardens
Slow the Water Down & Innovative Plant Media
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Sediment & Trash Control at Inlet
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Photo: Lisa Treese, KCMO Water Services
Permeable Pavement
Retrofit between existing curb & sidewalk
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Permeable Pavement
Within the ROW
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Permeable Pavement
Within the ROW
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Photos: URS
Curb Extensions
With below-grade storage
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Commercial Street
Pavers, below-grade storage, bioretention
Pervious Sidewalks Below Grade Storage
URS Picture
URS Picture
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Tree Boxes
Below-grade storage, multiple applications
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Step by Step
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What is it going to look like?
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Evaluate the Limiting Factors
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Trees….We Love Them and Hate Them!
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Soil conditions is a key consideration
GI can work well in clay soils but………
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Green Infrastructure Quantification
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Green Infrastructure Quantification
Impervious land uses
Change land use characteristics without changing the land
use
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Right-Sizing or Other Evaluation
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Photo URS
Neighborhood Improvements
Photos URS
50. | West Virginia Construction & Design Exposition | March 25th and 26th, 2015 Photo URS
Neighborhood Improvements
Photos URS
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Photo URS
Photos URS
Neighborhood Improvements
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Photo URS
Photos URS
Neighborhood Improvements
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Focused Lessons Learned
from Other Communities’
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Columbus Blue Print Areas
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Blueprint Columbus Schematic (City of Columbus)
Defining Green Infrastructure for LOS Investigation
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O&M Dictates the Type of
Practice to Install
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Design with the end in mind…..
Key Green Infrastructure Considerations
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Consideration: Evaluate the Existing
Conditions of the Area
Trees are great but……..
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Consideration: Interconnection of
Systems
Rain Garden, Gravel Parking, Bioswale, & Below Grade Storage
Photo URS
URS Picture
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Consideration: Purpose of GI
Stormwater by-passes GI feature entirely
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Consideration: Location & Maintenance
Leaves & debris kill grass if not cleaned
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Consideration: Long-term Maintenance
Sediment affects performance
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Consideration: Long-term
Maintenance
Sediment affects performance
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Consideration: Skilled Construction
Oversight and Construction
Sequencing
GI is still new to most construction contractors
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Considerations: Inlet and Outlet Designs
Inlet designs for debris management are key
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Consideration: Knowledgeable
Maintenance Crew
GI Maintenance is different
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Consideration: Trash will find its way
into the GI Practice
Whether at the Inlet or Outlet or Outright in your Practice
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Consideration: Small spaces can
equal great impact
Small footprint GI Practices work if you have good infiltration
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Consideration: Location soil
conditions is a key consideration
GI can work well in clay soils but………
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Consideration: Pilot Tested Design
Details
Inlets, Fore-bays, Edging and Filter Strips…..Oh my!
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Consideration: Evolution of GI
Practices
GI Science is evolving……
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Lessons Learned and Leveraged
Devil is in the Details
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1. Be thoughtful of your current surroundings.
2. Get out from behind your computer and experience your basin.
3. Not all green infrastructure will work in every location, you have to be flexible.
4. You will run into utilities‘, you have to be flexible.
5. Design with the end in mind. Operation and Maintenance of these
practices are still evolving.
6. When in doubt go with something that is tried and true!
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Common Pitfalls of Green
Infrastructure Projects
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Bioinfiltration
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Rain Gardens Bioretention
Cheaper but requires
more space in tight
soils
More to go wrong but
can require less space
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“On-Line” vs. “Off-Line” Designs
On-Line
Off-Line
Off-Line Reduces Erosion Problems
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Curb Cut
Curb Cut Details
Inlet
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Maintaining Infiltration
Keep Equipment out of
Garden
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Soil Preparation
to Maintain
Infiltration
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Underdrain Designs
Filter Fabric only wraps the drain layer.
This design allows plant roots to
penetrate subsoils, and improve
infiltration with time
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Underdrain Designs
An Older Design Approach
Gravel & Filter Fabric Prevent Root
Penetration to Subsoils. This may be
appropriate in some situations, but
detrimental in others.
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Engineered Soils
(Bioretention or Biofiltration Systems)
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Bad Soil Mix
Contractor substituted
on-site soil for compost
in the mix to save money
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Plant Selections
Illustration: Dan Shaw
•Proper plants improve infiltration
• Rain gardens are not wetlands
• Remember planting zones
• Use pots & plugs, Not seed
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Maintenance – Weeding & Mulching
Routine maintenance is required
Ease of maintenance begins with
thoughtful design
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Photo: Lisa Treese, KCMO Water Services
Pervious Pavements
URS Picture
URS Picture
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Construction Pervious Concrete
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Works well when turf grass is
used in conjunction with practice
Collector of sediment and fines
Tends to clog and get
permanently clogged in areas of
high sediment and fines
Aesthetic concerns by residents
Can be costly
Long term maintenance
research has not be addressed
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Permeable Pavement– Maintenance
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Permeable Pavement
Exfiltration rate varies with
water depth and strata.
With deep trenches acting as the
storage gallery, it appears that
more exfiltration occurs through the
sidewalls than through the bottom.
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Permeable Pavement
• Differential settlement occurred
due to aggregate getting into
arch of articulated concrete
block
• Some vendors are still new to
market and have steep learning
curve
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Tree Boxes
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Construction Tree Boxes
Choosing the correct variety of tree
Interconnected tree boxes vs. individual boxes
Proprietary boxes vs. custom design
Infiltration considerations
Less surface area
Media type
– Water quality or water quantity only
Pretreatment/trash and debris
Enclosing the tree storage
area
• Grated boxes
• Curbs
• Railings
• Mulch or pea gravel
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In Summary…
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Maintenance
No BMP (green or gray) is maintenance free
Selecting the appropriate type of practice based on maintenance
considerations
Long term maintenance plan
Frequency of maintenance
Equipment need
Routine maintenance
As needed maintenance
Maintenance based on monitored performance
Re-evaluation of practice types
Skilled maintenance providers
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$ $ $
GREEN DOES NOT REPLACE GRAY…
Can reduce the capital costs and O & M costs of gray
technology.
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Acknowledgements
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URS
AECOM
Burnsville, Minnesota
David Dods, AECOM
BARR Engineering
US EPA
City of Columbus, DOSD
CDM
NY DEP
Louisville MSD
Anyone else that we forgot to mention…..Thank you for helping
us promote the wise use of Green Infrastructure!
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For more information…
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Contact Kari Mackenbach
info@msconsultants.com
614.898.7100