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Managing Wet Weather With Green Infrastructure, June 2009 Bulletin

This document discusses how several major cities, including Philadelphia and Washington D.C., are implementing green infrastructure plans to manage stormwater runoff through methods such as green roofs, permeable pavement, rain gardens, and tree planting; it also summarizes recent EPA research that found green roofs can reduce annual rainfall volume by 50% through retention and evapotranspiration. The document provides updates on green infrastructure events, publications, and incentives that communities can use to encourage private property owners to adopt green infrastructure practices.

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Green Action Sustainable Technology Group
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42 views2 pages

Managing Wet Weather With Green Infrastructure, June 2009 Bulletin

This document discusses how several major cities, including Philadelphia and Washington D.C., are implementing green infrastructure plans to manage stormwater runoff through methods such as green roofs, permeable pavement, rain gardens, and tree planting; it also summarizes recent EPA research that found green roofs can reduce annual rainfall volume by 50% through retention and evapotranspiration. The document provides updates on green infrastructure events, publications, and incentives that communities can use to encourage private property owners to adopt green infrastructure practices.

Uploaded by

Green Action Sustainable Technology Group
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Managing Wet Weather with

Green Infrastructure
a periodic update on activities
Volume 2009, Issue 3 June 2009
Municipalities around the country are going green as they strive to
Contacts
achieve healthier and more sustainable communities.
EPA Headquarters

Mayor Michael Nutter's Greenworks Philadelphia plan is approaching


Jenny Molloy, OW/OWM

green through a 5-pronged framework focused on specific numeric tar- [email protected]

gets in all of the following areas to be achieved by 2015.


Robert Goo, OW/OWOW

Energy. Energy reduction and implementa- [email protected]

tion of energy conservation measures.


Mahri Monson, OECA

Environment. Reducing green house gas


[email protected]

emissions, diverting solid waste from land-


fills, and increasing air quality.
EPA Regions

Equity. Meet federal stormwater standards,


Katie Connors, R1

improve availability of locally grown foods


[email protected]

and parks for recreation, increase tree cover.


Stephen Venezia, R2

Economy. Reduce vehicle miles traveled, improve infrastructure repair,


[email protected]

increase the number of high– and low-skilled green jobs.


Dominique Lueckenhoff, R3

Engagement. Be the greenest city in America.


[email protected]

Maryann Gerber, R4

On April 21, DC Mayor Adam Fenty announced the Green DC Agenda, [email protected]

which consists of seven themes and two “spotlights”, one on the Ana- Bob Newport, R5

costia River and one on Climate Change. There are green infrastructure [email protected]

components across all of themes, in particular: Suzanna Perea, R6

Neighborhoods and Communities. Maximize the use of public space to [email protected]

green neighborhoods and improve stormwater control. Mandy Whitsitt, R7

Parks and Natural Space. Rehabilitate or construct new sewer and [email protected]

stormwater infrastructure in stream valleys and park land to eliminate Gregory Davis, R8

sewer discharges, reduce erosion and protect wildlife habitat. Restore the [email protected]

District’s historic tree cover. John Tinger, R9

Schools. Install at least five RiverSmart School schoolyard conservation [email protected]

sites each fiscal year to Krista Mendelman, R10

treat stormwater onsite, [email protected]

create habitat for wildlife


and serve as outdoor class- Steering Committee Partners

rooms and labs. Nancy Stoner, NRDC

Transit and Mobility. Streets and public space will incorporate green Nathan Gardner-Andrews &

infrastructure to reduce stream and river pollution. Keith Jones, NACWA

Business, Jobs and Economic Development. Expand green job training Chris Kloss & Neil Weinstein,

and certification programs to prepare workers for jobs in emerging green LID Center
industries including home energy auditing, lead hazard mitigation, weath- Katherine Baer & Gary Belan,

erization services, and installation of stormwater management practices. American Rivers

Homes. Free comprehensive home audits and financial incentives to in- Linda Eichmiller, ASIWPCA

stall rain barrels, rain gardens and other systems to treat stormwater run-
off onsite.
Volume 2009, Issue 3 June 2009

This February EPA released Green Roofs for Stormwater


Runoff Control. This project evaluated green roofs as a Upcoming Forums & Events
stormwater management tool. Run off quantity and
quality from green and flat asphalt roofs were com- Managing Wet Weather with Green Infrastructure.
pared. Evapotranspiration from planted green roofs and July 8-9, 2009. Hartford, CT. Link
evaporation from unplanted
media roofs were also com- Managing Wet Weather with Green Infrastructure.
pared. July 21-22, 2009. Charleston, WV. Link

The influence of media type, Green Infrastructure Webcast: Green Streets Retro-
media depth and drought fits and Operation and Maintenance. USEPA. July
during plant establishment 28, 2009. Link
on plant growth and long-
term management of media American Rainwater Catchment Systems Association
pH were investigated. Re- Conference. September 12-16, 2009. Decatur, Geor-
sults indicate that the green gia. Link
roofs are capable of remov-
ing 50% of the annual rainfall Green Infrastructure for Clean Water: Strategies for
volume from a roof through Planning, Engineering, and Maintenance. September
retention and evapotranspiration. Rainfall not retained 24-25, 2009. University of Minnesota Arboretum.
by green roofs is detained, effectively increasing the
time to peak, and slowing peak flows for a watershed.
There are seasonal considerations as more runoff is gen-
erated during winter and for many summer storms there
was no runoff. Green roof runoff does contain concen-
New Publications
trations of some nutrients and other parameters, but
values are in line with other planted systems. Due to the Davis, A.P., W.F. Hunt, R.G. Traver, and M. Clar. 2009.
volume reduction, actual nutrient loadings from green
Bioretention Technology: Overview of Current Practice
roofs are less than asphalt roofing runoff or otherwise
manageable at the downspout. and Future Needs. Journal of Environmental Engineer-
ing. March 2009. 109-117.

Guidance on Hydrologic Bioretention Performance and


Emerson, C.H. and R.G. Traver. 2008. Multiyear and
Design Criteria for Cold Climates. A three-year WERF
funded study led by Jim Davidson, Dakota County Soil Seasonal Variation of Infiltration from Storm-Water
and Water Conservation District, collected air tempera- Best Management Practices. Journal of Irrigation and
ture, soil temperature, and soil moisture data at four Drainage Engineering. 598-605.
existing bioretention cells located in the Minnesota Twin
Cities metropolitan area and conducted simulated snow-
melt events to observe their hydrological performance For information on green infra-
responses under winter conditions.
structure trainings and confer-
ences, links to webcast re-
EPA has released the latest in- cordings, videos, and photos
stallment in the Municipal check out the media library on
Handbook series: Incentive EPA’s green infrastructure
Mechanisms. This document website. Permeable Pavers,, New
describes a number of incen- Columbia, Portland OR
tives that communities can use
to encourage the use of green
infrastructure on private prop- For more information on managing wet weather with
erties. It includes an annotated green infrastructure see the website at: www.epa.gov/
list of communities across the greeninfrastructure. To be added to an e-mail distri-
country, the types of incentives bution list for future issues of this bulletin, or if you
they are using, and links to additional information have items of interest to be considered for inclusion in
about those programs. future issues of this bulletin send an e-mail request to

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