Green Infrastructure Wiki - Recently Updated Pages

H: Hydrologic System

ncormier — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 14:32:05 CST

DESCRIPTION
This system consists of elements included in and processed through the local water cycle.

HYDROLOGIC FUNCTIONS

Attenuation: one of the basic functions of the hydrologic system is to hold, or attenuate, water in the landscape, so that those function more like sponges than umbrellas. Sponges absorb moisture, holding onto it and letting it slowly leak out over time. This function allows derived functions like Floodplain management or Flow control.
Groundwater recharge: there are many problems that arise when we do not attenuate our stormwater and one of the biggest is a lack of groundwater recharge. Groundwater recharge isn’t just about replenishing “fossil water” repositories, but it is also about ensuring creeks and streams are able to maintain their flows throughout the warm dry months of summer.
Water quality: when water hits our impervious surfaces, it also collects contaminating metals, minerals, fertilizers and other pollutants. This has had a devastating impact on coastal fisheries and other ecosystems. One of the functions of the typical hydrologic system is to clean and purify water, removing toxins from the flow of materials before it gets to a “receiving” body, and thereby improving water quality.
Water reuse: in nature, there is no such thing as “wastewater", everything is used, cleaned and reused again and again. New technologies are allowing us to make it possible to do the same in our human environments, eliminating wasted water in favor of using and reusing all water including air conditioner condensate, stormwater, gray water, and black water.

PERFORMANCE METRICS
Evaluation of the quantity and quality of clean water sources, stormwater, gray water, black water, and aquatic environments.
Amount of water retained/detained: the amount and time of attenuation are critical measures of the health of the hydrologic system. A hydrograph of stormwater discharges from various land covers shows the umbrella effect in urban areas (spikes soon after a rain event: impacts of impervious surfaces sluice water straight off of the land) and the sponge effect in forests (where the leaves, branches, shrubs, and soil all conspire to hold onto any water and to use it).
Amount of pervious surface: within a development, a number of things need to be impervious, but not nearly as much as we currently create. Technologies like porous pavements, green roofs, green walls, bioswales, etc which reduce our “effective impervious surfaces” by holding water in a series of distributed infrastructures.
Pollution abatement/removal: by analizing water quality. For example, a study from Ontario comparing runoff from a normal parking space, a parking space with a bioswale adjacent to it and a parking space using permeable pavements showed a significant reduction in a variety of pollutants including lead.
Hydrologic connectivity: one fundamental measures of hydrologic system health is connectivity, which refers to the “transfer of matter, energy and/or organisms within or between elements of the hydrologic cycle.” (Pringle, 2001).
Cost savings over traditional infrastructure.

WHAT IS LOW IMPACT DESIGN AND HOW CAN IT IMPACT YOUR PROJECT?
Simply stated, Low Impact Design is a way to approach stormwater management. It is intended to minimize the quantity and maximize infiltration & reuse of runoff. It is intended to, as closely as possible, replace the hydrologic cycle that existed before development.

CASE STUDIES: PLANNING AND POLICY
Water sensitive urban design program
Portland Stormwater Discount Program
Puget Sound Partnership's LID resources
LIUDD Policy Report from New Zealand
Rainwise, Seattle, WA

CASE STUDIES: HIGH PERFORMANCE LANDSCAPES
Mt. Tabor Middle School, Portland, OR
8th Avenue "Industrial Strength" Natural Drainage

HYDROLOGIC SYSTEM RESOURCES

Model stormwater BMP operations and maintencance ordinances:http://www.epa.gov/owow/nps/ordinance/stormwater.htm
High-performance infrastructure article from Urban Land
Washington State University Extension, Pierce County LID Links
NRDC'S Rooftops to Rivers report
City of Portland'sStormwater Solutions Handbook
Case study of Seneca College porous paving and bioswale performance
Powerpoints from a 2007 LID conferences
NSCU stormwater engineering group
Low Impact Development Center
Center for Watershed Protection
Oregon's Stormwater Solutions: Turning Oregon's Rain back into a Resource
Facility for Advancing Water Biofiltration
TheEPA's Low-Impact Development website, with some great links and reports
EPA's report with LID case studies and favorable cost comparisons with typical infrastructure
Stormwater Magazine:How Green Infrastructure Measures up to Structural Stormwater Services
EPA Green Infrastructure Strategy Statement
Soil for Salmon
Building Soil
Water Environment Research Foundation's Online Tool Using Rainwater to Grow Livable Communities
EPA - Urban BMP Performance Tool
LID Urban Design Tools
Water Management Strategies: Seattle Case Studies, by Matt Martenson, Berger Partnership intern
Casey Trees' Green Build Out Model for Green Roofs and Trees in Washington DC
EPA Grey Funnels to Green SpongesPodcastandTranscript
Water Sensitive Urban Design program
EPA Watershed Academy Webcasts
LID Center's Green Highways, Green Streets website plaNYC Sustainable Stormwater Management Plan 2008
Matt Baumgardner'sStormwater Library Blog
Brad Lancaster'sRainwater Harvesting for Drylands and Beyond
Kentucky Wet Growth Tools for Sustainable Development
Green Infrastructure Retrofit for a Vacant Shopping Center
Denser is Greener: Density as a Stormwater BMP
Managing Stormwater in Redevelopment and Greenfield Development Projects Using Green Infrastructure: Economic Factors that Influence Developers Decisions
ASLA Green Stormwater Infrastructure Case Studies 2011
Economical CSO Management (from Stormwater Magazine)

HYDROLOGIC SYSTEM VIDEOS
An excellent video explaining LID in Olympia, WA:

Reduce Runoff: Slow It Down, Spread It Out, Soak It In (a video by the EPA introducing green stormwater practices)

HYDROLOGIC SYSTEM NEWS ARTICLES (MOST RECENT AT THE TOP)
Saving rain: how much is too much?(Seattle P-I, 20 July 2008)
State and local governments side with builders on runoff polution(Seattle P-I, 6 July 2008)
Rain Gardens Reign(Stormwater, May 2008)
Why we need to help. Worst case scenario: World's 4th Largest Lake 90% dried up

Green Infrastructure Wiki

ncormier — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 18:10:43 CST

WELCOME TO THE WEB'S LEADING RESOURCE FOR URBAN GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE!

We are confronted daily with evidence of environmental threats and there is no shortage of potential solutions, yet disturbing patterns of isolation and degradation continue to proliferate across the United States and around the world. Clearly, despite all we know, things are only getting worse. If we are to forge a more hopeful relationship between humanity and the environment, we must capture the public imagination in a more fundamental way. Green infrastructure is an emerging paradigm with the potential to hasten this appreciation. Simple decisions about how we provide for our most basic needs add up to profound impacts, so rethinking the composition of our communities is key to regional and global environmental health.

At the metropolitan scale, we need planning that is more dimensional and accessible to support a synthesis of urban and green agendas. A green infrastructure approach repositions the role of nature in and around the city from optional amenity and scenic backdrop to valued purveyor of ecosystem servicesand platform for more compact, vibrant communities. Green infrastructure is the dynamic complex of interdependent systems that animates our cities, and we must grow our capacity to measure and express the performance of these life support systems. Where this is happening, public and private investment flows naturally toward richly layered and interconnected assets that provide multi-functional benefits and enduring value.

At the scale of human experience, we need to inspire a profound shift in our aesthetic appreciation of the built environment. If we are to transform abstract green goodwill into broad adoption of truly regenerative results, the underlying performative aspects of sustainable landscapes must find expression in forms as resonant as society’s finest arts and most influential enterprises. Green infrastructure suggests a new breed of ‘high performance landscapes,’ integrating emerging ecological realities and urban infrastructural needs, that could reflect a contemporary ‘aesthetic of performance.’ The hybrid and assembled nature of high performance landscapes requires greater physical complexity and a more tactical, or operational, approach to practice. Resolution of these complex forces in forms that are legible and compelling demands elegant and resilient solutions.

GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE SYSTEMS AND FUNCTIONS
The planning and design framework explored on the Green Infrastructure Wiki is based on 6 interdependent systems that describe the social, circulatory, metabolic, biologic, hydrologic, and geologic functions of green infrastructure in the city. Resources associated with each function, including measures of performance, are collected on a Wiki page. Please add to our understanding about green infrastructure functions on their pages or add a new function (how to add a new function page).

GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE ASSETS
The physical elements that perform functions are a community's green infrastructure assets, and these can range in scale from a single tree to an entire watershed. Most assets can perform more than one function, and through planning and design this multi-dimensional quality can be amplified. Assets are most effective when linked to form a network of green infrastructure. Resources associated with each asset, including planning and design considerations, are collected on a Wiki page. Please share your insights about these assets on their pages or add a new asset (how to add a new asset page).

GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE BENEFITS
A richly connected network of multi-functional green infrastructure assets is a resilient and regenerative source of valuable community benefits, from water quality and climate change mitigation to economic stimulus and public health. Each benefit is introduced on a Wiki page. Please help characterize and refine their accounting on their pages or add a new benefit (how to add a new benefit).

CASE STUDIES AND RESOURCES
Looking for examples of planning and design for healthy cities and high performance landscapes? Metropolitan and region scale examples are catalogued at Case Studies: Planning and Policy. Site scale examples are catalogued here: Case Studies: High Performance Landscapes. Each case study considers system integration and performance and is cross-referenced to relevant functions and assets. Please contribute to the discussion of case studies on their Wiki pages and, most importantly, add new ones (how to add a new case study)! These primary resources, shared by green infrastructure enthusiasts around the globe, are the Wiki's greatest strength. The Wiki also has extensive and growing catalogs of general resources, including related organizations & initiatives, reports & publications, funding sources, and more.

URBAN GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE ONLINE CERTIFICATE PROGRAM
In the spring of 2010, Nate Cormier and Brice Maryman, founders of Green Infrastructure Wiki, launched an accredited certificate program in Urban Green Infrastructure through the University of Washington's College of Built Environments. This 10-credit program is comprised of one quarter each on the planning of urban green infrastructure networks and the design of high performance landscapes. For more information, please visit: http://www.pce.uw.edu/certificates/urban-green-infrastructure.html.

GI Organizations & Initiatives

ncormier — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 18:09:02 CST

Green Infrastructure Community of Practice	a collaborative network of organizations and agencies that are actively involved in promoting and/or implementing the green infrastructure approach
The Conservation Fund	leader in strategic conservation planning; offers case studies, courses, etc. in green infrastructure planning, especially at the regional scale
Green Infrastructure Partnership	BC initiative with water focus; waterbucket is their webzine; lots of canadian news and calculator tools
EPA Green Infrastructure Partnership	EPA focus on stormwater; case studies, benefits, funding, etc.
University of Washington Green Futures Lab	UW research lab of landscape architecture professor Nancy Rottle, ASLA
Green Playbook	guidance and resources to local government on green building, green neighborhoods, and green infrastructure; cool interface
Heritage Conservancy	Pennsylvania preservation organization focused on open space planning, sustainable communities, etc.
Center for Neighborhood Technology	CNT is a creative think-and-do tank that combines rigorous research with effective solutions. CNT works across disciplines and issues, including transportation and community development, energy, natural resources, and climate change.; very cool calculators and tools
Cascadia RGBC Living Site and Infrastructure Challenge	site version of Living Building Challenge
Urban Greenspaces Institute	Mike Houck's Portland NGO; great motto: "In Livable Cities Is Preservation Of The Wild"
ASLA Green Infrastructure Guide	GI resources compiled by American Society of Landscape Architects
MSU Land Policy Institute	Michigan State GI strategies
Casey Trees	urban forest issues in Washington, D.C.
Tree People	integrating urban ecosystems and community engagement in Los Angeles
Sustainable Sites Initiative	A national rating system for sustainable landscapes (not LEED)
Sustainable South Bronx	A community organization in the South Bronx "dedicated to environmental justice solutions through innovative, economically sustainable projects" including GI
TPL Center for City Park Excellence	great resources, especially on economics
CABE Grey to Green Campaign	UK Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment, edgier design take on GI
The Center for Green Infrastructure Design	A unique 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to providing education, research and professional assistance to communities contemplating green infrastructure planning & improving the value, resilience and function of our natural and social environments.
University of Melbourne Green Infrastructure Research Group	university research group focusing on urban elements--green roofs, walls, gardens, street trees, etc.
Sustainable Cities	database providing knowledge and inspiration on the sustainable planning of cities and best practise cases from Danish and international cities
i-SUSTAIN	partners with cities to accelerate urban sustainability
ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability	international association of local governments and government organizations
Pennsylvania Horticultural Society’s Philadelphia Green program	The nation’s largest urban greening program, promoting a "comprehensive approach to revitalizing and maintaining the city’s green infrastructure as a key element in urban renewal."
Solid Ground- Lettuce Link	Creates access to fresh, nutritious and organic produce, seeds, and gardening information for families with lower incomes in Seattle.
International Living Building Institute	The Living Building Challenge defines the most advanced measures of sustainability possible today and diminishes the gap between current limits and possible solutions.
Alliance for Community Trees	The Alliance for Community Trees (ACT) is dedicated to improving the environment where 80% of Americans live- cities, towns and metropolitan areas. Together, local ACT member organizations have planted 15 million trees with help from 10.7 million volunteer hours nationwide.

GI Benefits

ncormier — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 17:49:31 CST

Attractive cities and communities
Green infrastructure provides complex amenities to support great livable cities and promotes social cohesion and equity.

Ecological Goods and Services (EGS)
EGS are the natural processes that maintain a sustainable life support system. The concept of EGS is gaining recognition as we come to terms with the need to recognize natural resources and natural areas for the value that they give us. EGS includes clean water, fresh air, carbon sequestration, our food and fibers. In considering that the bulk of our economic system is based upon natural resources in our environment, it is becoming more apparent that natural areas and ecological functions perform services for humanity at a cost that is much less than those that we can engineer. Currently, the value of EGS is only captured in be economic framework through the value of the commodity. We need to determine how to recognize our “Natural Capital” into the economic framework. EGS like soil, clean air, fresh water or biodiversity, are not usually reflected in accounting practices - nor are our impacts (i.e. ecosystem degradation) on EGS taken into account.

Green infrastructure reduces corporate and individual resource use and expenditures through transit, biking, walking, gardening, local energy generation, water harvest and re-use.

A tool for valuing ecosystem services: http://www.naturalcapitalproject.org/InVEST.html
A website with news and tracking of ecosystem services markets: http://www.ecosystemmarketplace.com/

Habitat and Biological Diversity
Green infrastructure protects and connects natural habitats, provides for essential flows with ecological "stepping stones" and corridors, reduces barriers such as pollutant sources and altered water regimes. Its principles promote biological diversity – or biodiversity – which is the great variety of life we find on Earth, and the natural patterns it forms. It is the variability among plants, animals and microorganisms and the ecosystems they inhabit. Biodiversity is the diversity within a species, among species, and comparative diversity among ecosystems. Biodiversity includes: Genetic diversity - diversity of genes, of a population or individuals, within a same species; · Species diversity - diversity between species in an ecosystem; · Ecosystem diversity - diversity at higher levels of organization, the variety of ecosystems on Earth.

Human health: Social and psychological well-being and connection to nature
Green infrastructure improve human health through activity, better air quality, contact with nature, etc. The role of green infrastructure in promoting public health, education, and a better quality of life has been discussed in detail in a number of forums. Green spaces and green infrastructures have been examined in terms of post-operative recovery, early years education, and in terms of promoting more cohesive places to live, work and recreate. A large literature exists in Europe outlining the role of green infrastructure in promoting social inclusion and the development of Sustainable Communities especially in high density or post-industrial environments.

As a facilitator of movement for human populations green infrastructure is proposed as a way of motivating, encouraging, and engaging people with the landscapes around them. Consequently, the development of green infrastructure resources that are accessible, connected, and functional spaces can provide cultural, ecological, and psychological between people and the environment. This process has also been debated as encouraging social inclusion and communal cohesion, as well as lowering anti-social behaviour.

An article in the journal The Lancet Effect of exposure to natural environment on health inequalities: an observational population study

The research of the Countryside Agency and Groundwork (2005) in their report the Countryside in and Around Towns (CIAT) outlined ten areas they felt that more appropriate and innovative green space or green infrastructure development could deliver a myriad of benefits for local, regional, and national populations. The areas covered the following themes;

i) A bridge to the country, ii) a gateway to the town, iii) a health centre, iv) a classroom, v) a recycling and renewable energy centre, vi) a productive landscape, vii) a cultural legacy, viii) a place for sustainable living, viiii) an engine for regeneration, x) a nature reserve.

Countryside Agency & Groundwork (2005) A vision for the Countryside in and Around Towns. http://www.groundwork.org.uk/upload/publications/publication3.pdf

Nature Makes Us Nicer People, New Study Says, Treehugger, 10.05.2009

Dangerous by Design from Transportation for America

Environmental and Policy Determinants of Physical Activity in the United States
The Value of Green Infrastructure: A Guide to Recognizing Its Economic, Environmental and Social Benefits
Benefits of Trees and Urban Forests: A Research List by ACTrees

Economic development
First of all green infrastructure stimulates and sustains local economies. The development of inclusionary green infrastructure resources promotes the use of the landscape in economic terms. With a landscapes that is easily accessible and encourages use people start to integrate these areas into their daily lives. These spaces subsequently offer economic opportunities for developing small business or innovation. Green infrastructure also contribute to the health of a population lowering the need primary medical care, and promoting a healthier working population who take less days of work.

Education
The landscape can be used extensively to promote by outdoor living and schooling for all age groups. The outdoor classroom has been a key innovation in Scandinavia teaching for young children allowing them to learn through play and an active engagement in the landscapes that surround them.

Local and global climate
Green infrastructure reduces cooling energy needs, mitigates heat island, sequesters carbon in soil and vegetation, etc.

M: Metabolic System

ncormier — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 20:15:39 CDT

DESCRIPTION
This system consists of elements and flows related to our energy supply, food supply, and waste disposal.

METABOLIC FUNCTIONS

Energy production and consumption: an optimally functioning metabolic system should produce energy. But that energy should also be consumed in an efficient way that minimizes energy loss.

Food production: the calories we create to sustain ourselves is a more basic type of energy. Localized food production is an important part of reconnecting with the natural world and creating a sustainable food delivery system.

Recycling , upcycling and reuse: we need to look at our energy and materials system functions as a closed-loop system, where recycling and reuse are just as important and encouraged as production and consumption. This is an approach that Bill McDonough and Michael Braungart call cradle to cradle. In contrast with our current cradle to grave system of manufacturing and resource consumption, they advocate a production system that continuously “upcycles” materials, so that extraction occurs once and then the raw materials are used again and again.

Material production

PERFORMANCE METRICS

Greenhouse gases (GHG) production: in 2008, the IPCC said that climate change was anthropogenic—that is, climate change is caused by human beings. Almost all of the energy we consume results in emissions of green house gases. If both our planet and our culture are to survive, we should be looking at new ways to either reduce our energy consumption or change our means of powering our societies. Either of these changes will result in a reduction in GHG production.

Improvement of air quality: particulate matter is responsible for respiratory diseases around the developing world and here at home and a significant portion of the air pollution in the country is caused by the creation and consumption of energy. This pollution has immediate impacts. In a national study that examined the exposure to particulate matter to life expectancy, researchers found a direct correlation between a reduction in exposure to particulates in the air and longer life spans.

Recycling rates: it is the ways in which we reuse materials already within the stream of production and consumption. One of the easiest measures for this is the rate of recycling. A number of European countries hover at around the 50% mark for recycling of waste materials.

VMT (Vehicle Miles Traveled): VMT was a measure for the circulatory system, we should also be looking at it as a measure of the metabolic system. One thing to note is that VMT in the US has increased at 5 times the rate of population since the 1970's, largely due to lifestyles, sprawl and cheap fuel. So while fuel efficiency is a laudable and achievable goal, even achieving the controversial C.A.F.E. standards of 35 MPG by 2020 will not make up for the increased driving.

Energy Consumption per Capita: the overall energy consumption of the average American far outstrips most of the other countries on earth. This is the model that we have known for so long: that as GDP rises, so too does consumption. And it is the great challenge of our time. Because if we can decouple wealth from consumption then we will have cracked the code on how to make a sustainable metabolic system that is equitable, ecological and while preserving our innate desire to promote a better standard of living for the next generation.

Local food avalaibility: the USDA has defined local food as food within a 400 mile radius of a given municipality (or approximately a day’s travel). This will not only connect us to place, but will also ensure that we reduce our energy consumption overall.

Others:
Renewable energy sources
Climate impact
Carbon footprint
Sequestration of carbon
Amount of energy produced

CASE STUDIES: PLANNING AND POLICY

METABOLIC SYSTEM RESOURCES

U.S. Department of Energy: Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy http://www.eere.energy.gov/#
U.S. Department of Energy: Carbon Sequestration Program http://fossil.energy.gov/sequestration/
Carbon Footprint http://www.carbonfootprint.com

The University of Pittsburgh recently conducted a life-cycle analysis of LED streetlights and found that they were best in terms of "brightness, energy efficiency, life span, cost, and environmental impact."

Industrial Ecology / Eco-Industrial Parks / Industrial Symbiosis:
Characterized by combinations of land conservation, shared energy resources, recreational amenities, easy highway and rail access, a residential component and – on varying levels – a commitment from stakeholders to apply sustainable practices throughout their businesses, eco-industrial developments operate, Andreas Koenig observes, as "industry behaving like an ecological system."
Complete article & information here.
EcoIndustry website: EcoIndustry: Sustainable Solutions for Urban and Industrial Development

CASE STUDIES: HIGH PERFORMANCE LANDSCAPES
Devens, MA Eco-Industrial community, with more info here including a site map.
After serving as the Army's New England Headquarters for 79 years, Fort Devens was closed in 1996. MassDevelopment currently provides municipal services, education, environmental protection and the infrastructure improvements to convert the former military installation into a planned community. Devens has become a national model for military base reuse.

The Maplewood Community Eco-Industrial Partnership Project (Maplewood Project) is a highly innovative and unique planning project within a mixed use waterfront community.

Overview and directory of Eco-Industrial Parks across North America:

Research and Development of Eco-Industrial Districts:
International Society for Industrial Ecology: resources, research and conferences towards sustainable development with industries and communities worldwide.

Research/education resources on Industrial Ecology/Eco-Industrial development

Eco-Industrial blog:
http://www.eco-industrial.org/

Industrial Symbiosis Research Symposium at Yale: Advancing the Study of Industry and Ecology (Yale Center for Industrial Ecology)

ECO-Industrial Parks; A strategy towards Industrial Ecology in Developing Countries (Deutsche Gesellschaft für
Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH)

Living Buildings Could Inhale City Carbon Emissions, CNN, 16 oct 2011

C: Circulatory System

ncormier — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 11:22:19 CDT

DESCRIPTION
This system consists of the elements that connect our communities and move people and goods into, out of, and around the region. The circulatory system also connects elements of other green infrastructure systems.

CIRCULATORY FUNCTIONS

Pedestrian mobility: includes the provision of sidewalks, but also “Deep Walkability" (concept of author Alex Steffen): increasing the prevalence of and reducing barriers to walkability.

Bicycle mobility: bicycling is one of the most efficient modes of transportation around, using just a fraction of the energy that is needed to move other vehicles like a car or plane. And since they are relatively compact and lightweight, bicycles are less resource intensive than other modes.

Transit mobility: transit use has long been known to have two significant and positive benefits. (1) Most cities are too spread out to be effectively navigated solely on bicycle or on foot, but transit allows those modes to flourish by providing a means to make longer distance connections. (2) By aggregating trips, transit allows us to decrease our overall energy consumption.

Transport of goods: one of the underpinnings of our current economic model is the fast, efficient transport of goods across long distances. A fleet of trucks, trains, boats and planes make these services possible and their movement accounts for a significant portion of our economic output and jobs. The landscapes associated with these activities are vast. How these needs are met in cities can have an enormous impact on the performance of their green infrastructure systems.

PERFORMANCE METRICS
Evaluation of the connectivity, physical connections as sidewalks, cycle routes, canal towpaths, trails, etc. that allow people to reach their destinations; percentage of people getting around without a car; reduction of carbon footprint.

Transportation GHG reduction: another measure of the strength of urban green infrastructure’s circulatory system is green house gas (or GHG) emissions from the transportation sector. If we can reduce GHG’s or improve the propulsive technologies of automobiles like hybrid and plug-in vehicles, then GHG’s will decrease.

Health care cost reductions: Another indicator of circulatory system success should be a noted reduction in the cost of health care. It was showed that the ways that cycling and walking save money for each kilometer travelled: in the United States, using 2007 dollars, we save 12 cents for bicycling and 30 cents for walking. We can look at a model developed by Stokes, MacDonald and Ridgeway (2008) as a way to quantify public health cost savings from a new light rail system in Charlotte, NC. Based on estimates of future riders, the increased physical activity and reduced obesity rates, the researchers “estimate that the light rail system would provide cumulative public health cost savings of $12.6 million over nine years.”

Pollutant removal: in a better functioning circulatory system, we need to look at reduced pollutant loading from the transportation sector. Affecting both our air and our water, the extent of our use of certain transportation modes and the amount that we use them will dramatically impact the amount of pollutants that we contribute to larger planetary systems.

Accessibility is a key term that refers to the ease of reaching destinations. To measure accessibility is important to know the travel cost. In modes of transport such as walking or cycling is important to include factors as safety or gradient. It is also important to consider people with disabilities.

Recently, researchers at the St. Louis University School of Public Health's Prevention Resource Center, funded by a Robert Wood Johnson Active Living grant, created a community check list to evaluate whether your community is healthy or not. You can view it here:http://prc.slu.edu/iafc.htm.

Health Impact Assessments (HIA) are an emerging tool for planners and public health officials to measure the potential effects a policy or project will have on human health. An HIA is similar to an Environmental Impact Assessment, however there is no regulatory requirement, it focuses exclusively on health, and reports can vary in length. To date there have been 26 HIA's conducted in the United States that meet the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) assessment criteria and methodology. In an ideal world the CDC would like to see more HIA's published in public health literature for researchers to learn from others methodologies. However, these assessments can often be resource intensive.

So what does this mean for planners and designers who want design healthy communities and do not have the time to conduct labor intensive assessments? The CDC recognizes that the HIA is a scientific tool, but it can also be adapted to a desktop tool such as the NACCHO checklist and LEED ND points that focus on human health for designers to reference during the design process.

Health Impact Assessments (HIA) Website by the Centers for Disease Control

CASE STUDIES: PLANNING AND POLICY

CASE STUDIES: HIGH PERFORMANCE LANDSCAPES

CIRCULATORY SYSTEM RESOURCES

Moving Communities Forward, a project by theAmerican Institute of Architectsand theCenter for Transportation Studies
USGBC, CNU and NRDC's compelling report onPublic Health and the Built Environment (PDF). This is a great report that summarizes some of the correlations between the built environment and human health.
Health Impact AssessmentBlog
WalkScore: a very cool mash-up that measures the walkability of your neighborhood
Neighbourhood Environments and Resources for Healthy Living—A Focus on Diabetes in Toronto
Green Highways Partnershiphttp://www.greenhighways.org/
Street Films: Lessons from Bogota (ped streets, rapid bus, cyclovias, etc.)
FHWA Eco-Logical Grant Program
Integrating HIA into EIA processes by Rajiv Bhatia and Aaron Wernham
Institute of Transportation Engineers
San Francisco'sBetter StreetsProgram
Rails to Trails Conservancy'sActive Transportation for Americareport
New York City'sWorld Class Streets(by Gehl Architects) andSustainable StreetsPlans
Greening Mass Transit and Metro Regions
NYC Sustainable Streets Plan -websiteandPDF
Active Transportation Alliance
Car-Free Census Database
SF Turning Street into Plaza
Active Transportation for America's document The Case for Increased Federal Investment in Bicycling and Walking
Virginia Outlaws the cul-de-sac(Washington Post, 22 March 2009)
Rethinking Congestion by Brian D. Taylor
Planning Complete Streets for Aging America
Cyclocentric manifesto: the bicycle as a trojan horse for sustainability, Dreams on Wheels, 2009
NYC2: Cycling, Price Tags 108, 2009
The Economic Benefits of Walking by the Victoria Transportation Policy Institute
Designing Roads that Guide Drivers to Choose Safer Speeds by John Ivan of UConn
Greenways Foundation
Re-invented urban space in Curitiba, Brazil. "Sing a song of cities;" Jaime Lerner on TED.com. March 2007. Bus transit, green consciousness, and changing what's possible in the tangled metropolitan landscape.
US Access Board Proposed Accessibility Guidelines for ROW. 26 July 2011
Pedestrian and Bicycle Infrastructure: A National Study of Employment Impacts
Designing Walkable Thoroughfares: A Context Sensitive Approach by Institute of Transportation Engineers
Portland Neighborhood Greenways presentation, September 2011 and a video version
Model Design Manual for Living Streets, Los Angeles 2011

Bench

onlinedev — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 09:09:42 CDT

DEFINITION
Broadly defined, a bench is a structure designed and built to provide a place for people to sit. Typically they provide seating for 2-4 people. Some benches are made from materials found in the location where they are installed (for example, benches made out of branches or tree trunks) while others are made commercially.

AKA
Seat, outdoor furniture, park bench, garden bench, etc.

RELATED FUNCTIONS
Benches primarily allow for social interaction, and may increase social acceptance/inclusion and improve the strength of social connections.

Benches can be artistic expressions and add to the visual interest of a place.

Benches can also be incorporated into many high performance landscapes, even ones that are not aimed at addressing the social system. For example, benches can be built in nature reserves (biological system) to encourage visitors to observe the natural environment.

PERFORMANCE CRITERIA
Criteria for bench design include desired seating capacity and the desired goal of the bench, for example to provide a place to rest, or a place to observe a specific sight.

The performance of a bench include the number of users and if the goal of the bench has been successful.

Fundamentally however, a bench needs to be comfortable in order to fulfill its primary objective, to provide a place for people to sit. Benches that are unused because of discomfort have failed.

ILLUSTRATION

Typical Bench:

Artistic bench:

CASE STUDIES
links to planning and policy case studies (metropolitan scale) or high performance landscape case studies (site-scale) documenting specific places or projects where this asset is a key feature

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bench_%28furniture%29

See Also

Planting Pots This is a great way of making your own organic planting pots. The final product (ie the pots) are great for your small plants.
Garden Swings A wide range of Garden swing and slide sets made from durable wood, metal and plastic.
Gardening Benches Simply Garden Furniture stock a huge range of garden furniture including wooden, metal, teak and resin outdoor furniture, garden benches.
Garden Covers A fully comprehensive range of waterproof garden furniture covers to fit most outdoor furniture

GI Reports & Publications

ncormier — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 11:44:00 CDT

Journal of Conservation Planning

2005-present

premier refereed journal for strategic conservation planning

Urban Habitats

2003-present

online journal of biology of urban areas

The Natural Choice: Securing the Value of Nature

2011

UK cataloging and accounting of ecosystem services, especially economic value

Liverpool Green Infrastructure Strategy

2010

A detailed inventory of GI assets and an Action Plan for Liverpool, England.

Smart Green Infrastructure: How to Grow Sustainable Cities

2010

video interview with Andy Lipkis of TreePeople, discussing LA as watershed

Water Quality Scorecard: Incorporating Green Infrastructure Practices at the Municipal, Neighborhood, and Site Scales

2009

urban applications and scoring system for diverse GI features focused on stormwater

Siting Green Infrastructure: Legal and Policy Solutions to Alleviate Urban Poverty and Promote Healthy Communities

2009

article by Alexandra Dunn in Boston College Environmental Affairs Law Review regarding legal and policy approaches to getting more GI in distressed neighborhoods

2009

report from the British group CABE

A Triple Bottom Line Assessment of Traditional and Green Infrastructure Options for Controlling CSO Events in Philadelphia's Watersheds

2009

Stratus Consulting for City of Philadelphia

Green Infrastructure: connected and multifunctional landscapes

2009

Britain's Landscape Institute position paper

Biodiversity and Green Infrastructure in Urban Landscapes

2008

report by Swede Ulf Sandstrom; in book format

Green Infrastructure Report to the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution

2006

report on conditions of green infrastructure in UK by David Goode

Green Infrastructure Planning Guide

200X

planning guide from North East Community Forest, University of Manchester on Tyne, and others

Green Infrastructure: Linking Landscapes and Communities

2006

the classic book by Benedict and McMahon

Green Infrastructure Plan Evaluation Frameworks

2005

important study comparing planning approaches; by McDonald, Benedict, et al.

Infraestructura Verde y Nuestros Parques ("Green Infrastructure & Our Parks")

2005

report on green infrastructure view of Puerto Rico's national parks

How cities use parks for Green Infrastructure

2003

APA City Parks Forum Briefing Paper by Ed McMahon and Mark Benedict

Growing with Green Infrastructure

2003

report by Karen Williamson of the Heritage Conservancy

Ergonomics of the City: Green Infrastructure and Social Benefits

2003

report from National Urban Forest Conference by Kathleen Wolf, University of Washington urban forest guru

Washington: City in the Woods

2003

draft report by Glenn Eugster, NPS, describing a green infrastructure approach for metro DC

Green Infrastructure: Smart Conservation for the 21st Century

2002

Benedict and McMahon's original report based on courses at the Conservation Leadership Network, lays out green infrastructure planning basics

Metropolitan Ecosystem Action Plan

1998

draft findings and recommendations by Glenn Eugster outlining strategies for growing communities to protect environmental assets; early advocacy for green infrastructure

Case Studies: Planning and Policy

pajno — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 13:55:15 CDT

UNITED KINGDOM (UK) - resources include case studies and more detailed discussions of GI resources

Over the last 12 months there has been a major upturn in the number of organisations, Local Authorities and NGO’s using GI or GI principles to underpin their policies. Work by The Landscape Institute, Natural England, Green Infrastructure North West and a number of sub-regional agencies have produced guidance and robust evidence to support the use of GI. This progress has been particularly clear in Local Government where despite a decrease in overall funding for open space or GI the benefits of GI (multi-functionality, conservation, access and connectivity) have led to new resources being developed and existing resources being enhanced.

London, Cambridgeshire, the North West and the Midlands have been leading the development and utilisation of GI at a regional, sub-regional and local level. What they have all identified is that the breadth of GI thinking can allow planners to use it to meet the challenges of growth. Thus, housing, transport infrastructure and economic development can, and have, all been reviewed in terms of GI development to inform the creation of integrated GI plans.

A number of these developments can be seen in the documentation below:

UNITED STATES

H.R. 4202 Green Infrastructure for Clean Water Act of 2009

Alaska

Homer

Homer Suitability Map
Kansas

Greensburg

City of Greensburg's Comprehensive Sustainable Plan
Kansas City

Kansas City's Mid-America Regional Council (MARC) MetroGreen Initiative
Maryland

Baltimore

Baltimore County's Forest Sustainability Project

Missouri
St. Louis metropolitan Area

Great Rivers Greenway District

Michigan
Oakland County

Oakland County's Green Infrastructure Program
New Jersey
Edison

Edison Smart Growth Planning Summit
Oregon
Metro

The Intertwine
Portland

The EcoDistrict Initiative
Portland Stormwater Discount Program
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania Stormwater BMP Manual

Virginia
The Virginia Energy Plan

Washington
Lake Forest Park

Lake Forest Park Green Infrastructure Plan
Seattle

Re-imagining Seattle Streets

WATER SYSTEM PLANNING AND PROGRAMMATIC CASE STUDIES

need to sort all of these and give them each a page...

Prince George's County, MD Green Infrastructure Plan

GreenWays Initiative for Southeast Michigan(describes plan for a green infrastructure around Detroit)

Cincinnati, OH Green Infrastructure Engineering and Planning(mostly focused on water and site scale, may move to our water system page)

On the Water, Palisade Bay, New York City(a coastal infrastructure network to confront climate change, careful... a 400MB download, but worth it)

Urban Planning for a Quality Dense Green Structure, Stockholm Sociotop Map and Park Programme

Re-Imagining Seattle Streets: planting strips and street edge treatments for urban green infrastructure (Nancy and students at UW)

Bad links:
Puget Sound Partnership's LID resources:http://www.psp.wa.gov/our_work/stormwater/lid.htm
LIUDD Policy Report from New Zealand
Planning Sustainable Communities: A Green Infrastructure Guide for Milton Keynes and the South Midlands, England
GI Guide for British Columbia, Canada
GI applied in North East England

Seattle Green Factor

kdyson — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 19:37:07 CDT

PROJECT PARTNER(S)
City of Seattle Department of Planning and Development

LOCATION
Seattle WA USA

GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE ASSETS
Permeable paving, green roofs, vegetated walls, preservation of existing trees, and layering of vegetation along streets

See the following link to the City of Seattle, Department of Planning and Devlopment Green Factor Home Page:
http://www.seattle.gov/dpd/Permits/GreenFactor/Overview/

DESCRIPTION
The first of its kind in the US, Seattle Green Factor provides a flexible approach to building the city’s green infrastructure through development regulation. Basing its requirements on amount of functional systems rather than adherence to rigid standards is an innovative but untested approach, with unknown outcomes. (Functional Landscapes: Assessing Elements of Seattle Green Factor, the Berger Partnership, 2008)

The Green Factor system is designed to encourage larger plants, permeable paving, green roofs, vegetated walls, preservation of existing trees, and layering of vegetation along streets and other areas visible to the public. Bonuses are provided for food cultivation, native and drought-tolerant plants, and rainwater harvesting. (City of Seattle DPD)

Green elements in the landscape improve air quality, create habitat for birds and beneficial insects, and mitigate urban heat island effects. They also reduce stormwater runoff, protecting receiving waters and decreasing public infrastructure costs. (City of Seattle DPD)

Green Factor currently applies to new development in commercial and neighborhood commercial zones outside of downtown, and is proposed for multifamily residential zones and the South Downtown planning area. (City of Seattle DPD)

PHOTOS AND DRAWINGS

LESSONS LEARNED

See the Following:
Functional Landscapes: Assessing Elements of Seattle Green Factor, the Berger Partnership, 2008 http://www.seattle.gov/dpd/cms/groups/pan/@pan/@permits/documents/web_informational/dpdp016505.pdf Seattle Green Factor - Improving Green Infrastructure, Parcel by Parcel - Liz Stenning and Susie Philipsen, University of Washington, Dept of Landscape Architecture - 2008 http://greenfutures.washington.edu/powerpoints/Seattle_Green_Factor_Stenning_Philipsen.pdf

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
links, other sources of info about this case study

Sudgelande nature park

kdyson — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 19:35:02 CDT

PROJECT PARTNER(S)
recognize principal authors or stewards of the place or project

LOCATION
Germany, Berlin

GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE ASSETS
Park

DESCRIPTION
The area was a former switchyard. It was unused during the cold war period, about 40 years. Instead of developing that community decided to transform it into a nature park. The project is absolutely amazing: was the rails were left, the vegetation is wild and the biodiversity is remarkable. Passages were built over the soil, there are many trails to walk, exercise. There are some interesting places to play, sit and relax. The old buildings and even a locomotive are open for visitors.

PHOTOS AND DRAWINGS

LESSONS LEARNED
Communities can avoid development is areas that have biodiversity and ecological value. It shows that is possible to look for opportunities for derelict areas to be used as public parks for recreation and relax. The real estate value of the area has increased. This is part of the Berlin tourist attractions.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
http://www.bi-suedgelaende.de/html/english.html; http://draco.hfwu.de/~wikienfk5/index.php/Naturpark_S%C3%BCdgel%C3%A4nde;

Goodwill-Milgard Living Wall

kdyson — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 19:26:40 CDT

PROJECT PARTNER(S)
Designer: Patrick Blanc

LOCATION
Tacoma, Washington

GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE ASSETS
Living Wall

DESCRIPTION
A small (800 square feet) living wall in Tacoma on the Milgard-Goodwill building.

PHOTOS AND DRAWINGS

LESSONS LEARNED
Most plants are thriving, however a few are not doing well. The maintenance is done with a cherry picker twice a year.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
http://tacomagoodwill.org/about/mwoc/living-wall/
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/pacificnw/2010642515_pacificplife10.html?cmpid=2628

Wetlands

kdyson — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 19:05:35 CDT

DEFINITION
Wetlands are areas where water covers the soil, or is present either at or near the surface of the soil all year or for varying periods of time during the year, including during the growing season. Water saturation (hydrology) largely determines how the soil develops and the types of plant and animal communities living in and on the soil. Wetlands may support both aquatic and terrestrial species. The prolonged presence of water creates conditions that favor the growth of specially adapted plants (hydrophytes) and promote the development of characteristic wetland (hydric) soils.

Wetlands vary widely because of regional and local differences in soils, topography, climate, hydrology, water chemistry, vegetation, and other factors, including human disturbance. Indeed, wetlands are found from the tundra to the tropics and on every continent except Antarctica. Two general categories of wetlands are recognized: coastal or tidal wetlands and inland or non-tidal wetlands.

Many of these wetlands are seasonal (they are dry one or more seasons every year), and, particularly in the arid and semiarid West, may be wet only periodically. The quantity of water present and the timing of its presence in part determine the functions of a wetland and its role in the environment
(www.epa.gov)

AKA
Wetlands have been categorized both as biomes and ecosystems. Wetlands include Swamps, Marches, Bogs, Flooded grasslands and savannas, Ripiarian zones an Sloughs.

PERFORMANCE CRITERIA
Wetlands (either natural or man-made) have five primary functions:

1) Water quality improvement - Plants (especially their root systems) slow the flow the water, allowing sediment to 'drop' out. Micro-organisms absorb excess nutrients. In some states, man-made wetlands are constructed in some small scale wastewater treatment plants. They serve to 'polish' (e.g. nutrient or sediment removal) the effluent in the final stage of the treatment process.

2) Floodwater storage - Wetlands are nature's way of providing storing excess flood waters. According to the USGS, At the time of European settlement in the early 1600's, the area that was to become the conterminous United States had approximately 221 million acres of wetlands. About 103 million acres remained as of the mid-1980's (Dahl and Johnson, 1991). ... By the 1960's, most political, financial, and institutional incentives to drain or destroy wetlands were in place. The Federal Government encouraged land drainage and wetland destruction through a variety of legislative and policy instruments. For example, the Watershed Protection and Flood Prevention Act (1954) directly and indirectly increased the drainage of wetlands near flood-control projects (Erickson and others, 1979). The Federal Government directly subsidized or facilitated wetland losses through its many public-works projects, technical practices, and cost-shared drainage programs administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (Erickson, 1979). Tile and open-ditch drainage were considered conservation practices under the Agriculture Conservation Program--whose policies caused wetland losses averaging 550,000 acres each year from the mid-1950's to the mid-1970's ... The effects of the Federal policy reversal on the rate of wetland loss are not clear. Estimates indicate that wetland losses in the conterminous United States from the mid-1970's to the mid-1980's were about 290,000 acres per year (Dahl and Johnson, 1991). This is about one-half of the losses that occurred each year in the 1950's and '60's. The preceding numbers do not include degraded or modified wetlands. Although the estimate above reflects a declining rate of loss, land development continues to destroy wetlands. From about 1987 to the present, Federal efforts to restore wetlands have increased. Although there is no precise number for all of the wetland acres restored, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (1991) estimated that between 1987 and 1990 about 90,000 acres were added to the Nation's wetland inventory.(Source: Dahl, Thomas E. and Allord, Gregory J.Technical Aspects of Wetlands: History of Wetlands in the Counterminous United States)

3) Fish & wildlife habitat -According bto the US`EPA, More than one-third of the United States' threatened and endangered species live only in wetlands, and nearly half use wetlands at some point in their lives. Many other animals and plants depend on wetlands for survival. Estuarine and marine fish and shellfish, various birds, and certain mammals must have coastal wetlands to survive. Most commercial and game fish breed and raise their young in coastal marshes and estuaries. Menhaden, flounder, sea trout, spot, croaker, and striped bass are among the more familiar fish that depend on coastal wetlands. Shrimp, oysters, clams, and blue and Dungeness crabs likewise need these wetlands for food, shelter, and breeding grounds. For many animals and plants, like wood ducks, muskrat, cattails, and swamp rose, inland wetlands are the only places they can live. Beaver may actually create their own wetlands. For others, such as striped bass, peregrine falcon, otter, black bear, raccoon, and deer, wetlands provide important food, water, or shelter. Many of the U.S. breeding bird populations-- including ducks, geese, woodpeckers, hawks, wading birds, and many song-birds-- feed, nest, and raise their young in wetlands. Migratory waterfowl use coastal and inland wetlands as resting, feeding, breeding, or nesting grounds for at least part of the year. Indeed, an international agreement to protect wetlands of international importance was developed because some species of migratory birds are completely dependent on certain wetlands and would become extinct if those wetlands were destroyed.

4) Aesthetics - According to the US EPA, Wetlands have recreational, historical, scientific, and cultural values. More than half of all U.S. adults (98 million) hunt, fish, birdwatch or photograph wildlife. They spend a total of $59.5 billion annually. Painters and writers continue to capture the beauty of wetlands on canvas and paper, or through cameras, and video and sound recorders. Others appreciate these wonderlands through hiking, boating, and other recreational activities. Almost everyone likes being on or near the water; part of the enjoyment is the varied, fascinating lifeforms; and

5) Biological productivity - According to Earthplatform.com, Wetlands are some of the most biologically productive natural ecosystems in the world, and are comparable in their productivity and diversity of species, to tropical rain forests and coral reefs. Abundant vegetation and shallow water provide diverse habitats for fish and wildlife. Aquatic plant life flourishes in the nutrient-rich environment, and energy converted by the plants, is passed up the food chain to fish, waterfowl, and other wildlife and to people as well. In this way, the wetlands are supporting valuable commercial fish and shellfish industries.

ILLUSTRATION

CASE STUDIES
Waterworks Gardens, Renton
Meadowbrook Pond, Seattle
Tezozomoc Park, Mexico City
Xochimilco Ecological Park, Mexico City

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

US EPA

US Global Change Research Program's statement of some of the ways that wetlands sequester carbon
Lal, R., "Soil Carbon Sequestration Impacts on Global Climate Change and Food Security," Science304: 1623-7 (2004)

Amthor, J.S., Dale, V.H., Edwards, M.T. et al., "Terrestrial Ecosystem Responses to Global Change: A Research Strategy," ORNL Technical Memorandum, 1998/27, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge Tennessee (1998)

Wetlands, The Encyclopedia of the earth

Allotment Garden

kdyson — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 18:49:28 CDT

DEFINITION

An allotment garden is a piece of land that is set aside for gardening, and is divided up into plots that are each gardened by an individual or family or other small group. Allotment gardens may have association fees and by-laws that members must follow.

AKA
Compare allotment gardens to a community garden, where the entire plot of land is gardened by the community.

RELATED FUNCTIONS

Some functions of allotment gardens include:

Social system -- allotment gardens can improve individual and community health. For example, they provide a constructive social activity for people to participate in and produce healthy vegetables.
Metabolic system -- locally growing vegetables helps reduce miles traveled for food.
Biologic system -- green urban patches can act as corridors (or stepping stones) for bird species. Pollinators such as bees and butterflies also benefit from allotment gardens.

PERFORMANCE CRITERIA

Design and performance criteria for allotment gardens include: number of families/individuals participating, pounds of vegetables/fruits produced, and pollinator populations or number of birds observed.

ILLUSTRATION

CASE STUDIES
links to planning and policy case studies (metropolitan scale) or high performance landscape case studies (site-scale) documenting specific places or projects where this asset is a key feature

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Allotment gardens in the Philippines
Allotment gardens in Europe
German allotment gardens as a model for Africa

GI Assets

kdyson — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 18:45:55 CDT

SITE SCALE
Allotment Garden, Backyard Habitat, Bench, Blue Roof, Cistern, Compost, Bike Box, Bike Lane, Bioswale, Community Garden, Constructed Wetland, Drypond, Filter Strip, Green Roof, Hedgerow, Intersection Repair, Irrigation Living Wall, Oyster Filter, Play Area, Porous Pavement, Public Art, Ponds, Rain Garden, School grounds, Sharrow, Sidewalk, Sports pitches, Stormwater Channel, Stormwater Planter, Streetside Garden, Street Tree, Treebox, Urban plaza,Urban Agriculture, Wetpond, Wildlife Crossing, Woonerf,

METROPOLITAN SCALE
Algal-power Landscape, Bicycle Boulevard, Blueway, Complete Street, Community Garden, Compost, Decentralized Energy, Green Alley, Greenbelt, Greenway, Guerrilla Garden, Habitat Corridor, Junk Space, Liminal Space, Municipal Plaza, , Naturemapping, Park, Pedestrian Street, Pocket Park, Residential Landscape, Riparian Corridor, Schoolyard, Square, Third Place, Trail, Transit, Urban Forest, Urban Wild, Waste Landscape, Waterfront, Wetlands, Woonerf, Workplace,

REGIONAL SCALE
Decentralized Energy, Farm, Forest, Greenbelt, Greenway, National Park, Ranch, Reservoir, Shoreline, Trail, Transit, Wetlands,

Woonerf - Terry Avenue, Seattle

ElenaHG — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 20:06:07 CDT

PROJECT PARTNER(S)
Seattle Department of Transportation with Seattle Department of Planning and Development

WEINSTEIN A|U
Gustufson Guthrie Nichol Ltd
SvR Designs
EnviroIssues

LOCATION
Terry avenue, Seattle, WA

GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE ASSETS
Woonerf, Sidewalk, Porous pavement

DESCRIPTION
The Terry Avenue North street-design guidelines, which cover a six-block stretch linking downtown to Lake Union, radically depart from the standard American approach to traffic design. Instead of segregating vehicles and pedestrians, the project aims to encourage people to share a single travel lane with slow-moving cars. “We’re breaking some conventions here,” says Lyle Bicknell, the city’s urban-design project manager for Terry Avenue North.
The intent of these design guidelines is to take advantage of Terry Avenue North’s low vehicle use, location, width and history and to create a pedestrian oriented street in Seattle’s South Lake Union neighborhood.

Two key principles guided the design team: visual continuity linking pedestrian and car zones, and a lateral rather than linear approach to how people will use the street. “You’re not walking along a channelized conduit for people alongside a channelized conduit for vehicles,” says landscape architect Shannon Nichol, founding partner of Gustafson Guthrie Nichol and a consultant on Terry Avenue North. “You’re walking through a series of spaces that extend across the whole width of the street.”
CREATE A FUNCTIONAL RIGHT-OF-WAY THAT...
• Allows all of the existing and potential land uses, including their associated access, loading and parking
• Accommodates all modes of transportation including the proposed streetcar
• Promotes low vehicle speeds and discourages through traffic
• Is safe for pedestrians, bicycles and vehicles
• Is accessible for all people, including those with disabilities
• Is durable and maintainable
• Incorporates utilities efficiently and in a way that will accommodate future needs
• Allows for incremental development
• Provides a balance between right-of-way functions with environmental priorities

CREATE A GREAT PLACE THAT...
• Retains a unique character based on its history, industrial uses, topography and views
• Emphasizes pedestrians, and amenities for pedestrians
• Makes natural systems both multifunctional and visible where possible
• Uses sustainability in materials and systems

PHOTOS AND DRAWINGS

LESSONS LEARNED
what can we learn from this place? you could address issues of performance, funding, maintenance, interpretation, aesthetics, anything...

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Terry Avenue guidelines PDF

Interpretive Trail

kdyson — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 19:16:30 CDT

DEFINITION
A trail or walking path designed to provide exercise, access to nature and educational opportunities for participants. Many popular trails are focused on environmental education and host school group tours as well as the general public.

Interpretive trails can also provide the participant with insight into the ecology, history, geology and archeology of the area.

AKA
Interpretive trail, Environmental Education Trail, Nature path

RELATED FUNCTIONS
Well designed, low-impact educational trails can provide an opportunity for exercise, direct contact with nature, information and educational opportunities, open space, and protected habitat for wildlife

PERFORMANCE CRITERIA
Performance can be measured by criteria such as: quality of plant/wildlife habitat adjacent to the trail system, diversity of wildlife, degree of impact resulting from human use, number of visitors utilizing the trail (and number of schools), accessibility (ADA), maintenance and upkeep, and degree of behavior change resulting from exposure to education.

ILLUSTRATION

A sign on an interpretive trail.

CASE STUDIES
Kennedy Creek Salmon Trail

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
other weblinks, books, articles, etc. related to this element
In the United States, the civil war era military parks (Shiloh, Vicksburg, Chickamauga & Chattanooga, etc ...) usually include some sort (either walking or driving) opportunity for the visitor to relive history.

Habitat Corridor

kdyson — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 19:10:02 CDT

DEFINITION
Note: Special thanks to Taushia Copeland, whose paper forms the armature of this page.

The word “corridor” can be easily misused and improperly defined. Beier and Noss (1998) provide the defi nition of a habitat corridor as: a linear habitat, embedded in a dissimilar matrix, that connects two or more larger blocks of habitat and that is proposed for conservation on the grounds that it will enhance or maintain the viability of specific wildlife populations in the habitat blocks. The importance of a habitat corridor can only come from the core habitat that it is connecting. Corridors rely on a matrix of existing but discontinuous natural areas to realize their full potential (dechant).

In most urban areas, the wildlife habitat that does exist is rarely connected and therefore creates a dangerous environment for there are no opportunities for safe migration and little, if any biodiversity which is essential in creating any sustainable habitat.Corridors are essential to any species for every species is required to migrate for survival. This graph shows how when migration decreases, the extinction line increases. This graph was developed by Robert MacArthur and Edward O. Wilson as a tool to explain the importance of habitat corridors within their conception of landscape ecology. Without corridors and diverse landscape available to species, extinction rates increase exponentially. With natural disasters such as fl ood and fi res, wildlife need options if their current habitat is destroyed. The landscape is considered to be a sea of habitat islands and the only way to bring them together is through connectivity brought by corridors.

Fleury and Brown (1997) began initial work on developing spatial/structural pattern metrics to understand the needs of various species to move through corridors. Their studies were important. For example, width to length is more important than width alone, and design and quality can be just as important. While the size and dimensions of corridors have not been determined as an exact science, we have learned the rough understanding of what certain sizes and types of species require with a habitat corridor. Corridors are usually divided into two main categories: riparian corridors as in rivers and streams, and on hard surface as in a hedgerow or road verge.

Corridors have human function such as barriers for property lines and landscape elements. Tree lined sidewalks also create a safety environment for pedestrians and slows down traffic. Corridors are positive for humans directly with these previously stated reasons, and also indirectly by increasing biodiversity and helping wildlife survive. Implementation is easy as long as there is support for connecting two areas of green space for corridors already exist within our urban systems, they just have to be converted into habitat corridors and supported by the public.

AKA
Riparian Corridor, Greenbelt,

PERFORMANCE CRITERIA
how is it measured? what are the criteria for its design or planning?

ILLUSTRATION

A habitat corridor through agricultural lands:

CASE STUDIES
links to separate pages documenting specific places or projects where this element is on display

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Fleury, A. M., and R. D. Brown.” A framework for the design of wildlife conservation corridors with specific application
to southwestern Ontario.” Landscape and Urban Planning 37:163-186: 1997.

MacArthur, Robert and Wilson, Edward O. The Theory of Island Biogeography. Princeton, N.J., Princeton University
Press: 1967.

Pickett, S. T. A., and M. L. Cadenasso. “Landscape Ecology: Spatial Heterogeneity in Ecological Systems.” Science
269:331-334: 1995.

www.de-chant.com
www.kottke.org
www.math.dundee.ac.uk
www.sciencemag.org
www.wildlands.org

Green Roof

kdyson — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 18:46:40 CDT

DEFINITION

A green roof is a layered system consisting of a waterproof membrane, a drainage mat, a root barrier, growing medium, and plants. Each of these layers should be selected with long-range performance in mind. The media and plant layers protect those below from wind, steep temperature fluctuation, and UV light degradation. Because of the exposure of the plants and media to wind and sun, evaporation of water occurs. Likewise the plants transpire moisture into the air. Both of these actions help cool the roof. The downside to evapotranspiration is that extreme moisture loss will harm or retard plant growth. Plants are an important part of the green roof layer because they hold media in place. Plants, as living things, require light, water, macro and micro-nutrients to survive. Plantings on green roofs should be chosen for the environment in which they are to grow and survive. A key concept is to promote slow to moderate growth, so that during the dormant winter period plants are in balance with their root systems.

Green roofs will never look like a putting green or highly maintained lawn, nor should they. Extensive green roofs will have shallow soil layers (4-6 inches) and are highly porous. They rapidly drain internally so that the support system for the roof will not be overloaded. The problem with such a scenario is that plants must be able to take such dry conditions. It is recommended that temporary irrigation be employed so that the plants have thoroughly filled the media and maximize their ability to take up water. This may take 2-3 years. Media mixes should not have clay fractions. The fine particles in clay will migrate through the media and plug drainage mats and root barriers. This is problematic too, because the surface of the small clay particle hold quite a bit of water and clay will supply some nutrients as it breaks down over time.

Most of the work in supplying moisture and nutrients is in a silt-sized and larger organic fraction, usually compost. Unfortunately compost will break down in a short time and in 4-5 years could be nearly eliminated. Dead tops and roots of the plantings are supposed to replace the organic matter when compost disappears. Right now we have no idea of the turnover rates of organic material in green roofs. Also, without the addition of nitrogen-fixing plants such as legumes into the planting palette, a lack of nitrogen (a critical macronutrient) may limit growth. Green roofs should not have to be fertilized because they are billed as low-maintenance. In the long run, a lack of critical micronutrients may also become a limit to healthy growth. We simply have not had a long enough experience with maintenance of green roofs to know what will happen in the long run.

Remember that green roof plantings and media represent a human created assemblage and ecosystem. We must think like an ecosystem to ensure low maintenance, yet functional green roof plantings.

In new construction, vegetated roofs serve two primary functions. First, they can lessen the heat island effect. Dark roofs (i.e. Solar Reflective Index less than 29) absorb most of the solar radiation that falls on them during the day time and release it back into the atmosphere during the night. Thus raising the average ambient temperature. Vegetated roofs, as well as some types of conventional roofing materials, absorb less heat. Second, Through the process of infiltration, vegetated roofs can absorb a limited amount of rainfall. During a rain event, the amount of stormwater runoff is lessen and reduces the impact on the environment.

AKA
vegetated roof, ecoroof, roof garden, extensive green roof, intensive green roof

PERFORMANCE CRITERIA
area, soil depth, vegetation cover, years planted
ASLA green roof monitoring data:http://www.asla.org/press/2007/release091907.html

LEED for 2009: New Construction and Major Renovations (published by the U.S. Green Building Council) suggests using using green roofs as one of the potential strategy for gaining points that can be used in the quest to certify a building.
Three potential sub-categories (all included under the major category of Sustainable Sites) include:

Credit 6.1 - Stormwater Design-Quantity Control;
Credit 6.2 - Stormwater Design-Quality Control; and
Credit 7.2 - Heat Island Effect-Roof.

The document is available at http://www.usgbc.org/showfile.aspx?documentid=5546.

ILLUSTRATION

Diagram:

In practice:

Arlington's Walter Reed Community Center (photo courtesy Arlington County):

BC Marriott Green Roof (photo courtesy pnwra):

CASE STUDIES

Hawthorne Hostel, Portland
Cedar River Watershed Education Center, Cedar Falls
Pioneers Park Nature Center(includes green roof video), Omaha

New Harbor, Malmo
Sidwell Friends Middle School, Washington, D.C.
Washington Mutual Roof Garden, Seattle
ASLA Green Roof, Washington, D.C.
California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, California
Grass Lawn Park, Redmond, Washington
Parque de cabecera, Valencia, Spain

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
http://greenroofs.wordpress.com/great green roof blog. from Australia, but examples from around the globe

A firm by the name ofCTGcan help analyze the mitigating impacts green roofs will have on local temperatures. From the CTG website, the following figure illustrates the potential impact green roofs can have for one sample site. For years, urban observers have documented an “urban heat island,” which is the increased ambient temperature caused by extensive paving, hot roof surfaces and other urban development. Typical temperature rises are on the order of 8-10 degrees. This contributes to increased air conditioning use, increased peak electricity demand (+2% for every 1°F rise in temperature) and increased smog (+3% for every 1°F rise in temperature).

Green Roofs for Healthy Cities, the Green Roof Industry's Trade Asccociation, just released a new tool called theGreenSave Calculatorthat will let professionals evaluate the future. It looks like a pretty great tool.

Portland Bureau of Environmental Services Ecoroof Page

ASLA has recently releaseda book on green roofs as part of its LATIS series.
http://greenroofs.org/
http://greenroofs.com/
www.greenroofs.net
www.greengridroofs.com
http://www.greenroofplants.com/
http://roofmeadow.com/
ECOROOFS (GREENROOFS) – A MORE SUSTAINABLE INFRASTRUCTURE
The Pomegranate Center'sHomeowner Green Roof Guide

The Pennsylvania State University Center for Green Roof Researchhttp://web.me.com/rdberghage/Centerforgreenroof/Home.html )
Casey Trees Study for Green Roofs in DC
Urban Natural Resources Institute January 2008 Webinar
City of Portland's Ecoroof Plant Report
Green Roof Tree of Knowledge (GRTOK)
Green Roof's Sequester CO2

Greenbelt

kdyson — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 18:41:24 CDT

DEFINITION
A land use designation or policy designed to protect the natural environment and limit development within urban environments and protect rural areas from being developed be neighboring cities. These areas strive to improve air quality and provide recreational and educational opportunities as well as protecting the natural habitat for native plants and animals.

AKA
In the US, this idea is similar to the Urban Growth Boundary

PERFORMANCE CRITERIA
how is it measured? what are the criteria for its design or planning?

ILLUSTRATION

Staten Island Greenbelt map:

CASE STUDIES
links to separate pages documenting specific places or projects where this element is on display

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Staten Island Greenbelt
Ottowa Greenbelt