Today’s guest post is from Nathalie Shanstrom, a sustainable landscape architect with the Kestrel Design Group. It’s a little science-y, but still very readable. If you’re not a stormwater geek, don’t be deterred – there’s a lot of great information in here. -LM While bioretention has been shown to be very effective for removing total… More
This video from Tree People reminds me a little bit of Annie Leonard’s “The Story of Stuff,” except it’s about the role of trees in green infrastructure.
I’ve been reading Chip & Dan Heath’s Made to Stick, a book about why some ideas succeed and others fail. It’s fascinating. It’s also very, very funny. And it’s made me think a lot about how we communicate about green infrastructure and the importance of trees, soil and stormwater in our cities and towns. Fundamentally, everyone’s… More
Development necessarily creates giant swaths of constructed areas that have no unifying ecosystem. It also disturbs existing natural areas that are part of the natural cycling of water, minerals, chemicals, plants and animals. Yet despite these complications, density is valuable in terms of impact mitigation on a per-person basis, as least as far as pollutant… More
This post is written by Katrina Marland and originally appeared on Loose Leaf, the blog of American Forests. American Forests has had a lot to say over the years about the relationship between forests and water. From protectingsourcewater to managing overflow in cities to advocating for forests’ integration into the Clean Water Act. And of course, we’ve been planting… More
Man, those Torontonians! They continue to impress us with their aggressive green infrastructure policies. Back in January of 2010, Toronto became the first North American city to make installing green roofs on new commercial, institutional, and multifamily residential developments compulsory – now that requirements will apply to industrial developments as well.
A combined sewer overflow (CSO) – the “the discharge of wastewater and stormwater from a combined sewer system directly into a river, stream, lake or ocean” – sounds bad enough. But have you ever seen one?
Phytoremediation is the use of green plants and their associated microorganisms to stabilize or reduce inorganic and organic contamination in soils and surfacewater or groundwater. In other words, the process of using trees and other plants as biological filters. It is also a key component of what we mean when we talk about ecosystem services… More
Last month’s Landscape Architecture Magazine had an interesting feature by Mike Singer. The article, titled “Are We Done Yet? Measuring for a project’s success is keeping clients and designers engaged well after installation,” explores an emerging trend in the field: extended contract periods to address the long-term success and performance of the site’s landscape.
New York has an ambitious Green Infrastructure plan, and lately their enhanced bioswales have gotten additional attention. These five foot by twenty foot planters look great from street level, so why do I feel uneasy about them?
Back in March, we introduced our Stormwater Schematics for the first time. Last week’s webinar reminded me that I want to make sure everyone knows about these as they consider how they want to use the Silva Cell on their site. The Stormwater Schematics (look under the Standard Details, Specifications, & Schematics section) are there to help designers… More
Back in August 2010, Silva Cells were installed to create a bioretention planter at the Casey Trees headquarters. Now, the good folks at that same organization have added an information panel to explain how the system works.
Soil. Stormwater. Sustainable Infrastructure.
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