I’ve discussed using trees and soils (green infrastructure) to manage stormwater in two recent webinars. This is a rich and complex topic, so to help break it down into digestible pieces I organize it in to what I call the First Principles of Urban Stormwater Systems. Those first principles are listed in the illustration above…. More
A study recently published in Urban Forestry & Urban Greening presents data showing that trees planted in paving can significantly reduce stormwater runoff. The results, published by D. Armson, P. Stringer, and A.R. Ennos, are taken from data collected in Manchester, UK from January 2011 to September 2011. The study created 5 test sites, each containing three 9… More
Last month, I read an article about the merits of starting small when it comes to stormwater harvesting projects. The article started with the statement that some cities that have evaluated stormwater harvesting have concluded that the investment is too large relative to the benefits. It then goes on to examine the town of Wrightsville… More
I spent a good part of last winter completing a literature review on bioretention media for a revision to the Minnesota Stormwater Manual. So when I attended the Low Impact Development (LID) conference in St. Paul, MN earlier this month, I was very interested to learn of a recent specification coming out of New Zealand:… More
LEED version 4 (V4) is the fourth and latest iteration from LEED (Leadership Environment, Energy & Design), a rating system developed by the U.S. Green Building Council and independently certified by the Green Building Certification Institute. The primary mission of LEED is to encourage the marketplace to provide sustainable buildings, sites, and neighborhood development using… More
Randy Neprash has been a champion of using trees for urban stormwater management for longer than almost anyone else we know. A water resources engineer and stormwater regulatory specialist for Bonestroo, now Stantec, Randy is also the technical consultant for the Minnesota Cities Stormwater Coalition, an organization of about 120 Minnesota cities that are regulated… More
Back in December 2012, we reported the first preliminary results of Stormwater Treatment Performance Monitoring by Dr. William Hunt, Jonathan Page, and Ryan Winston, of two Silva Cell Systems in Wilmington, North Carolina. Final results and statistics are expected later this summer. In the meantime, preliminary results are so promising that we want to share… More
There are some individuals drawn to the comfort of indoors, fed by books and stories of adventures from arm’s length in their armchairs. I am not among them. Having been given a diagnosis of “terminal wanderlust,” I have always felt more comfortable under the open sky rather than under a roof. The sizable amount of… More
In the world of Low Impact Design (LID), the terms raingarden and bioretention are often used interchangeably. However, there are some inferred differences between these two LID practices. These differences were highlighted during recent work with the Washington Department of Ecology, which designated Silva Cell as functionally equivalent to a bioretention facility.
(Read “Rise of the Curb Cut: Part 1 here). The fundamental behavior of stormwater in curbs and street design is simple. Each creature, each inanimate object, each molecule of everything functions and abides by its simple and powerful law every day: gravity. From this basic concept, direct parallels can be drawn between the design elements… More
Before anyone is lost to their thoughts or misgivings about the title of this post, this is not a piece on Germany in World War II or military strategies. Rather, this is about how odd parallels can be drawn between streets and nature, the built environment and natural one, and how an understanding of history… More
The Silva Cell has officially been designated as an approved equal for bioretention facilities by the Washington State Department of Ecology. Designers and engineers who want to incorporate Silva Cells in to their projects can now refer to the official document, Using the Western Washington Hydrology Model (Version 4.0) to Size Silva Cells for Runoff… More
Soil. Stormwater. Sustainable Infrastructure.
Request a Quote [email protected]
Tel: 415 781 9700
Toll Free: 800 458 7668
Toll Free: 800 277 7668
Fax: 415 781 0191
