In October, I wrote about some of our concerns with Philadelphia’s highly-lauded green infrastructure plan, now codified in their Green Streets Design Manual. This plan has received more praise and recognition than any other citywide green infrastructure policy that I’m aware of (here are a few examples). I’m thrilled to see a major green infrastructure… More
Last year, The Kestrel Design Group developed a formula for the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency to estimate evapotranspiration benefits from trees to include in their stormwater crediting system. This formula is one of the first – or possibly the first – in the country to formally quantify this benefit. I spoke to Nathalie Shanstrom, a landscape architect… More
In the seven years that the Silva Cell has been on the market, a number of cities have designated it as an approved technology for their sustainability goals, whether for tree growth, on-site stormwater management, or both. Here is a list of all the places, organized by state/province, that include it in their policies.
For the last two weeks in December I’ll be re-posting some of my favorite blog posts from this year. Today’s post discusses a big metric that is missing from the evaluation criteria American Forests used in assessing their “10 Best Cities for Urban Forests” list released earlier this year. – LM A few weeks ago, non-profit… More
As of this summer, Raleigh, NC now requires a minimum of 600 cubic feet of soil for all street trees planted in the right of way for new developments. Their new Street Design Manual outlines this requirement, and the design methods available for achieving it, in section 6.18, page 82-86.
In 2009, Toronto became the first city in North America to establish a bylaw requiring green roofs of new development. This bylaw has now been in effect for nearly four years; applies to new building permit applications for residential, commercial, and institutional developments of greater than 2,000 square meters. Recently, Toronto expanded their Eco-Roof program… More
A large-canopy tree is a very beautiful thing. On this, most people will agree. But is not only beautiful—it also benefits its community. It provides shade and shelter, protects air quality, and reduces air temperatures, water runoff, and human stress. A street lined with such trees is a desirable place to live and work, and… More
Philadelphia has received a great deal of praise for its commitment to using green infrastructure techniques and its 25-year Green City, Clean Waters plan “to protect and enhance our watersheds by managing stormwater with innovative green infrastructure.” But the city’s draft Complete Streets Handbook, released by the Street Department and Mayor’s Office of Transportation and… More
In August, Seattle released their Urban Forest Stewardship Plan, the first comprehensive update to the previous Urban Forest Management Plan (2007) that set the goal of increasing Seattle’s tree canopy cover to 30 percent by 2037. The 2013 Plan is broken up in six sections: guiding principles and integrated approach, the importance of Seattle’s urban… 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
We recently learned that Tigard, OR, a town of about 48,000 people that is part of the Portland metro area, has implemented an impressive soil volume minimum for trees planted in streets and parking lots: up to 1,000 cubic feet of soil per tree.
This article is the first of a series that aims to plant innovative, inspiring, and actionable seeds in the realms of community-building, art, and arboriculture. These seeds will be planted by providing readers with information on funding programs and opportunities for environmental projects alongside discussion of related concepts/projects in contemporary art. What will grow exactly… More
Soil. Stormwater. Sustainable Infrastructure.
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