SAFE, LLC - Stormwater Management

Stormwater Management

Stormwater Management

Stormwater runoff from construction activities can have a significant impact on water quality. As stormwater flows over a construction site, it can pick up pollutants like sediment, debris, and chemicals and transport these to a nearby storm sewer system or directly to a river, lake, or coastal water. Polluted stormwater runoff can harm or kill fish and other wildlife. Sedimentation can destroy aquatic habitat, and high volumes of runoff can cause stream bank erosion. Debris can clog waterways and potentially reach the ocean where it can kill marine wildlife and impact habitat.

Green Infrastructure

Green infrastructure is an approach to wet weather management that is cost-effective, sustainable, and environmentally friendly. Green Infrastructure management approaches and technologies infiltrate, evapotranspire, capture and reuse stormwater to maintain or restore natural hydrologies.

Pervious Concrete (sometimes referred to as Permeable or Porous concrete) is a unique, cement-based product that has a porous structure allowing rainwater to pass directly through the concrete into the soil. It is also referred to as "no fines" concrete because it is manufactured by leaving out the sand or "fine aggregate". Using Sufficient paste to coat and bind the aggregate particles together creates a system of highly permeable, interconnected voids that drains quickly. Water can pass through pervious concrete at an incredible rate of 3-5 gallons per minute, per square foot.

How Does Green Infrastructure Benefit the Environment?
Green Infrastructure is associated with a variety of environmental, economic, and human health benefits, many of which go hand-in-hand with one another. The benefits of green infrastructure are particularly accentuated in urban and suburban areas where green space is limited and environmental damage is more extensive. Green infrastructure benefits include:

Reduced and Delayed Stormwater Runoff Volumes
Green infrastructure reduces stormwater runoff volumes and reduces peak flows by utilizing the natural retention and absorption capabilities of vegetation and soils. By increasing the amount of pervious ground cover, green infrastructure techniques increase stormwater infiltration rates, thereby reducing the volume of runoff entering our combined or separate sewer systems, and ultimately our lakes, rivers, and streams.

Enhanced Groundwater Recharge
The natural infiltration capabilities of green infrastructure technologies can improve the rate at which groundwater aquifers are 'recharged' or replenished. This is significant because groundwater provides about 40% of the water needed to maintain normal base flow rates in our rivers and streams. Enhanced groundwater recharge can also boost the supply of drinking water for private and public uses.

Stormwater Pollutant Reductions
Green Infrastructure techniques infiltrate runoff close to its source and help prevent pollutants from being transported to nearby surface waters. Once runoff is infiltrated into soils, plants and microbes can naturally filter and break down many common pollutants found in stormwater.

Reduced Sewer Overflow Events
Utilizing the natural retention and infiltration capabilities of plants and soils, green infrastructure limits the frequency of sewer overflow events by reducing runoff volumes and by delaying stormwater discharges.

Increased Carbon Sequestration
The plants and soils that are part of the green infrastructure approach serve as sources of carbon sequestration, where carbon dioxide is captured and removed from the atmosphere via photosynthesis and other natural processes.

Urban Heat Island Mitigation and Reduced Energy Demands
Urban heat islands form as cities replace natural land cover with dense concentrations of pavement, buildings, and other surfaces that absorb and retain heat. The displacement of trees and vegetation minimizes their natural cooling effects. Additionally, tall buildings and narrow streets trap and concentrate waste heat from vehicles, factories, and air conditioners. By providing increased amounts of urban green space and vegetation, green infrastructure can help mitigate the effects of urban heat islands and reduce energy demands. Trees, green roofs and other green infrastructure can also lower the demand for air conditioning energy, thereby decreasing emissions from power plants.

Improved Air Quality
Green infrastructure facilitates the incorporation of trees and vegetation in urban landscapes, which can contribute to improved air quality. Trees and vegetation absorb certain pollutants from the air through leaf uptake and contact removal. If widely planted throughout a community, trees and plants can even cool the air and slow the temperature-dependent reaction that forms ground-level ozone pollution (smog).

Additional Wildlife Habitat and Recreational Space
Greenways, parks, urban forests, wetlands, and vegetated swales are all forms of green infrastructure that provide increased access to recreational space and wildlife habitat.

Improved Human Health
An increasing number of studies suggest that vegetation and green space - two key components of green infrastructure - can have a positive impact on human health. Recent research has linked the presence of trees, plants, and green space to reduced levels of inner-city crime and violence, a stronger sense of community, improved academic performance, and even reductions in the symptoms associated with attention deficit and hyperactivity disorders. One such study discusses the association between neighborhood greenness and the body mass of children.

Increased Land Values
A number of case studies suggest that green infrastructure can increase surrounding property values. In Philadelphia, a green retrofit program that converted unsightly abandoned lots into "clean & green" landscapes resulted in economic impacts that exceeded expectations. Vacant land improvements led to an increase in surrounding housing values by as much as 30%. This translated to a $4 million gain in property values through tree plantings and a $12 million gain through lot improvements.