“CNT’s Water program is embarking on very exciting and very important work over the next two years, and we’re extremely pleased to have Ryan on board to shape and implement our initiatives,” said Harriet Festing, CNT Water program director.

Ryan joins CNT from Conservation Design Forum, a sustainable site design and engineering consultancy, where he lead planning and design for demonstrations of urban green infrastructure. Among his most successful projects are the first phase re-development of the Woodlawn Center South neighborhood and the Industrial Corridors Stormwater Basin Planning, one aspect of the Chicago Sustainable Strategies Initiative. Ryan is actively involved in the research and design of innovative green infrastructure practices as landscape architect for The Plant, Chicago’s vertical farm and food business incubator. He is also a design educator with Archeworks, a non-profit design and build school that utilizes collaboration, prototyping, and community engagement to apply design thinking to issues of social and environmental justice.  Ryan is a registered landscape architect and LEED accredited professional. He received a BLA from the University of Georgia’s College of Environment & Design.

A Green Infrastructure Portfolio Standard would help cities scale up their green infrastructure, especially in urbanized areas in need of stormwater management methods.

For the past year, CNT, in partnership with American Rivers and the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative, has been working with officials in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Grand Rapids, Michigan to develop a new way to manage stormwater in developed urban settings: the Green Infrastructure Portfolio Standard (GIPS). The GIPS pilot program takes a cue from the popular Renewable Portfolio Standard and Energy Efficiency Portfolio Standard policies enacted in many states across the country to encourage renewable energy and energy efficiency use, respectively. The GIPS is intended specifically to help developed areas scale up green infrastructure practices relatively quickly, since stormwater regulations that apply only to new developments or redeveloped sites are inadequate for this purpose.

For too long, stormwater runoff has been treated as a nuisance and a waste to be disposed of, rather than a vital asset to be managed carefully. Cities that thrive in the future will make better use of such important resources, in turn providing more benefits to their residents and businesses and reducing the cost of living and doing business. CNT’s Water Program identifies, develops, and implements creative solutions that make effective use of our water resources. The GIPS program is a perfect example.

Below is a quick update on how the GIPS pilot projects in Milwaukee and Grand Rapids are progressing. Download our GIPS fact sheet for more information.

Grand Rapids
The Grand Rapids GIPS pilot area contains roughly 200 acres of residential, commercial, and industrial properties. Within this area, the City is carrying out several projects to eliminate combined sewer overflows and a state-funded street resurfacing project. These are opportunities for the GIPS team to integrate green infrastructure practices into planned work. The area is primarily in one sewer shed, or drainage area with a single outfall, which makes it easier to measure runoff and track progress in the reduction of both stormwater runoff volume and water pollution.

The Grand Rapids Department of Environmental Services has identified several dozen green infrastructure projects within the project area to implement in the first year, which include street rain gardens with infiltration basins, porous pavement projects on public and private property, and a rain barrel program for residents. The Task Force is in the process of setting annual goals for runoff retention for the next 10 years. An annual goal, for example, could be that the installed green infrastructure retain an additional 1 percent of the runoff from the area that occurs from a one-inch rainfall. That would mean retaining roughly 15,000 more gallons of runoff each year for every 1-inch rainstorm. The Department has also begun developing a written policy committing to this goal and to implementing the GIPS program as a standard procedure.

If Grand Rapids continues the GIPS program as currently planned, it will install enough green infrastructure to reduce the runoff from the project area by at least 20 percent in the next two decades, which will greatly assist in the elimination of the flooding and combined sewer overflows in the area that today result from typical storm events.

Milwaukee
The City of Milwaukee has selected two GIPS project areas located in sewer sheds that drain into nearby waterways with significant flooding issues. These areas already have several completed green infrastructure projects, such as street-side rain gardens or bioswales. The project areas also have potential for future public projects that will incorporate green infrastructure features. Using the City’s Geographic Information Systems (GIS) database, CNT matched the City’s proposed working areas to specific sewer sheds, ensuring that the runoff from the sites can easily be monitored and measured. Next steps for the Milwaukee GIPS include estimating the current runoff volume to create a baseline, identifying green infrastructure projects for the first year of the program, and calculating how much rain those projects will be able to retain. Finally, the City will need to set annual goals for how much rain to keep on-site with future GI installations.

Communities that use water efficiently are communities that are more economically and environmentally resilient. That’s why effective use of our water resources is a cornerstone of CNT’s work.

Green infrastructure, or GI, uses natural systems to infiltrate stormwater into the ground where it falls, helping reduce the amount of stormwater runoff that enters sewers and streams. Rain gardens and pervious pavement are typical examples of green infrastructure. Studies, including CNT’s own research, have shown that green infrastructure is as effective as traditional grey infrastructure—gutters, pipes, and sewers—and much cheaper and faster to implement. CNT advocates that green infrastructure play a much bigger role in stormwater management alongside traditional practices.

The May 29th meeting in Springfield, Illinois, marks the implementation phase of one of the five recommendations made in a 2010 study commissioned by the Illinois General Assembly. The study, conducted by the University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning, CNT, and the Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant Program, outlined how the state can gradually implement green infrastructure by watershed and region. In addition to developing stormwater management performance standards through the newly created working group, the study recommended:

• Initiating a grant program to financially support communities’ implementation of GI projects,
• Devising a GI portfolio standard that would set incremental, multi-year implementation targets for watersheds or counties,
• Revising state revolving loan criteria to prioritize GI projects within water infrastructure financing, and
• Working aggressively with communities and counties to educate officials and developers on the effective use of GI practices.

“With Illinois struggling financially and summer storms right around the corner, this is a critical time to capitalize on green infrastructure’s cost-saving, ecologically effective solutions to devastating floods,” said CNT Water Director Harriet Festing. “We’re thrilled to work with Illinois EPA and other group members to bring green infrastructure and its benefits to communities.”

Photo credit, Thirteen of Clubs, http://www.flickr.com/photos/thirteenofclubs/3105615966/

Did you know that minor water leaks in a typical home can account for more than 10,000 gallons of water wasted every year, or enough water to wash nearly 10 months’ worth of laundry? To address this surprising problem, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has declared this week as “Fix a Leak Week” to remind Americans to check household plumbing fixtures and irrigation systems for leaks.

In cities across the country, Delta Faucet and EPA’s WaterSense program (CNT is a partner) are providing free water-efficiency retrofits to homes. Here in Chicago, more than 100 affordable homes—more than any other city in the country—are receiving water saving improvements.

All of the 106 homes receiving the water upgrades this week have also participated in CNT Energy’s Energy Savers program, which provides efficiency retrofits to apartment buildings. By the end of the week, residents of these apartments will have some of the greenest homes in the area by saving water, as well as energy both from reduced water usage and retrofits.

To learn about simple water fixes you can make at home, check out the EPA’s WaterSense website. To learn about and get involved in the large-scale water efficiency improvements that CNT’s Water program is developing, visit http://www.cnt.org/water/. For more information on improving energy efficiency where you live and saving money on energy costs, visit http://www.cntenergy.org/.

“We are pleased to be working with these two community organizations which are committed to improving the quality of life of their residents,” said Scott Bernstein, CNT’s president. “Each of these communities have specific challenges to address—from developing and implementing plans to address vacant land and blighted property to engaging residents in sustainability planning.”

This technical assistance is made possible by a grant to Project for Public Spaces from the United States Environmental Protection Agency Office of Sustainable Communities under the Building Blocks for Sustainable Communities Program. The Building Blocks program funds quick, targeted assistance to communities that face common development problems.

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“We are pleased to see green infrastructure included in the overall plan to manage our stormwater in the Chicago region,” said Kathryn Tholin, CEO of the Center for Neighborhood Technology (CNT), which has worked for more than a decade to demonstrate the myriad benefits of green infrastructure and foster its widespread use. “The additional investment in green infrastructure dwarfs previous investment in the proven, cost-effective practice, and it will allow the district and others to measure its benefits at a regionwide scale.”

“Despite the positive step forward, the 15-year timeframe for implementing green infrastructure is far too long and should be accelerated,” said Tholin. “Philadelphia and St. Louis, cities smaller than Chicago, have invested much more money in green infrastructure in a much shorter period of time. The beauty of green infrastructure is that we can implement these solutions now and begin seeing positive results in communities long before the Deep Tunnel is complete. Deploying green infrastructure in communities is the quickest, cheapest way to address costly flooding in homes and businesses.”

The research around stormwater management shows that an investment in green infrastructure measures can be as effective as conventional approaches in relieving flooding and managing stormwater, at a lower cost.  In addition, green infrastructure can bring multiple community benefits, reducing water pollution, saving energy, enhancing green space, improving air quality, and increasing home values, to name a few.

CNT has helped demonstrate the benefits of green infrastructure in numerous ways, such as:

• installing 35 green infrastructure demonstration projects throughout Chicago.
• creating the Green Values^TM Stormwater Management Calculator for planners and practitioners to understand the costs and performance of various green infrastructure strategies on specific properties.
• advocating for policies that remove barriers to widespread deployment of green infrastructure and provide funding for communities to implement their own green infrastructure projects.
• developing a guide based on measured results and good engineering practice that allows municipalities to quantify the economic value of green infrastructure’s benefits.

Tree Asset Management in Portland, Oregon is available here.

Why Tree Asset Management
The urban tree canopy has gained broad recognition in recent decades for its contributions to municipalities’ ecological and social well-being. It manages regional stormwater, reduces the urban heat island effect, improves air quality, increases property value, and enhances community livability. However, securing investment dollars to sustain the long-term infrastructure value of urban trees has proved challenging.

To determine the value of trees as infrastructure, cities need to quantify the various services that trees deliver and relate their performance to that of adjacent conventional infrastructure. Cities can translate that performance into long-term asset valuation in order to harness funding that supports and expands the infrastructure service of a tree canopy.

Portland Has Key Elements of Tree Asset Management in Place
Portland already recognizes and measures many of the benefits their trees provide, particularly relating to stormwater, energy, and livability values. But the tree canopy’s difference from conventional infrastructure has so far precluded the classification of trees as capital assets and their eligibility for capital funds, which are the bread and butter of utility investment.

A tree asset management program could fix that. Portland has several key elements in place. It has conducted research that would create the baseline of a tree asset management pilot program, such as tracking tree planting and condition. The city has developed urban forest canopy goals and an action plan that fosters interagency participation. Portland has quantified costs and benefits of the urban canopy, showing that the city enjoys a $3.80 return on every $1 invested. Portland has also already launched a variety of projects and initiatives that could support tree asset management implementation.

Six Steps to Tree Asset Management
Portland is well-positioned to institute a tree asset management program, but any city could institute one. CNT has identified the following six steps a city should take before instituting its own program:

1. Select a handful of sample neighborhoods as pilot areas.
2. Conduct a baseline tree census for those areas.
3. Assuming a 20- or 30-year potential investment life, project the life-cycle asset value of the utility services delivered by trees,  particularly their influence on stormwater management, energy use, and property value.
4. Construct a web-based tool that con­nects inventory data, maintenance, and performance value projections for asset accounting and reporting. An integrated tree asset management tool would serve as an administrative tool for both management and accounting, and would help to encourage public in­volvement and support for tree-based infrastructure services.
5. Report annually on incremental performance and asset value.
6. Evaluate pilot results and tools to determine citywide expansion.

The decision was unveiled in the city budget proposal for 2012 to the Chicago City Council today. Among the new initiatives it puts forward is an increase in the annual fee for water and sewer services. The water fee for property owners would increase by 25 percent next year and would begin to charge institutions, such as CNT, for water services that have historically received those services for free.

CNT’s Vice President of Policy Jacky Grimshaw served on the mayoral transition committee that recommended it to him. “Equitable and accurate rates for usage is essential for both system efficiency and managing long-term operational costs associated with water services in the City,” the transition document states.

As a leader and proponent of stormwater management techniques, such as green infrastructure, CNT and its Water program staff look forward to working with the mayor to ensure innovative, sustainable stormwater management measures are a significant part of the City’s water infrastructure modernization effort.

Wangari Maathai speaks at the Al Raby School for Community and Environment on September 22, 2007 about the importance of rain gardens like the one CNT helped to plant at the school.

We at CNT are saddened to learn of the passing of 2004 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Wangari Maathai, founder of the Green Belt  Movement. CNT was honored to have Ms. Maathai join us at the dedication of one of our first green infrastructure projects, located at the Al Raby School for Community and Environment and named in her honor.

CNT worked with the Al Raby School and the East Garfield Park community in 2007 to install the Wangari Maathai Natural Garden, a native woodland garden at the entrance of the school, located at 3545 West Fulton Boulevard. The project was not only beautiful; it also connected the students to nature by providing a hands-on experience in landscape design, creation, and maintenance.

At the garden dedication, Ms. Maathai drew a connection between the work of the students on Chicago’s West Side to students around the world who “get down on the ground” to plant gardens as a means of making the world more peaceful and just. Ms. Maathai said that the project was a microcosm of what can be repeated globally—from Chicago to Kenya. “It is this type of activity that should be replicated a billion times throughout the world,” she stated as she toured the 1,500 square foot space. Our thoughts and condolences go to her family and to all those who have been touched by her dedication to peace and justice through creating a healthier world, one tree at a time.

View pictures of the dedication and the garden.

Click here for more information about the Wangari Maathai Natural Garden.

Key public, private, and nonprofit stakeholders attended a water infrastructure discussion hosted by CNT.

A CNT event to introduce our refocused water program drew more than 100 stakeholders from the public, private, and nonprofit sectors to the Sidley Austin law firm’s beautiful office in downtown Chicago. CNT CEO Kathryn Tholin and CNT Water Program Director Harriet Festing framed the evening’s panel discussion by describing CNT’s approach to developing sustainability solutions for a wide range of water resource issues.

Festing laid out the water services problem and its complexities. Years of neglect has led to crumbling water infrastructure in the United States, which costs communities millions in lost revenue and damaged property. Infrastructure failure also contributes to flooding, which industry experts estimate cost private property owners in the Chicago region around $150 million in repair costs each year. That flooding also contributes to combined sewer overflows that dump 24 billion gallons of untreated sewage and stormwater into the Great Lakes annually. These issues are interrelated, social, costly, and getting worse.

CNT’s Water program seeks solutions in three distinct ways: by exposing the problem to build a public mandate for change, testing solutions with pilot projects, and advocating policy changes to bring viable solutions to scale.

Clearly, CNT cannot do it alone. Festing turned it over to three panelists with three different perspectives—Alan Heymann of the DC water and sewage authority, Jack Pizzo of Pizzo and Associates, and Bob Newport of US Environmental Protection Agency—who presented their “breakthrough” water services solutions. Some of the ideas included:

• Improved communication with rate payers and citizens about water resources
• Innovative delivery partnerships and alliances with nonprofit and private sectors
• Changing governance structures and better performance reporting by water utilities
• Changing regulation to allow for new technologies in water resource infrastructure, such as green infrastructure.

A lively Q&A session followed, with audience members posing questions about Chicago’s Deep Tunnel project, bottled water, grassroots action, and incorporating innovation into how cities meet their legal obligation. To see how the CNT Water program might incorporate these ideas into its work, sign up for our monthly newsletter.