Sustainable Principles for Land Development

Sustainable design isn’t about doing something neat, it’s about doing something right.

Today, we will discuss

• Green Goals

• Ecosystems & Ecosystem Services and Products

• Air Quality

• Soil Quality

• Water Quality

• And a smattering of best management practices

Sustainable DevelopmentA Definition

Licensed by the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 2.0

Green GoalsEnvironmental

GreenhouseGasEmissions

WaterQuantity

WaterQuality

AirQuality

BiodiversityNaturalResources

Energy

Green GoalsSocial

Cultural

CommunityHealth

Equity

Green GoalsEconomic

Cost Savings

Cost Neutral

Cost Additive

Best Management Practices (aka BMPs)Two Types

N

Best Management Practices (aka BMPs)Over 200 BMPs for Land Development

• Social Goals

• Stormwater Quantity &Quality/Non-Infiltration

• Stormwater Quality/Non-Infiltration

• Stormwater Quantity &Quality/Infiltration

• Conveying Stormwater

• Restoration

• Transportation

• Landscapes

• Water Use

• Source Control

• Erosion Prevention-SourceControl

• Non-Stormwater Requirementsfor the 1200C Permit

• Erosion Prevention & SedimentControl - Runoff Control

• Erosion Prevention

• Sediment Control

• Materials

• Siting Considerations

• Construction Management

• Operations & Maintenance

• Urban Food

Generic BMP Example

Drink Local Organic Beer

Steps to a Sustainable Development

Operations &Maintenance

Construction

Design

MasterPlanning

Non-structural BMPsIntegrated Design Teams

Parts of an Ecosystem

Copied from http://www.fws.gov/invasives/volunteersTrainingModule/invasives/plants.html

Ecosystem Products & Services

Air

Non-structural BMPsShade south facing walls

Non-structural BMPsShade air conditioners

Non-structural BMPsChoose Good Materials

Courtesy of Willamette Graystone

Non-structural BMPsSalvage Materials

Non-structural BMPsRecycle Construction Materials

Non-structural BMPsReduce lawns

Structural BMPsNative Plants

Structural BMPsNative Plants

Soil

Image taken from the NRCSUrban Soils Primer

Soil

Image from Soil QualityInformation Sheet, U.S.

Department of Agriculture

Non-structural BMPsLimit Compaction

Non-structural BMPsRestore Soil

From EPA Acid Rain Student Site

from Soils for Salmon website

The Hydrologic CycleA Definition

The continuous movement of water through everything.

The Water Balance ModelWater Quantity Before

9.5” interflow(infiltration)

14

”e

vap

o-

tra

nsp

irat

ion

0.1” runoff

37

”ra

infa

llye

arl

ya

vg

13

.5”

gro

un

dw

ate

r(i

nfil

tra

tion

)

The Water Balance ModelWater Quantity After

0” baseflow(infiltration)

red

uce

de

vap

o-

tra

nsp

irat

ion

35” runoff3

7”

rain

fall

yea

rly

avg

2”

eva

po

-tr

an

spir

atio

n

Re

du

ced

infil

tra

tion

Impervious SurfacesA Watershed Perspective

The Water Balance ModelWater Quality Before

Some sediment

The Water Balance ModelWater Quality After

Sediment (air particulates)Feces

Other debris

Sediment/turbidityHydrocarbonsHeavy metals

Other chemicals

Sediment/turbidityfertilizerspesticidesherbicides

Non-structural BMPsSave a Tree

Courtesy of Fortis Construction

Non-structural BMPsReduce impervious surfaces

Non-structural BMPsLimit Disturbance

Non-structural BMPsConservation Development

“The Primrose” in Texas Hill Country

Oleson Woods Apartmentsin Tigard, OR

Structural BMPsOverland Flow/Daylighting

Impervious SurfacesA Watershed Perspective

Structural BMPsInfiltration and Water Quality

Water quality benefits of infiltration techniques from the “National Pollutant Removal Performance Database for Stormwater TreatmentPractices” Center for Watershed Protection, June 2000

Pollutant InfiltrationSW Wet-

land Wet Pond Filtering WQ Swale Dry Pond

Total Phosphorus 70 49 51 59 34 19

Soluble Phosphorus 85 35 66 3 38 -6

Total Nitrogen 51 30 33 38 84 25

Nitrate 82 67 43 -14 31 4

Copper N/A 40 57 49 51 26

Zinc 99 44 66 88 71 26

Total SuspendedSolids

95 76 80 86 81 47

Structural BMPsPervious surfaces, types

Courtesy of Fortis Construction

Courtesy of MGH Associates

Structural BMPsPervious surfaces, myth or reality?

• Look ma! No runoff!

Structural BMPsPervious surfaces, benefits

Courtesy of Cahill Associates

POROUS ASPHALT IN 1- 2” LIFT

UNCOMPACTED SUBGRADE

NON-WOVEN PROPYLENE GEOTEXTILE

9” 3/8”–

5/8” WASHED CRUSHED AGGREGATE

3”

Green Girl Motto“Sustainable design isn’t about doing something neat, it’s about doing something right.”

Structural BMPsVeg infil facilities

Structural BMPsUnderground infiltration facilities

Non-structural BMPsSource Control

RELATIONSHIP OF FISHACTIVITY TO TURBIDITY

TIME (LOG 10)

TU

RB

IDIT

Y(L

OG

10)

Structural BMPsSource Control in Construction

Photo excerpted from “BMPs forStormwater Discharges Associatedwith Construction Activities”, DEQ,Feb 2006

Structural BMPsSource Control in Construction

Photos and study and text excerpted from “BMPs for Stormwater Discharges Associated with Construction Activities”, DEQ, Feb 2006

Non-structural BMPsSource Control Post Construction

Non-Structural BMPsHave fun

Incentives & Certifications

• Portland’s Clean River Rewards

• BETC

• Salmon Safe

• Cascadia GBC Living BuildingChallenge

• Earth Advantage SustainableCommunities

• USGBC LEED

• HBA Build-It Green

• ASLA Sustainable Sites (future)

Thank You!

Sustainable design isn’t about doing something neat, it’s about doing something right.