10/4/2012

1

ARCH 1250

APPLIED ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES

CLASS SIX

SITE BIOLOGY

John Seitz, RA, LEED APAdjunct Assistant Professor

Professor Paul C. King, RA, AIA, ARAAssistant Professor

LECTURE SIX

SITE BIOLOGY

ARCH 1250

APPLIED

ENVIRONMENTAL

STUDIES

NYC COLLEGE

OF TECHNOLOGY

is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms

Biology

OVERVIEW

VEGETATIVE

STRUCTURES

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Ernst Haeckel, Tree of Life, 1866

10/4/2012

2

LECTURE SIX

SITE BIOLOGY

ARCH 1250

APPLIED

ENVIRONMENTAL

STUDIES

NYC COLLEGE

OF TECHNOLOGY

is the scientific study of the relations that living organisms have with respect to each other and their natural environment

Ecosystem - the complex of living organisms, their physical environment, and all their interrelationships in a particular unit of space

Ecology

OVERVIEW

VEGETATIVE

STRUCTURES

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LECTURE SIX

SITE BIOLOGY

ARCH 1250

APPLIED

ENVIRONMENTAL

STUDIES

NYC COLLEGE

OF TECHNOLOGY

Plants =

food

nutrition

medicine

healthwell-being

thermal comfort

paper

clothing

lumberclean water

clean air

bio-fuels

OVERVIEW

VEGETATIVE

STRUCTURES

UNBUILT

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CHALLENGES

STRATEGIES

10/4/2012

3

LECTURE SIX

SITE BIOLOGY

ARCH 1250

APPLIED

ENVIRONMENTAL

STUDIES

NYC COLLEGE

OF TECHNOLOGY

Biodiversity

Biodiversity is the degree in variation of life forms across ecosystems, biomes and the planet.

Maintains reservoirs of genetic diversity essential to agricultural practice.

The Irish potato blight of 1846 caused the death of over 1 million people because only

two varieties of potato were grown across the country and they were both vulnerable to the blight.

Provides a resource for medicine and the development of new drugs.

80%of the world’s population depends upon medicine from nature

50% of US pharmaceuticals are derived from plant compounds

Under assault from climate change, development and food production.

30% of world’s plant and animal species face a medium to high certainty of extinction this century.

OVERVIEW

VEGETATIVE

STRUCTURES

UNBUILT

BUILT

CHALLENGES

STRATEGIES

LECTURE SIX

SITE BIOLOGY

ARCH 1250

APPLIED

ENVIRONMENTAL

STUDIES

NYC COLLEGE

OF TECHNOLOGY

Translates as “love of life” and is increasingly used by sustainable designers to describe our inherent preferences for natural

environments. There are a number of “bio-philic” design elements that are central to sustainability and

which support our well-being.

Change

DelightNurtureCaptivate

Biophilia

OVERVIEW

VEGETATIVE

STRUCTURES

UNBUILT

BUILT

CHALLENGES

STRATEGIES

10/4/2012

4

LECTURE SIX

SITE BIOLOGY

ARCH 1250

APPLIED

ENVIRONMENTAL

STUDIES

NYC COLLEGE

OF TECHNOLOGY

OVERVIEW

VEGETATIVE

STRUCTURES

UNBUILT

BUILT

CHALLENGES

STRATEGIES

LECTURE SIX

SITE BIOLOGY

ARCH 1250

APPLIED

ENVIRONMENTAL

STUDIES

NYC COLLEGE

OF TECHNOLOGY

The living structure of the unbuilt environment has been shaped by access to resources and adaptation over millions of years, largely self-sustaining. Characterized by biodiversity, ecological productivity is 100% solar driven

• Canopy, understory, ground plants

Vegetative Structure

OVERVIEW

VEGETATIVE

STRUCTURE

UNBUILT

BUILT

CHALLENGES

STRATEGIES

Forest, North Carolina (image © 2009 John Seitz )

10/4/2012

5

LECTURE SIX

SITE BIOLOGY

ARCH 1250

APPLIED

ENVIRONMENTAL

STUDIES

NYC COLLEGE

OF TECHNOLOGY

OVERVIEW

SELECTION & BOUNDARIES

ANALYSIS and MAPPING

PROGRAMMING and INTEGRATED DESIGN

CLIMATE

PRODUCTIVITY & BIODIVERSITY

MAINTENANCE

INTRO TO TERM PROJECT

NEXT CLASS

Understanding how natural plant communities have evolved helps us shape the design of not only our site plantings, but also our site and buildings.

Types of Plant Communities

SavannahRain Forest Temperate Forest

LECTURE SIX

SITE BIOLOGY

ARCH 1250

APPLIED

ENVIRONMENTAL

STUDIES

NYC COLLEGE

OF TECHNOLOGY

Living structure of the built environment is being shaped by structures andhuman preference, largely dependent upon significant human intervention, not sustaining. Characterized by lack of diversity, energy intensive and includes numerous stressors.

Vegetative Structure

OVERVIEW

VEGETATIVE

STRUCTURE

UNBUILT

BUILT

CHALLENGES

STRATEGIES

10/4/2012

6

LECTURE SIX

SITE BIOLOGY

ARCH 1250

APPLIED

ENVIRONMENTAL

STUDIES

NYC COLLEGE

OF TECHNOLOGY

OVERVIEW

VEGETATIVE

STRUCTURE

UNBUILT

BUILT

CHALLENGES

STRATEGIES

Savannah, GA, plans from Bacon’s, Design of Cities

LECTURE SIX

SITE BIOLOGY

ARCH 1250

APPLIED

ENVIRONMENTAL

STUDIES

NYC COLLEGE

OF TECHNOLOGY

OVERVIEW

VEGETATIVE

STRUCTURE

UNBUILT

BUILT

CHALLENGES

STRATEGIES

10/4/2012

7

LECTURE SIX

SITE BIOLOGY

ARCH 1250

APPLIED

ENVIRONMENTAL

STUDIES

NYC COLLEGE

OF TECHNOLOGY

OVERVIEW

VEGETATIVE

STRUCTURE

UNBUILT

BUILT

CHALLENGES

STRATEGIES

LECTURE SIX

SITE BIOLOGY

ARCH 1250

APPLIED

ENVIRONMENTAL

STUDIES

NYC COLLEGE

OF TECHNOLOGY

OVERVIEW

VEGETATIVE

STRUCTURE

UNBUILT

BUILT

CHALLENGES

STRATEGIES

10/4/2012

8

LECTURE SIX

SITE BIOLOGY

ARCH 1250

APPLIED

ENVIRONMENTAL

STUDIES

NYC COLLEGE

OF TECHNOLOGY

OVERVIEW

VEGETATIVE

STRUCTURE

UNBUILT

BUILT

CHALLENGES

STRATEGIES

LECTURE SIX

SITE BIOLOGY

ARCH 1250

APPLIED

ENVIRONMENTAL

STUDIES

NYC COLLEGE

OF TECHNOLOGY

OVERVIEW

VEGETATIVE

STRUCTURE

UNBUILT

BUILT

CHALLENGES

STRATEGIES

greensward studies began with the 3rd Regional Plan in 1996

10/4/2012

9

LECTURE SIX

SITE BIOLOGY

ARCH 1250

APPLIED

ENVIRONMENTAL

STUDIES

NYC COLLEGE

OF TECHNOLOGY

Urban heat island, pollution, competition, invasive plants, habitat fragmentation

Challenges

OVERVIEW

VEGETATIVE

STRUCTURE

UNBUILT

BUILT

CHALLENGES

STRATEGIES

LECTURE SIX

SITE BIOLOGY

ARCH 1250

APPLIED

ENVIRONMENTAL

STUDIES

NYC COLLEGE

OF TECHNOLOGY

Urban Heat Islands

OVERVIEW

VEGETATIVE

STRUCTURE

UNBUILT

BUILT

CHALLENGES

STRATEGIES

10/4/2012

10

LECTURE SIX

SITE BIOLOGY

ARCH 1250

APPLIED

ENVIRONMENTAL

STUDIES

NYC COLLEGE

OF TECHNOLOGY

OVERVIEW

VEGETATIVE

STRUCTURE

UNBUILT

BUILT

CHALLENGES

STRATEGIES

LECTURE SIX

SITE BIOLOGY

ARCH 1250

APPLIED

ENVIRONMENTAL

STUDIES

NYC COLLEGE

OF TECHNOLOGY

OVERVIEW

VEGETATIVE

STRUCTURE

UNBUILT

BUILT

CHALLENGES

STRATEGIES

10/4/2012

11

LECTURE SIX

SITE BIOLOGY

ARCH 1250

APPLIED

ENVIRONMENTAL

STUDIES

NYC COLLEGE

OF TECHNOLOGY

After habitat loss, collisions with buildings are the 2nd

largest cause of bird mortality. It is estimated that glass and reflective facades and illuminated interiors kill billions of birds annually. Some strategies that have been successful in making glass more visible include patterning, more mullions, reduced reflectivity, reduced night lighting and UV strips in glass, visible to birds, not people.

Birds and Buildings

OVERVIEW

VEGETATIVE

STRUCTURE

UNBUILT

BUILT

CHALLENGES

STRATEGIES

LECTURE SIX

SITE BIOLOGY

ARCH 1250

APPLIED

ENVIRONMENTAL

STUDIES

NYC COLLEGE

OF TECHNOLOGY

Energy intensive, biologically poor, ecologically unproductive

Solar driven, biologically rich, ecologically productive

OVERVIEW

VEGETATIVE

STRUCTURE

UNBUILT

BUILT

CHALLENGES

STRATEGIES

10/4/2012

12

LECTURE SIX

SITE BIOLOGY

ARCH 1250

APPLIED

ENVIRONMENTAL

STUDIES

NYC COLLEGE

OF TECHNOLOGY

Green corridors, green belts, mosaics, native plants, habitat creation, reduced use of pesticides and herbicides, reduce use of glass (or create glass visible to birds) along flyways in particular (NYC)

Strategies

OVERVIEW

VEGETATIVE

STRUCTURE

UNBUILT

BUILT

CHALLENGES

STRATEGIES

LECTURE SIX

SITE BIOLOGY

ARCH 1250

APPLIED

ENVIRONMENTAL

STUDIES

NYC COLLEGE

OF TECHNOLOGY

Green corridors in NYC

PlaNYC has established two Parks and Public Open Space initiatives that prioritize green corridors and ecological connectivity.

Initiative 10 - Create a network of green corridors

Streets and other dedicated paths perform multiple functions, including promoting recreation, capturing stormwater, and cleaning our air. We will seek opportunities to create a network of green corridors.

Initiative 13 - Support ecological connectivity

We will also seek to promote ecological connectivity, closely linked green spaces that increase opportunities for people, flora, and wildlife to transition more easily between fragmented natural spaces.

Building sites represent nearly half the land area in the city and have a great potential to mitigate the urban heat island effect, increase biodiversity, retain stormwater, and perform other critical ecological functions

10/4/2012

13

LECTURE SIX

SITE BIOLOGY

ARCH 1250

APPLIED

ENVIRONMENTAL

STUDIES

NYC COLLEGE

OF TECHNOLOGY

OVERVIEW

SELECTION & BOUNDARIES

ANALYSIS and MAPPING

PROGRAMMING and INTEGRATED DESIGN

MICROCLIMATE

PRODUCTIVITY & BIODIVERSITY

CONSTRUCTION & MAINTENANCE

INTRO TO TERM PROJECT

NEXT CLASS

LECTURE SIX

SITE BIOLOGY

ARCH 1250

APPLIED

ENVIRONMENTAL

STUDIES

NYC COLLEGE

OF TECHNOLOGY

OVERVIEW

SELECTION & BOUNDARIES

ANALYSIS and MAPPING

PROGRAMMING and INTEGRATED DESIGN

MICROCLIMATE

PRODUCTIVITY & BIODIVERSITY

CONSTRUCTION & MAINTENANCE

INTRO TO TERM PROJECT

NEXT CLASS

10/4/2012

14

LECTURE SIX

SITE BIOLOGY

ARCH 1250

APPLIED

ENVIRONMENTAL

STUDIES

NYC COLLEGE

OF TECHNOLOGY

NYC, Highline Park

OVERVIEW

VEGETATIVE

STRUCTURE

UNBUILT

BUILT

CHALLENGES

STRATEGIES

LECTURE SIX

SITE BIOLOGY

ARCH 1250

APPLIED

ENVIRONMENTAL

STUDIES

NYC COLLEGE

OF TECHNOLOGY

NYC, Highline Park

OVERVIEW

COMMUNITY LOCATION and LINKAGE

COMMUNITY PATTERNS and FORM

COMMUNITY ACCESS

HEALTH OVERVIEW

HEALTH and IAQ

HEALTH and CONNECTION TO NATURE

INSPIRATION

EDUCATION

NEXT CLASS

10/4/2012

15

LECTURE SIX

SITE BIOLOGY

ARCH 1250

APPLIED

ENVIRONMENTAL

STUDIES

NYC COLLEGE

OF TECHNOLOGY

Local Food Production

OVERVIEW

COMMUNITY LOCATION and LINKAGE

COMMUNITY PATTERNS and FORM

COMMUNITY ACCESS

HEALTH OVERVIEW

HEALTH and IAQ

HEALTH and CONNECTION TO NATURE

INSPIRATION

EDUCATION

NEXT CLASS

Eagle Street Rooftop Farm (middle image), New Vision Garden, East New York (right, left) © 2010 John Seitz )

LECTURE SIX

SITE BIOLOGY

ARCH 1250

APPLIED

ENVIRONMENTAL

STUDIES

NYC COLLEGE

OF TECHNOLOGY

Local Food Markets

OVERVIEW

COMMUNITY LOCATION and LINKAGE

COMMUNITY PATTERNS and FORM

COMMUNITY ACCESS

HEALTH OVERVIEW

HEALTH and IAQ

HEALTH and CONNECTION TO NATURE

INSPIRATION

EDUCATION

NEXT CLASS

10/4/2012

16

LECTURE SIX

SITE BIOLOGY

ARCH 1250

APPLIED

ENVIRONMENTAL

STUDIES

NYC COLLEGE

OF TECHNOLOGYEagle Street Rooftop Farm, Greenpoint (image © 2010 John Seitz )

Native Meadow Rooftop Garden, Linda Tool and Die, Red Hook (image © 2010 John Seitz )

OVERVIEW

VEGETATIVE

STRUCTURE

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CHALLENGES

STRATEGIES

LECTURE SIX

SITE BIOLOGY

ARCH 1250

APPLIED

ENVIRONMENTAL

STUDIES

NYC COLLEGE

OF TECHNOLOGY

OVERVIEW

SELECTION & BOUNDARIES

ANALYSIS and MAPPING

PROGRAMMING and INTEGRATED DESIGN

CLIMATE

PRODUCTIVITY & BIODIVERSITY

MAINTENANCE

INTRO TO TERM PROJECT

NEXT CLASS

Extensive green roof

Intensive green roof

10/4/2012

17

LECTURE SIX

SITE BIOLOGY

ARCH 1250

APPLIED

ENVIRONMENTAL

STUDIES

NYC COLLEGE

OF TECHNOLOGY

OVERVIEW

SELECTION & BOUNDARIES

ANALYSIS and MAPPING

PROGRAMMING and INTEGRATED DESIGN

CLIMATE

PRODUCTIVITY & BIODIVERSITY

MAINTENANCE

INTRO TO TERM PROJECT

NEXT CLASS

Renzo Piano's roof for the California Academy of Sciences building in SF

LECTURE SIX

SITE BIOLOGY

ARCH 1250

APPLIED

ENVIRONMENTAL

STUDIES

NYC COLLEGE

OF TECHNOLOGY

OVERVIEW

VEGETATIVE

STRUCTURE

UNBUILT

BUILT

CHALLENGES

STRATEGIES

Musee du Quai Branly, Paris, 2007 Patrick Blanc

10/4/2012

18

LECTURE SIX

SITE BIOLOGY

ARCH 1250

APPLIED

ENVIRONMENTAL

STUDIES

NYC COLLEGE

OF TECHNOLOGY

Public Open Space

OVERVIEW

COMMUNITY LOCATION and LINKAGE

COMMUNITY PATTERNS and FORM

COMMUNITY ACCESS

HEALTH OVERVIEW

HEALTH and IAQ

HEALTH and CONNECTION TO NATURE

INSPIRATION

EDUCATION

NEXT CLASS

“Ensure that all New Yorkers live within less a 10 minute walk to a park”

PlaNYC Goal

LECTURE SIX

SITE BIOLOGY

ARCH 1250

APPLIED

ENVIRONMENTAL

STUDIES

NYC COLLEGE

OF TECHNOLOGY

OVERVIEW

COMMUNITY LOCATION and LINKAGE

COMMUNITY PATTERNS and FORM

COMMUNITY ACCESS

HEALTH OVERVIEW

HEALTH and IAQ

HEALTH and CONNECTION TO NATURE

INSPIRATION

EDUCATION

NEXT CLASS

10/4/2012

19

LECTURE SIX

SITE BIOLOGY

ARCH 1250

APPLIED

ENVIRONMENTAL

STUDIES

NYC COLLEGE

OF TECHNOLOGY

OVERVIEW

SELECTION & BOUNDARIES

ANALYSIS and MAPPING

PROGRAMMING and INTEGRATED DESIGN

CLIMATE

PRODUCTIVITY & BIODIVERSITY

MAINTENANCE

INTRO TO TERM PROJECT

NEXT CLASS

Native Plants and Lepidoptera species supported

Common name Genus Butterfly or moth species

Goldenrod Solidago 115

Asters Aster 112

Sunflower Helianthus 73

Joe pye, Boneset Eupatorium 42

Morning glory Ipomoea 39

Sedges Carex 36

Honeysuckle Lonicera 36

Lupine Lupinus 33

Violets Viola 29

Geraniums Geranium 23

Black-eyed susan Rudbeckia 17

Iris Iris 17

Evening primrose Oenothera 16

Milkweed Asclepias 12

Verbena Verbena 11

Common name Genus Butterfly or moth species

Oak Quercus 534

Black cherry Prunus 456

Willow Salix 455

Birch Betula 413

Poplar Populus 368

Crabapple Malus 311

Blueberry Vaccinium 288

Maple Acer 285

Elm Ulmus 213

Pine Pinus 201

Hickory Carya 200

Hawthorn Crataegus 159

Spruce Picea 156

Alder Alnus 156

Basswood Tilia 150

Results of a study undertaken by Professor Douglas Tallamy and published in Bringing

Nature Home: How You Can Sustain Wildlife with Native Plants, 2009

These numbers become astonishing when you consider that many of our non native species even after several hundred years in this country support 0 Lepidoptera species.

LECTURE SIX

SITE BIOLOGY

ARCH 1250

APPLIED

ENVIRONMENTAL

STUDIES

NYC COLLEGE

OF TECHNOLOGY

Waste to plant food

Going . . . Going … gone

Going . . . Going … gone. . .

10/4/2012

20

LECTURE SIX

SITE BIOLOGY

ARCH 1250

APPLIED

ENVIRONMENTAL

STUDIES

NYC COLLEGE

OF TECHNOLOGY

OVERVIEW

SELECTION & BOUNDARIES

ANALYSIS and MAPPING

PROGRAMMING and INTEGRATED DESIGN

CLIMATE

PRODUCTIVITY & BIODIVERSITY

MAINTENANCE

INTRO TO TERM PROJECT

NEXT CLASS

Adaptability to change (resilience) is a hallmark of

sustainable systems.

LECTURE SIX

SITE BIOLOGY

ARCH 1250

APPLIED

ENVIRONMENTAL

STUDIES

NYC COLLEGE

OF TECHNOLOGY

A modular wall system of pods housing hydroponic plants being developed by the Center for Architecture Science and Ecology (2008).

Active Phytoremediation Wall System

10/4/2012

21

LECTURE SIX

SITE BIOLOGY

ARCH 1250

APPLIED

ENVIRONMENTAL

STUDIES

NYC COLLEGE

OF TECHNOLOGY

Because the plants’ roots are exposed, instead of being buried in soil, the plants’ air-cleaning capacity increases by 200 to 300 percent.

Air moves through a perforated air intake duct and directly over the root system. This allows the rhizomes on the roots to essentially digest airborne toxins (VOCs, particulate matter, and other biological and chemical pollutants) without the plant itself becoming toxic (which is

what happens when the toxins are taken in solely through the leaves).

LECTURE SIX

SITE BIOLOGY

ARCH 1250

APPLIED

ENVIRONMENTAL

STUDIES

NYC COLLEGE

OF TECHNOLOGY

Formaldehyde removal rates of some common plants.

Based on EPA data a typical 100 SF commercial office may contain on average 3916 ug of formaldehyde. This formaldehyde can be completely removed with 2-4 plants.

OVERVIEW

VEGETATIVE

STRUCTURE

UNBUILT

BUILT

CHALLENGES

STRATEGIES

10/4/2012

22

ARCH 1250

APPLIED ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES

CLASS SIX

SITE BIOLOGY

John Seitz, RA, LEED APAdjunct Assistant Professor

Professor Paul C. King, RA, AIA, ARAAssistant Professor