Why LID Innovation Could be a Game Changer… Amanda Bassow, NFWF

Houston LID Design Competition: Bob Adair, Construction EcoServices

Virginia LID Design Competition Bay Expert:

Adrienne Kotula, JRA Discussion: How can we foster greater

innovation in LID practices ?

Session Agenda

Why LID Innovation Could be a Game Changer in the Bay

• Every Bay State has adopted LID/runoff reduction practices for new and redevelopment

• Progress in adopting innovative LID practices among designers has been slow

• Don’t yet have the ability to showcase projects that sell the multiple benefits of LID to the public at large

These practices are still new to many engineers

Percent of Bay Engineers that have Never designed a practice: Green Roof: 67% Amended Soils: 65% Rainwater Harvesting: 50% Disconnection: 50% Filter Strip: 47% Dry Swale: 46% Permeable Pavement: 45%

Designers do need to improve their nutrient IQ and think more about long term performance

• Nutrient IQ has increased in response to CBSTP

• Not much change, however, in the % of high performing practices that are built

• Need new ways to change design behaviors and gain greater acceptance of LID

Innovation is about more than just performance

• In quest to meet new state standards and local nutrient reductions, we sometimes forget about beauty and public amenities.

• Like this guy--

The state of LID/GI adoption & know-how, before?

0 Near zero knowledge base and essentially no LID implementation

0 No zoning and minimal rules

0 Picture next to the definition of ‘urban sprawl’?

0 No significant stormwater quality requirements

0 If it’s bigger than a Coke can, you have to keep it out of the bayou

0 Flood control dominates stormwater thinking

On some things, we agreed…

0Developing ‘the way we’ve always done it’ is more and more counterproductive

0 For local governments, the cost of keeping pace with traditional development is an increasingly overwhelming burden

0Change is coming (inevitable)

0A leadership role is better than the alternative

The Houston Land/Water Sustainability Forum’s mission is to “enhance, enable and integrate sustainable use of land and water for the Houston area’s continued growth and economic vitality.”

The state of LID/GI adoption after?

0 Local know-how and LID-based project count are growing exponentially

0Engineering firms moving rapidly to LID focus

0Collaborative teams have fostered long term working relationships between disciplines

0City and County have definite bias towards LID-based public projects

0Competition participants are leaders in the new marketplace

Why a competition?

0Resolve the ‘chicken or the egg’ syndrome

0Use peer and market pressure to get uninterested engineering community to explore LID

0Avoid ‘missed opportunities’ in LEED projects

‘It’ll never work here. We have heavy clay soils, flat land, intense rain events and too

much rainfall.’

What were your Goals?

0 Leverage HLWSF educational programming

0Prompt the design community to determine that LID would ‘work’ in Houston

0Determine if LID makes sense when regulatory drivers don’t exist

0Drive widespread adoption, adaptation and implementation of LID in the Houston area

How was it structured?

0Use real properties with challenging conditions

0Knowledge transfer, viable LID adaptations

0 Focus on runoff reduction and attenuation

0Post-construction hydrograph to be equal to or below pre-developed condition for 5, 10 and 100 year events

0Key players must have ‘skin in the game’

0Designers, developers, planners, city, county, etc.

0Required for meaningful progress

Green Roadway Independence Parkway

Urban Redevelopment Bastrop Promenade

Suburban Residential Ventana Lakes

How was it structured? 0Promote integrated design teams

0Key to genuinely sustainable design

0 Focus on cost versus traditional design 0 Economics are our only available tool

0Two stage judging process 0Experts across all key disciplines for first stage

0 80% of finalists’ Total Final Score from Expert Judges

0Developers and political dignitaries as Finals Jury 0 20% from Finals Jury Panel

0High profile Finals Event

Expert Judging Influencing the ‘old school’ Experts through their

participation

Statistics & Demographics?

022 submitting teams

0 9 Green Roadway

0 4 Urban Redevelopment

0 9 Suburban Residential

042 firms (TX, IL, NC, GA, CO, CA, KS)

0230+ local professionals involved

0 Architects, Civil Engineers, Landscape Architects, Hydrologists, Urban Planners, Construction Consultants, Homebuilders, Environmentalists, Transportation Engineers, Irrigation Consultants

Finals Event The place to see and be seen. Meet & Greet with

an open bar and lots of Presentation Boards.

Finals Event Big crowd, great old ballroom.

Finals Event Developers and local VIPs pick the Winners. Who

wouldn’t want to present to these people?

Rapid pace. Lightning presentations. No control over the ‘clicker.’

Finals Event

Were there any surprises?

0Designs

0 The good and the ‘left fielders’

0Expert Judging

0 Nuances and the education opportunity

0 Finals Event

0 Electricity and the NASCAR effect

0 Finals Jury

0 One jury member’s epiphany

0 The Power of the Outcome and the Ripple Effect

Economics as a Driver?

0Without question!

0Results of every submittal found LID less expensive than traditional approach

0 It’s the only available driver in Houston area

0 LID design standard provides stormwater quality

0 Our traditional design standards require only minimal stormwater quality in some circumstances

Other Consistent Results

0Major reductions in runoff are a very possible

0 The post-development property can function hydrologically like the pre-developed property

0Mimicking nature really works

0Conservative civil engineering firms proselytize for ‘green infrastructure.’

You roll the dice and take your chances. It’s sweet when it all works out.

What was the overall impact?

0Drove a ‘make it happen now’ approach in local government as well as design community

0Two oldest Civil Engineering firms in Houston area have switched entire business model to LID-based design…more to follow

0Collaborative working relationships between disciplines are bearing fruit in terms of holistic designs

0Major move to LID in all types of development

Expediting LID Permitting and Implementation

0Eliminate ‘fear of delay’ for developers

0Deal with obstacles in the code

0 ‘Interim’ LID Design Guide

0Collaborative and expedited permitting process

0 Innovation friendly

0Drive rapid implementation and maximizing learning experience for all parties

0 Future code to be based on ‘interim’ experience

Taking timely advantage of the new groundswell of interest is critical to success.

“How badly could we screw it up?”

2010-12 Houston LID Projects

0 Green Roads & Streets

0 Libraries

0 K-12 Schools

0 Office parks

0 Fortune 5 HQ Campus

0 Suburban Residential

0 Master Planned Town

0 Urban Residential

0 Fire Stations

0 University

0 Multi-Family

0 Parks

Huge number of LID-based projects in design, permitting and construction, or already completed.

Influence on Other Major Texas Cities

0 Land/Water Sustainability groups formed

0 North Texas (DFW)

0 Central Texas (Austin)

0 San Antonio

0 LID Design Competitions in planning/execution stages

0 North Texas Competition launched yesterday

0Texas LWS Forum website launched in partnership with the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center

0 TexasLID.org /LWSforum.org

Other communities around the country are planning Competitions, including: Philadelphia PA, Lancaster PA, Johnson County KS and others.

A few final questions

0Will winning entries be built?

0 Yes & no

0 Is a LID Design Competition and good tool to drive innovation and adoption?

0 Absolutely

0Will you do it again?

0 Yes & no

0What would you do differently?

0 Universal format for economic comparison data

Resources

0Houston Land/Water Sustainability Forum

0 www.houstonLWSforum.org

0Water Environment Federation (WEF) & EPA Region 3 partnering to promote and support LID Design Competitions

0 WEF 3-Part Webinar Series this summer to provide permanent access to the ‘nuts & bolts’ of ‘how-to’

0 Contact Seth Brown (sbrown@wef.org)

0 Contact Dominique Lueckenhoff , R3

• New Regulations

• Common Criticisms of LID

• Connection to larger

project

• Provide a hands-on learning

experience

• Demonstrate the economic,

environmental and marketing

benefits of LID

• Encourage greater use of LID

in Virginia

• Six month time span

• Three Design Categories

• 15 Judges

• 23rd Annual Environment

Virginia Symposium

• Teams must have a Virginia registered Civil Engineer

and Landscape Architect

• The hydrograph for their LID proposal must match or be

below the conventional development option

• Enhance the quality of life and reduce maintenance

costs to increase marketability of the development and

property values

• The LID proposal may not be more expensive than the

conventional alternative

Applications 16 teams (60 individuals)

Teams Competing 11 teams (40 individuals)

Audience at Conference 760 individuals

Awards Attendees 150 individuals

Benefits of LID – LID performs better and provides enhanced

quality of life benefits

Center for Neighborhood Technology

$-

$100,000

$200,000

$300,000

$400,000

$500,000

$600,000

Site Preparation Pavement Curb, Edging and Sidewalks

Storm Drainage Systems

Landscaping Total

LID Conventional

• Timeframe

• The Rules

• Economy

• Public Relations

• Make the Connection

What would we change?

“This LID design project is a great example of how

design professionals can make a difference to our

built environment… The results provided a real world

solution that can truly be incorporated into the built

environment.”

- Rob Walker, Civil Engineer and Landscape Architect

“Creating and designing a project using new and creative

techniques and practices really allows for a team to

increase creative thought processes. This eventually

leads to better designs for future projects. I gained

insight that will make me a better design engineer.”

- Rick Slater, Civil Engineer

“I’m sure we are one of many firms that walked away

with a positive and fulfilling experience.”

- Oomer Syed, Landscape Architect

• Ordinance focus

• Will we do it again?

• What do people need

to see?

What are some practical ideas/actions that could foster greater adoption of LID practices across the watershed ?

Does it make sense to have a Bay-wide LID

competition or recognition program to highlight the best projects and/or promote public interest ?

Discussion