U.S. cities are revamping how they handle stormwater to reduce flooding and capture rainfall and recharge aquifers.
New policies reflect a change in mindset from treating stormwater as a nuisance to be quickly diverted away to capturing it as a resource. U.S. urban areas generate an estimated 59.5 million acre-feet of stormwater runoff per year on average, equal to 53 billion gallons a day. That much water is equal to 93% of the country’s total municipal and industrial water use.
In Los Angeles, the nonprofit Trust for Public Land has been removing impervious surfaces in alleys and school grounds and replacing asphalt with natural infrastructure, including trees and pervious surfaces.
In the eastern part of the country where rainfall is more plentiful, cities including New York and Pittsburgh are installing green solutions such as rain gardens and bioswales. Cities are also instituting stormwater fees, charging landowners based on the area of impervious surfaces on a property. More cities are also using permeable pavers for sidewalks and parking lots.
Recharging aquifers via more permeable surface areas not only makes more groundwater available, but it also helps prevent land subsidence that can cause buildings to slowly sink.
Related Stories
| Apr 17, 2013
Fenestration Council allows some shading system, dynamic glazing to be rated for U-Factor
The National Fenestration Rating Council (NFRC) approved changes to its NFRC 100 and NFRC 200 standards, allowing certain shading devices to be rated for U-factor and Solar Heat Gain Coefficient.
| Apr 17, 2013
LEED 2009 quarterly interpretations, addenda now available
Quarterly interpretations and addenda to the LEED 2009 rating systems and reference guides are now available.
| Apr 17, 2013
DOE’s Lawrence Berkeley Lab researchers developing new indoor air pollution standards
The U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) researchers are working on new building standards after discovering previously unknown indoor air pollutants.
| Apr 16, 2013
RMJM acquired by Duthus Investments for £12 million
Sir Fraser Morrison, the owner and chairman of architect RMJM, is the backer behind the investment firm that bought RMJM for £11m in late March.
| Apr 10, 2013
ASHRAE publishes second edition to HVAC manual for healthcare facilities
The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) has published a second edition of its “HVAC Design Manual for Hospitals and Clinics.”
| Apr 10, 2013
Concrete Reinforcing Steel Institute accredited by ANSI as standards developer
The Concrete Reinforcing Steel Institute (CRSI) was recently accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) as an ANSI Accredited Standards Developer (ASD).
| Apr 10, 2013
DOD should continue LEED-Silver or equivalent rating standard, says NRC
The Department of Defense should continue to require that its new buildings or major renovations to facilities be designed to achieve a LEED-Silver or equivalent rating, says a new report from the National Research Council.
| Apr 10, 2013
EPA proposes emissions rules affecting light construction vehicles
The Environmental Protection Agency has proposed air-pollution standards that it says will reduce the amount of sulfur in U.S. gasoline by two-thirds and impose fleet-wide pollution limits on new vehicles.
| Apr 10, 2013
New skyscraper designs raising the bar on green standards
Though most new skyscraper designs have a traditional look, they are including a wider array of sustainable elements to use energy and water more efficiently and improve human health.
| Apr 5, 2013
Lack of national standards on design of bioterror labs creates higher risk for accidents, panel says
U.S. labs that conduct research on bioterror germs such as anthrax are at risk for accidents because they do not have uniform design and operation standards, according to a Congressional investigative group.
