The Economics of Green Infrastructure and Low-Impact Development Practices

2011 ◽  
pp. 101-126 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahjond Garmestani ◽  
Janet Clements ◽  
Joanna Pratt ◽  
Lisa Hair
Keyword(s):  
Green Infrastructure ◽  
Low Impact Development

scholarly journals Assessment on the Effectiveness of Urban Stormwater Management

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yixin Zhang ◽  
Weihan Zhao ◽  
Xue Chen ◽  
Changhyun Jun ◽  
Jianli Hao ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Green Infrastructure ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Stormwater Management ◽  
Suspended Solids ◽  
Low Impact Development ◽  
Stormwater Runoff ◽  
Reduction Rate ◽  
Urban Resilience ◽  
Sponge City ◽  
Global Issues

Stormwater management is a key urban issue in the world, in line with the global issues of urban sprawl and climate change. It is urgent to investigate the effectiveness in managing stormwater with different strategies for maintain urban resilience. A method based on a storm water management model (SWMM) was developed for assessing the control of stormwater runoff volume and the percentage removal of suspended solids by implementing a Sponge City strategy. An interdisciplinary approach was adopted incorporating Low Impact Development (LID) with urban Green Infrastructure and Gray Infrastructure paradigms in a typical old residential community in Suzhou, China. Four types of sponge facilities for reducing stormwater runoff were bio-retention cells, permeable pavements, grassed pitches, and stormwater gardens. The simulation results indicate that the stormwater pipe system can meet the management standard for storms with a five-year recurrence interval. The volume capture ratio of annual runoff is 91% and the reduction rate of suspended solids is 56%. This study demonstrates that Sponge City strategy is an effective approach for managing stormwater, particularly in old and densely populated urban areas. Implementing spongy facilities with a LID strategy for stormwater management can significantly enhance urban water resilience and increase ecosystem services.

National LID Atlas: A Collaborative Online Database of Innovative Stormwater Management Practices

2011 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 59-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
David W. Dickson ◽  
Cary B. Chadwick ◽  
Chester L. Arnold
Keyword(s):  
Green Infrastructure ◽  
Stormwater Management ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Low Impact Development ◽  
Nonpoint Source ◽  
Marine Resources ◽  
Online Database ◽  
Local Officials ◽  
Stormwater Management Practices

AbstractAny strategy to protect coastal and marine resources needs to address the issue of polluted runoff, particularly urban runoff generated by development. Low impact development (LID) practices, also known as green infrastructure, have been shown to be very effective in mitigating the impacts associated with stormwater runoff from development. On-the-ground examples of LID implementation, both good and bad, are needed to help local officials and others overcome the natural reticence to embrace new technologies or approaches and encourage or even require their use. The National LID Atlas is an interactive tool that provides these real local examples of LID implementation throughout the country on the Internet in an easy-to-use Google Maps™ Mashup. The members of the National NEMO (Nonpoint Source Education for Municipal Officials) Network and other outreach educators collaboratively built the Atlas and continue to add new projects to it. Local officials, developers, contractors, homeowners, and others can use the site to find examples of LID implementation in their state or region and resources for finding out more detailed information.

Cost Analysis of Green Infrastructure Compared to Conventional Stormwater Storage

2021 ◽  
pp. 6-19
Author(s):  
Pengfei Zhang ◽  
Samuel T. Ariaratnam
Keyword(s):  
Green Infrastructure ◽  
Life Cycle Cost ◽  
Construction Projects ◽  
Storage System ◽  
Low Impact Development ◽  
Cost Savings ◽  
Economic Benefits ◽  
Development Environment ◽  
Permeable Interlocking Concrete Pavement ◽  
The Cost

Low Impact Development (LID), or green infrastructure, refers to a land planning and engineering design practice to address urban storm runoff. The nature of LID is to mimic the pre-development environment to retain runoff through infiltration, retention, and evaporation. Despite the fact that numerous studies have analyzed the performance of runoff volume reduction and peak flow of various green infrastructures, little is known regarding the economic benefits of adopting LID practices. In this research, three completed construction projects in the Phoenix, Arizona metropolitan area were selected to perform an alternative LID design including extensive green roof (GR) and permeable interlocking concrete pavement (PICP), to determine the cost effectiveness of using LID to reduce the use of a conventional stormwater storage system. A life cycle cost (LCC) analysis was conducted to better understand the cost benefits of applying LID to meet current drainage design criteria as per the project requirements. The results found that applying LID resulted in an average LCC saving rate of 23% compared to a conventional stormwater storage system over a 50 year service life and 15.1% over a full LID (GR+PICP) strategy.  Furthermore, it was discovered that LID has little cost savings benefits when constructing above-ground retention basins due to cheaper associated construction costs.

scholarly journals The Projected Impact of a Neighborhood-Scaled Green-Infrastructure Retrofit

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 3665 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manasvini Thiagarajan ◽  
Galen Newman ◽  
Shannon Zandt
Keyword(s):  
Green Infrastructure ◽  
Stormwater Management ◽  
Energy Savings ◽  
Low Impact Development ◽  
Rain Gardens ◽  
Single Family ◽  
Related Factors ◽  
Detention Ponds ◽  
Residential Properties ◽  
Green Collar

Climate change and its related factors are increasing the frequency of hurricanes, coastal storms, and urban flooding. Recovery from disasters can be slow, with jurisdictions failing to rebuild better, wasting time and money without improving resilience for the next disaster. To help attenuate floods and mitigate their impact, Low-Impact Development (LID) and the incorporation of green infrastructure (GI) is gaining in popularity. LID includes more natural methods of absorbing, redirecting, retaining, and filtering water through GI installations such as rain gardens, detention ponds, and the reduction of impervious surfaces. LID is, however, primarily implemented and evaluated only on a local scale; few studies have assessed the broader impact of GI on a larger scale. In fact, most performance calculators that evaluate the effects of GI are only useful at the site scale. Further, most GI advocates propose its use in new developments without much attention to retrofitting existing suburban development. This article seeks to determine what the potential effects of retrofitting an existing suburban neighborhood with GI for flood protection at a larger scale could be, using Sugar Land, Texas, United States as a case site. First, low-impact facilities are proposed and schematically designed at a site scale for a typical single-family lot. The volume of rainfall that can be retained on site, due to each incorporated feature, was then derived using the Green Values National Stormwater Management Calculator. Using these data, the total volume of rainfall that could be retained if all residential sites in Sugar Land incorporated similar facilities was then projected. The results show that Sugar Land has the capacity to annually capture 56 billion liters of stormwater if all residential properties use LID. Additional benefits of the use of GI include reduced heat (37%), improved aesthetics and property values (20%), increased recreational opportunities (18%), improved water quality (12%), improved air quality (5%), increased green collar jobs (4%), reduced damage from harmful gas emissions (3%), and increased energy savings (1%), thereby surpassing conventional stormwater management techniques.

scholarly journals Assessment on the Effectiveness of Urban Stormwater Management

Water ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 4
Author(s):  
Yixin Zhang ◽  
Weihan Zhao ◽  
Xue Chen ◽  
Changhyun Jun ◽  
Jianli Hao ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Green Infrastructure ◽  
Stormwater Management ◽  
Suspended Solids ◽  
Low Impact Development ◽  
Stormwater Runoff ◽  
Reduction Rate ◽  
Interdisciplinary Approach ◽  
Residential Areas ◽  
Urban Resilience ◽  
Pipe System

Stormwater management is a key issue in line with global problems of urbanization and climate change. Assessing the effectiveness in managing stormwater is crucial to maintain urban resilience to flooding risk. A method based on a stormwater management model (SWMM) was developed for assessing the control of stormwater runoff volume and the percentage removal of suspended solids by implementing a Sponge City strategy. An interdisciplinary approach was adopted incorporating Low Impact Development (LID) with urban green infrastructure and grey infrastructure paradigms in a typical old residential community in Suzhou, China. Sponge facilities for reducing stormwater runoff included bio-retention cells, permeable pavements, grassed pitches, and stormwater gardens. The simulation results of SWMM show that the stormwater pipe system can meet the management standard for storms with a five-year recurrence interval. The volume capture ratio of annual runoff was 91%, which is higher than control target of 80%. The suspended solids reduction rate was 56%, which meets the requirement of planning indicators. Thus, the proposed method of spongy facilities can be used for renovation planning in old residential areas in China. Implementing spongy facilities with a LID strategy for stormwater management can significantly enhance urban water resilience and improve ecosystem services.

scholarly journals Stormwater management: municipal policies in Ontario for managing rain where it falls through green infrastructure

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wayne Savio Coutinho
Keyword(s):  
Green Infrastructure ◽  
Stormwater Management ◽  
Low Impact Development ◽  
Stormwater Runoff ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Private Lands ◽  
Urban Green Spaces ◽  
Municipal Policies ◽  
The Right

This research explores the state of practice for managing rain where it falls in southern Ontario through green infrastructure policies. A literature review and first hand experience from municipalities provided the understanding of the issues to wide‐spread adoption. Stormwater runoff is a significant issue within urban settings, contributing to localized riverine and/or basement flooding that impacts municipal infrastructure, residences, and environmental quality of waterways. Traditional grey infrastructure, an engineered approach of collection and treatment facilities, addresses concerns with combined sewer overflow (CSO), but is not an effective system for Stormwater Management (SWM), evident by the increase in flooding and pollution from intensified rain events, with climate change. Supported by evidence in published literature over the last decade, Low Impact Development (LID) principles have demonstrated effective results for cold climates, provided life costs‐analysis, and a planning framework to determine suitable placement for installations. Co-benefits of Green Stormwater Infrastructure (GSI) are especially valued such as building great communities to live in with "high functioning" urban green spaces. This evidence suggests that managing stormwater runoff locally is a more cost effective and sustainable than end‐of‐pipe solutions. The study revealed best practices and lessons learned from municipalities implementing GSI for the Right‐of‐Way (ROW) though “Green Streets” and on private lands through LID to manage rain where it falls. In Ontario, GSI is at an early adoption stage. The findings support a planning rationale for a coordinated approach to implement, finance, and operate GSI programs for both private lands and in the public ROW for SWM.

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