Month: March 2012

Hello everyone! Finally we have reached the end of this outstanding project. After weeks of collecting data and evaluating the sites, we have finally reached a verdict on the sustainability of Agricultural Road Walkway.

In this blog post, we will give a brief overview on Criterion 3.5, which was not included in the previous blog as well as summarize the project and its environmental and social impacts.

 

Here is the evaluation on Criterion 3.5:

3.5 Manage stormwater on site (5-10 points)

• The target water storage has been estimated as 70 (using water storage software Tr-55 curve numbers) for Humid West sections across the states which has similar weather condition of our site.
• Widespread infiltration is not often an option due to contaminated soils and the potential for groundwater contamination, less improvement in water storage capacity is needed to achieve credit.
• 7 points were attained as only 40% of total volume runoff from the previous walkway’s runoff was reduced.

 

Result: 7 points obtained

 

Overall, the total credits obtained for Agricultural Road is 22 out of 31 without the credits for criterion 3.3 and 3.4 (those will be evaluated by Sustainable Sites.). The Sustainable Sites Initiative evaluates sites on a 4-star rating system, on which Agricultural Road Walkway obtained 3 Stars (for having at least 60% of the points). This is great news for UBC as it furthers their sustainable structures on the Vancouver Campus.

As City of Vancouver is trying to achieve the goal of making Vancouver the greenest city by 2020, the renewal of Agricultural Road also represents UBC’s commitment to being a leader in sustainability and support the goal of the city.

 

 

 

 

Impacts

UBC has always been working on sustainable developments. Innovative green building, sustainable water system, uses of green energy and promotions of local food and public transit show UBC’s attitude of leading a sustainable community and providing a healthier and better environment to students and residents. While people are being a part of the sustainable campus, the environment will affect their thoughts and create the sense of sustainability.

The Agricultural Road is a good example of UBC’s green project. The natural bioswale and raingarden stormwater filtering and collecting system save stormwater and runoff for irrigation. Lawn is fertilized by organic waste. The whole process of maintenance just involve reused resources.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We learnt a lot more about how to utilize stormwater and maintain a site in a sustainable way during this evaluation project. This valuable experience improved our recognition of sustainability and teamwoking skills. We are grateful for this opportunity to participate in UBC’s green project.

 

Feel free to contact us at ssi.agrd.walkway@gmail.com for further inquiries.

 

UBC Agricultural Roadway Group

 

 

 

After one and a half month, the Agricultural Road Walkway sustainablity evaluation project is heading to the finish line.

We are going to present the evaluation results for most of the parts in this blog post.

 

Agricultural Road was evaluated under the Sustainable Sites Initiative (Water) criteria sections 3.1-3.8 (excluding 3.3 and 3.4). The site received the following points under the criteria:

3.1 (Prerequisite): Reduce potable water use for landscape irrigation by 50 percent from established baselines.

And

3.2 (2-5 Points): Reduce potable water use for landscape irrigation by 75 percent from established baselines.

According to calculations, the designed landscape’s percentage reduction in potable water use from the baseline case is 56.5%.

• Less than 75% potable water use was reduced.
• Satisfied prerequisite 3.1.

 

3.3 Protect and restore riparian, wetland, and shoreline buffers 

And

3.4 Rehabilitate lost streams, wetlands, and shorelines

The site does not have any wetland or shoreline. The corresponding evaluation will be estimated by officials at the Sustainable Sites with reasonable assumptions. A copy of all plans will be provided for these sections.

 

 

3.5 Manage stormwater on site

Due to the technical difficulties, this section of the evaluation will be completed in the following week. The final result including this section will then be presented in next closing blog with the project summary.

 

 

3.6 (3-9 Points): Protect and enhance on-site water resources and receiving water quality

• A total of 95 percent of average annual volume of runoff discharged from the developed portion of the site receives stormwater treatment for pollutants of concern. Most of the water is drained into the bioswales where the water is treated and also no water runs into nearby streams.
• The site uses soil- and vegetation-based systems to treat 100 percent of the treated water volume.
• At least 95 percent of the water makes its way into bioswales and gets treated for pollutants.
• No major pollutants affecting site.

 

 

3.7 (1-3 Points):Design rainwater/stormwater features to provide a landscape amenity

• 75 percent of rainwater/stormwater features on site are designed as amenities and are visible from high-use portions of the site.

• At least one rainwater/stormwater feature is visible and accessible from sidewalks, and contact is not prohibited. Water elements where limited human contact is allowed must meet local and/or state health requirements. In some situations, this may require additional treatment methods such as ozonation or thermal treatment.

      Result: 2 points obtained

 

 

3.8 (1-4 Points): Maintain water Features to Conserve Water and Other Resources

• 3 points for rain garden being filled by sustainable water resources.
• Additional point for water circulation without human intervention (gravity).

      Result: 4 points obtained

 

So far, Agricultural Road has been evaluated at 15/21, which is quite decent so far. We hope that the score gets even better after submitting the credits for 3.5 and after obtaining the final score from Sustainable Sites.

 

We plan to complete the project probably on next Tuesday and hand in the final report to client within the week. Keep an eye on the blog for the additional seventh blog post as we are going to post the conclusion of the report and talk about the meaningful inspiration from this community project.

 

 

 

Feel free to contact us at ssi.agrd.walkway@gmail.com for further inquiries.

 

UBC Agricultural Roadway Group