UBC Agricultural Road Walkway Project – Week Three
Feb 3rd, 2012 by irisfeng
During the past week, we started collecting all the data we need for the calculations and analyses of the site. We found some extra information in addition to the site plans that are needed for evaluating the credits under the Sustainable Sites Initiative.
3.1 & 3.2 Rainfall intensity data and use of stormwater, waste water in irrigation, and some irrigation coefficients
3.5 Stromwater drainage data
3.6 Site maintenance plan, stormwater treatment
3.7 Site maintenance plan
3.8 Site maintenance plan
Since there are no shorelines or wetlands, section 3.3 and 3.4 will not be considered in the evaluation.
We arranged a tour with Jeff Nulty, the landscape designer from the Department of UBC Building Operations, on February 2, 2012. We toured the site again, this time more in depth understanding several interesting features of the new walkway, such as swales, semi-permeable surfaces and vegetation. Jeff explained the site maintenance plan of the west side of Agricultural Road and gave us some very useful information about the sustainability of the site as well.
Several key features were:
Irrigation:
– Collecting stormwater for irrigation instead of using potable water.
– Bio-swales used at the rain garden can create a small pond to preserve more stormwater helping to moisturize the soil around and provide water resource for plants.
Soil:
– Fertilizing the lawn by adding composted topsoil when necessary.
– Using nutritious and environmental friendly soil obtained by composting a mixture of food waste, leaves and other organic waste at a nearby UBC site.
– Fertilizer used for the soil often comes from compost and mulch formed at UBC’s composting facility; there are no harmful chemicals used.
Stormwater Drainage:
– Elevated storm drains with lower runoff path provide spaces for storing water on the ground and extend the time for stormwater to infiltrate the soil
– Drainage pipes connecting from the roof of buildings to the storm drains collect stormwater from the roofs and transfer to underground
Pollution:
– No significant chemical leaks or car pollution on the road.
– The salt for de-icing the walkway may cause chemical pollution to the lawn by harming the health of the plants and grass, but it is not a major concern.
Pathway:
– Concrete bricked pathway has a low permeability to absorb stormwater.
– The permeable gravel pathway is used on the side of the Agricultural Road to transfer water to the ground.
The walkway has been well designed and it looks like it will meet most, if not all, the criteria under the SSI.
Feel free to contact us at ssi.agrd.walkway@gmail.com for further inquiries.
UBC Agricultural Roadway Group
Hi there guys –
I’m glad that you guys had a chance to connect with Jeff! Please make sure you invite him to be part of the blog.
You say “Since there are no shorelines or wetlands, section 3.3 and 3.4 will not be considered in the evaluation.”
What does this mean in the context of getting points or not getting points in the rating system? Does it mean that a project that doesn’t have the attribute of being near a shoreline or wetland would automatically be eligible for fewer points and thus a lower rating of “green-ness”?
Dean
Excellent work.
I hope you are taking time to think about how this project reflects the components of project management that you learned about in CIVL 201. In particular, I wonder how the context of this project is affecting your work…
Regards,
SN