Incenting Ecoroofs in Portland

Some previous posts Sustainable Stormwater and Grey to Green alluded to a large push for incentives to promote stormwater management projects in the City of Portland. For ecoroofs, the City is putting up the money to back up the talk, with a recent announcement.


:: image via Bureau of Environmental Services

Read the text below... excerpted from an article in the Portland Tribune:

"The Grey to Green goal is to add 43 acres of new ecoroofs in five years. The city has about nine acres of ecoroofs on more than 90 buildings. The incentive grants will pay up to $5 per square foot for new ecoroof projects, which typically cost between $5 and $20 per square foot.

The city will spend about $300,000 on grants in this year, and will make grant funds available during the next five years. Industrial, residential, commercial and mixed-use projects are eligible for the incentive program.
The city begins accepting grant applications on Oct. 28. An Environmental Services committee will review applications quarterly and award grants.

The grant application packet is available online at www.portlandonline.com/bes/ecoroof , or by calling 503-823-7914."

A five dollar a square foot incentive is huge... and $300k will help add 60,000 sf of ecoroof. If we conservatively say this $5 will leverage another $10-15 per s.f. of investment and will add an additional 3 acres or so of ecoroof this year. That's around 1/3 of all of the roofs built in Portland to date... and it's ramping up for the 43 acre target.

:: image via Bureau of Environmental Services

How do we achieve this success? A few thoughts:

1. We have to find a way to get the overall price of ecoroofs down to somewhere in the $10-12 per square foot. It's possible (and has been done) as long as people aren't in to making huge profit margins, selling expensive products, or over-designing the rooftops.

2. They all have to be well done - through installation, design, and maintenance. And I mean, look good, perform well, be easy to maintain, and just pretty much blow everyone away... not just be kind of good. And they can't woefully fail. And if there's a problem... we need to fix it, right away. If not, the success will be the downfall, as people will see a lot of badly installed, poorly maintained, and unsustainable.

3. We need to keep doing research and development - learning from precents. New research proposed at Portland State, Oregon State, and new workshops and documents from Bureau of Environmental Services is gold - encompassing plant materials, pv/ecoroof compatibility, and biodiversity... all of what we need to improve. Anyone have more ideas... let's write some grants.

Either way, there's a lot of buzz - and I imagine a LOT more ecoroofs on the way. It is an exciting time. For tradition's sake, we started the era of ecoroofs in Portland with Tom Liptan's rooftop in 1997...


:: Tom Liptans Garage - image via CS Monitor

And can kick-off this new, jump-started ecoroof era, with Dave Elkin's new ecoroof shed.


:: Dave Elkin's Shed Ecoroof - image via Sustainable Stormwater

In related news, Dave Elkin's Sustainable Stormwater Blog is rustling with posts lately (i'm guessing it's the 'free time' up late with the new baby :) Good to see the posts and the wicked cool aerial pole photos...) Congrats Dave!


:: image via Sustainable Stormwater

Salmon-Safe SoWa

I've riffed a bit on SoWa previously on Landscape+Urbanism as filled with potential but needing some time... A recent report by Dyland Rivera from the Oregonian and picked up on Jetson Green as well, that the 35-acre area in the South Waterfront area in Portland has acheived Salmon Safe Certification, the first urban neighborhood to do so. Salmon Safe is a program that aims to which minimizes impacts to native fish habitat in urban areas and agricultural zones by providing certification of best management practices.


:: image via Jetson Green

From the article - the benefit in SoWa is from the cumulative strategies that together protect waterways even in dense urban areas: "...the developers and city planners included water-treating ponds, green roofs and other elements that would slow and clean storm water that might otherwise poison salmon and pollute the Willamette River. Residents have agreed to restrict the use of chemical fertilizers there, too. ...Result: The runoff will be comparable to what the area would have produced in its pristine state a century ago, as if the development hadn't happened at all, according to Salmon Safe, a Portland nonprofit tracking waterway influences."

From the SoWa website - there is definitely a bunch more development that is slated to happen. The OHSU Center for Health and Healing (LEED Platinum) and the Condominums at the Meriwether (LEED Gold), The John Ross (LEED Gold) and Atwater Place (LEED Silver) - along with the new addition, The Ardea (LEED Silver). The other part is the Willamette River Greenway - which I will get to in a bit.


:: image via South Waterfront

The other big development down in the SoWa is the Aerial Tram... seen below, with the existing buildings and Mount Hood in the distance.


:: image via Portland Bridges

Back to Salmon-Safe... some further info from the Oregonian: "Certification means South Waterfront’s 17-block central district exceeds state and federal regulatory commitments to protect the Willamette River and its urban tributaries and is a leader in river restoration. The designation commits the neighborhood to sustain its environmental stewardship over time, including the district-wide elimination of pesticides that are harmful to salmon and other aquatic life. ...To date, Salmon-Safe's inspection team has certified more than 65,000 acres of farm and urban lands in Oregon and Washington, including 140 vineyards that represent a third of Oregon's total vineyard acreage."


:: Full Build-out SoWa - image via Lazenby Consulting

A couple of local development heavy-weights are quoted via the O, as well, starting with Dennis Wilde, a principal at Gerding-Edlen Development: "...Recognizing the ecological sensitivity of this site and its direct connection to the Willamette River, Gerding-Edlen and all of our partners committed to building the nation’s most sustainable neighborhood, particularly with respect to managing stormwater runoff." And Homer Williams from Williams & Dame Development: “By expanding its already robust environmental program and committing to Salmon-Safe development and practices at this ecologically important site, South Waterfront is leading the way a healthier Willamette River."

And the tag line for the event was pretty good as well... Live.Eat.Shop.Spawn...


:: image via South Waterfront

So it's all good, and I am a big fan of the project characteristics and elements, as well as the pledge for eco-friendly maintenance. The new buildings, rooftop spaces, bioswales, and the upcoming Neighborhood Park will add many facets to this emerging neighborhood. I just have one, big question...




:: images via Portland Bridges

When, with all of this money spent on neighborhood development and expensive condos, will the investment be truly made that will result in the vibrant and viable (and dare I say) truly Salmon-Safe South Waterfront Greenway ... to replace the blank grassy edge that currently occupies the river edge (above) and turn it into the habitat-friendly corridor seen in images (below)?

:: image via Portland Parks and Recreation

The certification is a great step. And once the Greenway planting is in, this neighborhood can really say that it is truly Salmon Safe...

Unnatural Waters

This post stems from a fascinating post I spotted a while back on Treehugger. The topic was the Foreclosure Fish... a resultant reaction from the abandonment of homes, and more specifically swimming pools. "The mortgage crisis is not only wrecking peoples' lives, it's not doing much good for the environment, either. The swimming pools of abandoned homes are perfect mosquito breeding grounds, there are worries about rampant West Nile Virus infections. In California, authorities are using airplanes to find green pools and are filling them with the Gambusia affinis, or mosquito fish, which eats the larvae."


:: image via Treehugger

Another in a long line of biological management strategies... the idea of these fish being able to escape into native waters is frightening. Again via Treehugger, re: the Gambusia affinis: "In Europe, the fish developed a taste for everything but mosquito larvae, and have displaced native fish. In Australia Gambusia caused extinctions of native fish and amphibians. In California they have decimated native species - yet civic authorities will give you a bag of them free if you have a mosquito problem. It may not seem risky putting them in a plastic and concrete pool, but the fish are champion escape artists, and can travel in as little as three millimeters of water."

This technique is used in Oregon as well, with Gambusia affinis recommended, and even supplied for free to people with open water bodies. This comes in handy in localized pools and man-made ponds, but what about this scourge being unleashed on local lakes and rivers... and they're so cute.




:: female and male Gambusia - images via Multnomah County

A variation of unnatural water... the innovative plant for providing drinking water to the Dead Sea area... via Inhabitat.


:: image via Inhabitat

"A research project from New York-based architect Phu Hoang Office seeks to address and solve these site specific issues with ‘No Man’s Land’, a series of artificial islands that would provide recreation, tourist attractions, renewable energy, and create fresh water. ... As a network of built islands with three distinct designs, ‘No Man’s Land’ would create an artificial archipaelago that employs a variety of building technology. In order to become a source of fresh water, the islands will extract water molecules from the air to be desalinated. Salinity gradient solar ponds, water purification tanks, and water filtering processes will all be integrated into the designated “water islands” of the chain. The other two island designs will be for tourists and solar energy production, providing self sufficient power as well as creating revenue."


:: image via Inhabitat

Shifting gears a bit, to a more functional topic, that of stream restoration... or the unnatural recreation of nature. A New York Times article in June investigated some of the science of Stream restoration: "...scientists say 18th- and 19th-century dams and millponds, built by the thousands, altered the water flow in the region in a way not previously understood."


:: image via NY Times (click to enlarge)

While it is reported that over $1 billion per year is spent on stream restoration, this 'inexact' science often leads to failures. As William E. Dietrich, a geomorphologist at UC Berkeley mentions: "...an awful lot of stream restoration, if not the vast majority of it, has no empirical basis... it is being done intuitively, by looks, without strong evidence. The demand is in front of the knowledge.” The results, are often, sporadic.

:: image via NY Times

Often, this work is done by eye (as mentioned above) not through the scientific empirical basis of fluvial geomorphology... as mentioned in the article, Dr. David R. Montgomery from the University of Washington says: "...most people agree that the best approach is to create landforms and water flows that streams can maintain naturally. “But how you translate that into action and at this stream rather than that stream really requires a lot of work to figure out,” he said. With an ailing waterway, he said, “sometimes there’s a clear line between the symptoms and the cause, and sometimes there’s not.” Read the remainder of the article for more info...

A final version of unnatural waters, a visionary post-apocalyptic view of London. Via Inhabitat: "As part of London Festival of Architecture 2008, award-winning media production studio Squint/Opera envisions London life in 2090, long after sea levels have risen from global warming. Imitating some of the techniques of the super-idealistic Victorian landscape painters, Squint/Opera have used a combination of photography, 3d modeling and digital manipulation to present five unique visions of a tranquil utopia in a familiar, yet drastically altered, landscape."

:: image via Inhabitat

High Performance Infrastructure Guidelines

In searching for some new landscape-related links to explore, I stumbled across the blog for Design Trust for Public Space (aka I (heart) Public Space) and their 2005 publication High Performance Infrastructure Guidelines.


:: image via Design Trust

This "...detailed handbook describes practices for creating sustainable city streets, sidewalks, utilities, and urban landscaping. Following the acclaimed High Performance Building Guidelines, this sister publication launched a new era in the design and construction of public infrastructure." Looks like another version, High Performance Landscape Guidelines, will be available in 2009.

This definitely has parallels with the Living Site and Infrastructure Challenge (Cascadia GBC), as well as the Sustainable Sites Initiative (ASLA) which is starting to broaden the discussion (and tools) for site-related sustainability.

Another more focused resource is an intriguing NYC-related blog, Sustainable Parks for the 21st Century - which holds promise, as: "...this project will provide the Parks Department with research and instruction in methodologies for the creation of high-performance park design, helping the City bring its 29,000 acres of parkland into the new millennium."


:: image via Sustainable Parks

And a little bit about the broad organization, via their site: "The Design Trust for Public Space is dedicated to improving the design, utility, and understanding of New York City's parks, plazas, streets, and public buildings. As the only New York City organization devoted to bringing private sector expertise to bear on public space issues, we generate powerful working relationships that enrich the urban experience for all New Yorkers by making the city more sustainable, functional, and available to all."

The landscape architecture profession definitely needs to push these boundaries of sustainable sites - and definitely communicate and collaborate with consistency - but also don't place all of our eggs in one basket, such as the ASLA sponsored Sustainable Sites Initiative. I like the idea of regionalism, which is more appropriate for sustainability, versus a one-size-fits-all LEEDesque approach. What does a sustainable park look like in NYC, versus Portland, or Tucson? This is a great question. Are there consistent themes? Absolutely. Do these need to be refined and adapted to local places - including values, climate, and opportunities? Even more so. So I will read these documents for ideas, and look to apply them on this coast... looking forward to it.

Regional Green

A busy week, and apologies for lack of posting. I'm well under my once-a-day quota for March, but alas - work is hopping with exciting projects in the region. As I mentioned in a previous post, we tend to take for granted the innovative projects that come out of the Pacific Northwest. The recent National ASLA winners notwithstanding (with the exception of couple of residential examples), the PNW continues to provide stellar examples for sustainable design at a variety of scales. This does not mean that there aren't a number great projects worldwide, but sometimes as we push the envelope, we forget the fact that there are groundbreaking designs growing in our own backyards.

A recent small-scale project called The Commons, which is one of a number of projects that is vying to be the elusive first Living Building Challenge project. Covered in the Oregonian, as well as on Brian Libby's Portland Architecture blog - the project has also jumped out into the national spotlight via Jetson Green. Developed by a pair of brothers in Portland, Dustin and Garrett Moon and features a number of green features: green roof, composting toilet, rainwater catchement, fly-ash concrete, and most press-worthy topic by far... dirt floors. (for clarification they are earthenware - as Libby clarified after some 'backlash' about the tongue-in-cheek comment about this feature.




:: images via Jetson Green

While it's gained a lot of attention, the dirt floors are really an earthenware clay, which is an uncommon and sustainable material in typical building circles. There is a groundswell of natural builders throughout Portland with a large following - with mixed results. I liken it to the fact that whatever the material - a good designer will use it well, and the rest... well. Or, as Libby points out, there is a definite conceptual break between the DIY cob-crowd of sustainability and the flashy expensive LEED condos... "When I think of those few conservatives out there who are skeptical about green building, cob benches and dirt floors are to me precisely the kind of stuff they'll ridicule." He later adds: "I just am not fond of the cob and rammed-earth aesthetic, although I certainly can't fault the function and sustainability of these age-old practices."

:: Cob Structure - image via Portland Ground

Another local project with some sustainable features is the Portland City Storage by MulvannyG2, which caught the attention of World Architecture News: "This innovative facility will include dry storage for boats, retail spaces, offices, and amenities including a rooftop pool under a retractable roof. The project integrates an elevated pedestrian walkway providing splendid views of the Willamette River, its bridges, and downtown. Portland City Storage is targeting a USGBC LEED Gold certification and will also generate alternative electrical power thanks to a wind farm located at the top of the building."


:: image via WAN

I have a more substantial post underway about some of this more site-scale wind generation appearing on a number of buildings - and it's an exciting trend to see this evolution. I think it is similar to water movement in the fact that there is a specific visual and physical connection between natural processes and the subsequent sustainable element. Take this a bit further, as tossed around in a project meeting earlier this week, what about taking the idea of rainwater capture and gravity flow through pipes in a building from rooftop to storage - then intervene and tap the energy generating potential by adding microturbines within pipes that could provide additional electricity generation?


:: image via Hydro

This brand of experimentation and techno-innovation is one of the goals of our local Green Investment Fund, which is "...a competitive grant program that awards innovative and comprehensive projects that excel at energy efficiency, on-site storwmater management, water efficiency and waste prevention." Historically providing a catalyst for experimental projects, the GIF has moved more towards leveraging and expanding the sustainable features of large-scale, well-funded projects. While I can't say anything about the quality of projects, from Mercy Corps to Park Avenue West.


:: Mercy Corps (Thomas Hacker Architects) - image via PDC


:: Park Avenue West (TVA Architects) - image via TMT Development

A good number of the projects make me scratch my head regarding the goals of the GIF. Is it to fund project sustainability and transferability, or is it to provide a little increment break for large projects? I wonder why are we dropping a chunk of cash (i.e. $100k or, over a quarter of the total GIF funds on one project) on projects that are multi-million dollar budgets to start out with, and that are really not in as much need of these funds. This is discussed as well on Portland Architecture, with Libby wondering: "Is it right that these projects, many of which seem to come from the city's biggest developers, are the ones getting a lot of the public investment from the GIF?"
On the other hand, this may be the kick to make these projects a reality. The description of One Waterfront Place, via OSD: "When completed in early 2010, One Waterfront Place will be the first speculative office building to achieve Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED(r)) Platinum certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. The 270,000 square foot building and garage built on a former brownfield will use a combination of ecoroofs, rain gardens and planters to treat stormwater on-site and restore wildlife habitat to this now-barren property. Tenants, visitors and community members will be able to view many of the building's green features, including a large solar photovoltaic system, from the Broadway Bridge and the new pedestrian bridge that will connect the Willamette Greenway to the Pearl District."


:: One Waterfront Place (Boora Architects) - image via Portland Architecture

It's a good project and a very good developer. They all are. But is that the point? I think One Waterfront Place and all of these projects would have happened and been plenty green without GIF funding. I personally know of a few innovative small projects that had a GIF funding or nothing element to them... these are all great projects, but when I hear grant-funding I imagine something that can provide that edge to make a vision a reality. There are a couple of smaller scale projects that recieved funding, but I'm guessing based on these previous submittals - it's going to make it less likely that innovative small-scale projects (which could provide an experimental laboratory for larger-scale projects) will even seek funding.

To follow this up, I will post later this week about the Oregon ASLA award winners, which were announced at a celebration last weekend. Stay tuned for more on this. And spinning around to round this back to landscape architecture, congratulations on the announcement of landmark status for Herbert Bayer's fantastic Earthworks (via Something About Maryman). Read more about Bayer at the TLCF website. That's a big win for the good guys!




:: Mill Creek Canyon Earthworks - image via City of Kent

AIA 2008 COTE Top-10

The recently announced winners of the 2008 AIA COTE Top Ten Winners unearthed some fantastic projects - and a whole lot of sustainable features and some Vegetated Architecture as well. In honor of Earth Day 2008, we thought it appropriate to showcase those verdant and green selections here.

The Yale University Sculpture Building and Gallery by Kieran Timberlake Associates features sustainable landscape in a number of ways: "The green roof on the gallery and native plant landscaping, which includes mature trees, serves as a connective habitat patch for avian species moving through the urban corridor between these parks."

:: image via ArchitectureWeek

The next selection is the Aldo Leopold Legacy Center in Baraboo, Wisconsin. Previously dubbed the "Greenest Building in the World" via Treehugger and some reported hyperbole via Rick Fedrizzi. The work of The Kubala Washatko Architects features some great features and is the first 'carbon neutral' operating building recognized by LEED. Some site features include wood harvested from on-site trees, rainwater scuppers, and a greater idea of fitting the greater landscape context - something Leopold would have appreciated.

:: images via Treehugger

The Ceasar Chavez Library in Phoenix by Line and Space featured sustainability with desert style - with rainwater harvesting and storage in a nearby lake - as well as high efficiency landscape irrigation system to cut water use by over 50%. Additionally (via AIA Top Ten): "Water from patio and foundation drains is piped to trees surrounding the library, and condensate from rooftop mechanical units is used to irrigate the vegetated island of the new parking lot."

:: image via AIA Top Ten

Closer to home, the Discovery Center at South Lake Union by MillerHull is a great example of design for deconstruction and reuse amidst native PNW landscaping. It is interesting to see how temporariness and deconstructabilty lead to a very light touch in regards to landscaping - but I guess that makes sense rather than invest in significant landscaping that will be ripped out eventually (but this building is in a park so that's definitely a debatable issue).

:: image via Treehugger

The Pocono Environmental Education Center by Bohlin Cywinski Jackson is located in Wilkes-Barre, Pennslyvania for the National Park Service, and involved a creative reuse of materials and simple details. From AIA Architect: "The design is a layered solution in which visitors pass through the forest, cross a wetland, enter the building through an opening in the dark north wall, and cross through a bar of service spaces into the bright, sun-lit main room. The jury said they were impressed by the economy of the project and applauded the use of simple materials and simple details... The jury also said they loved the creative use of the discarded tires reclaimed from the site for use as walls."

:: image via AIA Architect

Other projects that have garnered awards this year include:

:: Garthwaite Center for Science & Art, by Architerra (Boston, MA).

:: image via AIA Top Ten

:: Lavin-Bernick Center for University Life by Vincent James at Tulane University.

:: image via Tulane

:: Nueva School Hillside Learning Complex by Leddy Maytum Stacy.

:: image via AIA Top Ten

:: Macallan Building Condominiums by Office dA and Burt Hill in Boston, Massachusetts

:: image via AIA Top Ten

Finally, one of my favorite projects of the year so far, is the Queens Botanical Garden Visitor Center in Flushing, NY by BKSK Architects has been featured on L+U previously, with a wide range of sustainable features and vegetated architecture - including a native plant green roof, innovative stormwater management, and a mountable sloping vegetated rooftop to ground connection.

:: image via Wired New York

Check out more on this project here. Overall, it's interesting that these projects, the cream of the green crop is starting to evolve into the realm of integrated site and building, with some inventive irrigation systems and green roofs but there still seems to primarily be the standard disconnect between green building technology and how this interacts with landscape. It's going to be an interesting trend to see how vegetated architecture continues to drive these award winning projects. Should be even more exciting in years to come.

Grey to Green: Action?

I mentioned previously the announcement of a proposal by Portland City Commissioner (and mayoral candidate) Sam Adams for 'Grey to Green'... after an epic roll-out - there has been little talk since. Well that has changed in a flash with another big invite to City Council for an event this week to take some action.




:: Grey to Green - images via Sam Adams

From Adams' blog:
"Portland is blessed with abundant rainfall. With it, our city grows lush and beautiful. But all of this rain comes with a challenge: our annual average of 37 inches creates a staggering 20 billion gallons of stormwater runoff every year. Without proper management, stormwater runoff can damage our watersheds, rivers, and streams. The good news is that Portland is well past the days of simply funneling stormwater into pipes that release fast-moving, dirty water directly into once-pristine rivers and streams.

In 2005, City Council embraced a holistic approach to watershed health in adopting the Portland Watershed Management Plan. With this new strategy and thanks to on-going help and a steady application of pressure from organizations like the Audubon Society of Portland and the Urban Greenspaces Institute, we are ready to step up our investments in clean rivers and streams to preserve our urban watersheds for generations to come. We're calling this shift in the way we do business "Grey to Green".

Portland is at the forefront of using "green infrastructure" - sustainable stormwater management technologies that mimic natural systems. The city is dotted with parking lot swales, green streets and rain gardens that filter stormwater pollutants and allow water to soak into the ground, replenishing groundwater supplies.
But repairing our urban landscape is not enough. We also need to restore and preserve existing natural areas throughout our city, by fighting invasive weeds, restoring native plants, protecting our most critical natural land, and replacing culverts that harm fish.

These are not new approaches, but shifting our focus and resources from grey to green is a vital step toward improving the health of our watersheds and rivers. With this shift comes the added benefit that we don't get from miles of piped sewers - cleaner air and water, reduced urban temperatures, and increased and improved habitat. And, these approaches often cost less than traditional piped systems. What excites me most is that this new approach allows every residence and business to be a part of the solution, whether it's installing an ecoroof or simply planting a tree.

Grey to Green is an investment that makes sense. And we are ready to act now.

A reception and City Council presentation on the Grey to Green initiative will be held on Wednesday, April 16th at Portland City Hall (1221 SW 4th Avenue)."

There is a more comprehensive PDF brochure as well via Adams' blog outlining the details of these endeavor including the following goals:

:: add 43 acres of ecoroofs
:: construct 920 green street facilities
:: plant 33,000 yard trees and 50,000 street trees
:: fight invasive weeds
:: replace 8 culverts blocking fish passage
:: purchase 419 acres of high priority natural areas

All of this sounds great. My reaction to all of this has been first: elation! as there is destined to be support financially which will encourage those on-the-fence developers or agencies to go-ahead with the ecoroof or green street project. Is this true? I truly hope so. And while I laud our lofty goals to get Portland some significant square footage, I also want to make sure there is adequate funding for Research and Development of all of these concepts. Acres and miles are great - but if we don't continue to improve the quality and function - as well as stop repeating mistakes - on future facilities, will we really have acheived our goals. For instance, since the first ecoroof project was installed, our local knowledge of what works has increase manifold. In spite of this, there are still mistakes being made that are preventable (in contrast to mistakes made while trying to push the boundaries, which are good, if we learn from them).

Another example is green streets... wow, these are new, and more and more examples abound that really redefine the potential for what can be accomplished with this technology. But if we take the models (which are great) and just make those our toolkit - we really miss out on the potential to study, learn, and adjust the configuration based on what's happening. Having worked on a few projects in both the ecoroof and green street arenas - I have yet to get one where we've figured it all out - but have amassed experiences that can be applied to the greater knowledge base, as well as to future projects. For some more info about this concept check out and contribute to Dave Elkin's blog: Sustainable Stormwater

So as we embark on Grey to Green - let's remember to include funding and opportunities for R&D, as well as promote and encourage information sharing -- to make all of that Green the best it can be!

Aqueous Solutions Pt.3: Restoration

We complete this aqueous journey (don't you love when something simple turns into something wonderful?) and we end with some brutal reality and some hope as to our ability to turn the tide of our technological wrong-doing. I would posit that perhaps the most compelling reading of the year so far in landscape architecture were the two posts from Pruned in late-February 2008: 'Treating Cancer with Landscape Architecture' (Feb. 19) and 'Treating Acid Mine Drainage in Vintondale' (Feb 22). Together, in at least in the expansive realm of landscape architecture, the combined tale of these projects and the ability for landscape architecture, ecology, and design to actively provide not just sustainable design, but restorative design - definitely was a moment of reinvigoration into the profession.


:: Walk on Water - image via Atelier A+D

To avoid confusion, I will give an overview of each project and sum up at the end some thoughts. I'll keep the overviews brief, as Pruned as always does a wonderful job of giving quite comprehensive information on both. First, the proposed Phytoremediation of Silver Lake proposed by Cal-Poly Pomona Landscape Architecture Department offers a comprehensive view of the potential of landscape plantings to restore and reclaim a blighted landscape. In this case Silver Lake and nearby Elysian lake, reservoirs that supply drinking water to greater Los Angeles, which both have high levels of bromate, a known carcinogen.


:: Silver Lake - image via Pruned

In a nutshell, the proposal goes as such (a more complete overview can be had via Pruned) Terraces or 'modular biopods' provide remediation for the pollutants found in the waterways. Once cleansed, this water is stored in a subsurface tank prior to use. The water levels are raised to create more aesthetic park-like activities - which are infused with opportunities throughout to provide education on water pollution, use, and phytoremediation.

:: images via Pruned

As Pruned sums up: "It's landscape turned into a therapeutic and preventive medicine, applying natural processes into an artificial apparatus." In this regard, the functional/artificial processes are linked closely to nature's ability to provide cleansing via plants. Thus, there is a link to perhaps one of the best links for phytoremediation by John W. Cross - which is pretty accessible. I remember stumbling upon this site a few years ago when researching toxic removal with vegetation and it's pretty comprehensive. Pruned also mentions some good bibliography of phytoremediation as well.

The second project, the AMD & Art Park is a great project with a story of. I read about this recently as well in a great article in Orion that showcased the work of T. Allan Comp. AMD stands for Acid Mine Drainage, which is of course just what one thinks of when considering art and open space. The proposal is amazing in simplicity, ecology, and design. Comp brought together a multi-disciplinary team including Robert Deason, a hydrogeologist; Stacy Levy, a sculptor; and landscape architect Julie Bargmann, of L+U favorite D.I.R.T. Studio.




:: image via Pruned

An overview, via the Green Museum: "Polluted water flows along the colorful plantings of a "Litmus Garden" into a series of large gravity-fed water treatment ponds lined with crushed limestone to neutralize the pH and remove toxic metals. The water continues through bioremediation ponds and into an educational History Wetlands area which further purifies the water before it joins a nearby river."

The 'litmus garden' is not just a name, but an evocative feature playing on pH using a range of native plant species to display these (via Pruned) "Small groves or bands of thirteen native tree species were chosen for their autumn foliage colors. In the fall, the Litmus Garden trees will turn deep red around Pond 1 and grade through orange and yellow to blue-green at the end of the treatment system in Pond 6, creating a visual reflection of enhanced water quality — and a great reason for a Vintondale community fall celebration."

:: image via Pruned

Via Pruned: "The treatment zone is easily distinguished by a series of 7 keystone-shaped treatment ponds. No cutting edge nanotechnology or the latest transgenic organism or even heavy machinery is used. Turning the highly toxic water into one that you can swim in is done with elementary physics, chemistry and biology. Regular limestone, for instance, is applied instead to lower the water's acidity. Plants simply dying off and decaying in the winter and then returning in the spring also helps to change its pH level. Even gravity is utilized to help suspended metals settle out of the AMD."


:: image via Pruned

The park has been evolving for over 15 years, and has become a vital park to the community of Vintondale - offering ballfields and usable open space. The lesson is not the technology or design, but the end-goal, as Eric Reese in Orion stated: "...one of the most important elements of Vintondale may not be its water-treatment system or its sculptural installations, but rather its function as a potential model for many other such projects across the country."

And they brings us to the end of this journey along the many flowing courses that water takes us in design, planning, and daily life. Concluding this 3-part series on Aqueous Solutions, I'm struck by the wide range of scales and strategies necessary to both mitigate and solve some of these problems with water - either supply, usage, or toxicity. It dawns on me that all of these are linked in many ways - the smallest intervention or use (read: misuse) can have cumulative impacts that leave us with shortages or pollution - or both. On a larger scale, our grand technological 'fixes' seldom come without collateral impacts of some sort - to social systems or micro-scales that cannot be accomodated in macro-scale planning.

Water is often pressured to do so much for humanity that it is quite surprising that we haven't messed it up to an even greater degree. We drink it, consume it for industry, revel in it, celebrate it, recreate in it, store it, pump it, worship it, capture it, distribute it, budget it, circulate it, use and abuse it - all while bemoaning it's loss and contamination. Much like a number of sustainable strategies this isn't just a question of use - it's a question of cumulative actions resulting in a large-scale impact to a vital ecological system.

Our hydrology (and hydrological cycle) cannot be circumvented for our uses without consequences. Our ecology cannot be abstracted and packaged without some viscious backlash typical of nature misunderstood. Our chemistry can destroy water supplies with minimal inputs - and all of our ingenuity can't recapture what is lost. But there is definitely hope. By reducing our impacts, increasing our efficiency, and understanding the nature of how ecological systems function, and are innately resilient - we find the ability to repair, restore, and truly provide regenerative design strategies.

These projects should not be the special exceptions to make us feel good about the profession and our role in it. This must be the rule, the consistent truth of landscape architecture. If we continue to disregard our role in creating a better world (both as detrimental actors and as potential problem solvers) we will continue to marginalize ourselves and our true potential. Apply this theory beyond water to any issue... the real idea isn't the material - but the message: solutions.

Backtrack:

Part 1: Use/Reuse
Part 2: Provision