Enhancing Sustainable Communities with Green Infrastructure

Roof on EPA Narragansett Lab

Trish Garrigan, EPA Region 1

Presentation at National Community Development Conference Worcester MA, March 31, 2015

OUTLINE •WHY I AM HERE WITH YOU

•TALK ABOUT GREEN INFRASTUCTURE

•SHARE EXAMPLES WHERE COMMUNITIES ARE INCORPORATING GI TO HELP THEM BE MORE SUSTAINABLE, PREPARED, RESILIENT

•CLOSING THOUGHTS

New England Partnership for Sustainable Communities

“At all scales, green infrastructure provides real ecological, economic, and social benefits.”

“The idea that nature is also infrastructure isn’t new, but it’s now more widely understood to be true”

- Nancy Somerville, Hon. ASLA, executive vice president and CEO of ASLA

Permeable Pavement

Rain Barrels

Rain Gardens

Tree Planting

Biofiltration

Build in Green Features during Routine Right - of -Way Maintenance and Operations

North Street, Pittsfield, MA

Fact sheet #1

Permeable Pavement

Roadside bioretention

Build or retrofit parking facilities to be greener and consider “complete” and “green” streets

Fact Sheet #2

Before

3. COMPLETE GREEN STREETS

After

GREEN STREETS

•ALLEYS TYPICALLY HAVE LOW VOLUMES OF TRAFFIC AT LOWER SPEEDS; THEY CAN BE THE “LOW HANGING FRUIT” IN GREENING STREETS.

•WATER INFILTRATES THROUGH PERMEABLE PAVEMENT OR INFILTRATION BASINS, ALLEVIATING FLOODING AND REDUCING ALLEY RUNOFF.

Chicago, Il

•ADOPT PEDESTRIAN AND STREET CONNECTIVITY REQUIREMENTS

Build rain gardens and green infrastructure at public facilities

Fact Sheet #3

Silver Lake, Wilmington MA

Trees!! Green Roofs !! Green Jobs !!

Design traffic safety features to manage stormwater and improve aesthetics

Fact Sheet #4

•RAIN GARDENS CAN BE ADDED TO

PEDESTRIAN BULB-OUTS ON BUSIER COMMERCIAL STREETS.

•STORMWATER IS ALLOWED TO INFILTRATE BUT THE ADDED BENEFIT IS REDUCED CROSSING DISTANCES FOR PEDESTRIANS.

Kansas City, MO

Create stormwater microparks Be creative with water

Fact sheet #5

Email to: join-greenstream@lists.epa.gov

Series of Municipal Handbooks •Funding Options •Retrofit Policies •Green Streets •Rainwater Harvesting

Policies •Incentive Mechanisms

Superstorm Sandy West Haven, CT | Oct 2012

NEW ENGLAND CLIMATE CHANGE FORECAST

29

Temperature

Extreme Precipitation

Sea Level Rise

Warmer and More Acidic Oceans

in amounts of very heavy precipitation

Vermont’s Route 4

Aug 2011

Increases

1958 to 2011

Background: Climate Change in New England

Boston’s Christian Scientist Center Water Fountain

A FEW CLOSING THOUGHTS….

•PREVENTION AND PREPAREDNESS PAYS •PREVENT POLLUTION, PROTECT NATURAL RESOURCES, BE

PREPARED

•BE WILLING TO GO OUTSIDE YOUR COMFORT ZONE, ASK QUESTIONS

•CONSIDER NEW PARTNERS

•WORK MORE EFFICIENTLY AND EFFECTIVELY •USE LESS WATER, LESS ENERGY, ENGAGE THE PUBLIC,

FOCUS ON PLACES

•DON’T KICK THE CAN DOWN THE ROAD •THINK ABOUT UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES, AND WHAT

THE FUTURE MIGHT LOOK LIKE

TRISH GARRIGAN GARRIGAN.TRISH@EPA.GOV

(617)918-1583

EMAIL TO: JOIN-GREENSTREAM@LISTS.EPA.GOV

WWW. EPA.GOV/SMARTGROWTH TO JOIN LISTSERVE

www.epa.gov/greeninfrastructure Lots of tools, cost data, case studies, and guidance on regulatory integration