The Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden—the second-oldest in the country—calls itself “America’s Greenest Zoo,” and it has some impressive credentials to back up that claim. It has several LEED-certified buildings, for example, including its new entrance complex constructed a few years ago. It uses solar panels on many of its buildings and geothermal pumps for heating and cooling. And now it’s undertaking a huge stormwater project—built into an exhibit under construction—to retain 70% of runoff onsite.
Storage tanks under the zoo’s new 8-acre Africa Savannah exhibit will hold up to 412,000 gallons of water, which can be used for irrigation and other purposes. However, the zoo’s director points out that over the course of a year the detention system will prevent about 13 million gallons of water from entering the public sewer system.
Even before this current effort, the zoo had several stormwater measures in place, including 30,000 square feet of pervious pavers and a rainwater harvesting tank to collect roof runoff. In an unusual dual-purpose use of a common zoo feature, some excess runoff flowed into the elephant moat—the deep, usually dry depression that surrounds many exhibits to keep the animals from escaping.
We’re familiar by now with LEED for Homes, for Neighborhood Development, for Schools, for Retail, and so on. What other facilities—perhaps unexpected ones—are achieving LEED ratings in your community, or taking on innovative stormwater management projects without a rating?
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Upcomimg Forester University Webinars:
January 12th, 2012
Planning & Executing an Effective Pavement Preservation Program
As roadway networks and commercial vehicle loading continue to increase and Municipality taxation power remains limited, the need to effectively maintain and improve our pavement infrastructure is paramount. Join David Hein, V.P. of Transportation for ARA, to explore the key concepts of an effective pavement preservation program, program implementation needs and guidelines, and common roadblocks to successful implementation.
January 26th, 2012
5 Steps to Creating a Successful Public Outreach Campaign
Change starts with people. Whether your focus is stormwater pollution, energy conservation, pavement restoration, or recycling, a successful public outreach campaign resonates with your target audience and leads to long-lasting behavior change. Join Erica Hooper of SGA to explore a proven 5-step approach to crafting a successful outreach campaign based on real-world examples of the good, the bad, and the ugly.
February 2nd, 2012
Advanced Stormwater Treatment: Dissolved Pollutants
How effective are your stormwater treatments in capturing dissolved loads? With an average of 45% of the phosphorus load and up to 50% of the metal load transported through treatment practices to receiving waters in dissolved form, advanced treatment is imperative. Join Andrew Erickson to explore cost-effective, field-tested methods to capture stormwater dissolved pollutants and optimize stormwater treatment performance. We’ll explore several field applications and data demonstrating significant improvements in dissolved pollutant fraction capture.
February 9th, 2012
Differentiating & Monitoring Groundwater Plumes
Threatened by various plumes of mobile contaminants, urban potable groundwater resources require groundwater professionals to not only determine the source of individual plumes, but apportion the contributions of multiple sources within a composite plume. Join William G. Soukup, P.G. of Cornerstone Environmental Group LLC to discuss the analytical and interpretive techniques for differentiating plumes and their sources, as well as tips to improve long-term plume monitoring and management.