Construction EcoServices

OUR LOCATIONS: HOUSTON | AUSTIN | SAN ANTONIO | DALLAS | FORT WORTH | NEW ORLEANS

news-header-2
January, 2021

ws-badge-200-1Hello,

We have curated several informative and entertaining news stories from the stormwater industry, as well as a few other items of interest. We appreciate you taking the time to read our ezine and hope that you find this stormwater related information as interesting and informative as we do.

Until next month, please work safe and stay well.

Sincerely,
The Construction EcoServices Staff

STORMWATER NEWS

As Cities’ Interest in Green Infrastructure Grows, So Does the Need to Develop Strategies and Resources to Maintain It.
ensia.com

While green infrastructure promises such benefits, administrators, engineers, maintenance crews and more are still learning how to ensure the installations deliver. Versions of concrete sanitation pipes have been around since the late 1800s, and their construction is tried and true. “Everyone knows what to do, who is responsible, ba-da-boom,” says Joyce. But experimentation with some green infrastructure only began in the 1990s. Some versions are living systems that need specific care that people’s formal training as architects, engineers or landscapers likely didn’t prepare them for.


Incorporating Green Infrastructure into Our Cities
meetingoftheminds.org

Most of our attention has been on our gray infrastructure – the pipes, pumps, dams, and treatment plants that provide safe drinking water, manage floods, and provide water for irrigation and energy. While gray infrastructure is extremely important, there is another kind of infrastructure that deserves much more attention – the natural, “green” infrastructure of forests, wetlands, floodplains, urban green spaces, and well-managed farms and ranchlands. Green infrastructure reduces risks to gray infrastructure from hazards such as flooding and wildfire. It improves the performance and reduces the costs of operating gray water infrastructure when the two are integrated. In some cases, green infrastructure can be a more cost-effective alternative than gray. No one is currently bothering to grade our green infrastructure, yet keeping this infrastructure healthy is important to everyone in the US.


Stormwater Management Beyond the USA : What’s the Rest of the World Doing?
wricitiesindia.org

Global examples described here highlight various innovative and multi-scalar interventions that can improve resilience to urban floods. Given recurring and frequent urban floods, it is critical to explore the potential of such integrated blue-green-grey solutions to flood-proof cities. The 20th century solutions of concretized storm drains and channelized rivers no longer suffice to manage high volumes of stormwater runoff brought about by rampant urbanization and climate variability. Integrated grey and blue-green solutions are cost-efficient, scalable and offer a multitude of ecosystem benefits to manage urban floods; there is urgent need to transition to such systems to meet current and future urban flooding challenges.

SUBSCRIBE

Each month, you can expect a professionally formatted and high-quality stormwater newsletter from us. Sign up, you’ll be glad you did.

SHARE

FEATURED VIDEO CASE STUDY

STORMWATER SHORTS: LID BMPs Before, During and After Tropical Storm Beta

In this video, we are taking a look at LID BMPs prior to Tropical Storm Beta, a recent Gulf Coast storm that dropped up to 14″ of rain in some areas around Houston in a 48-hour period of time. Construction EcoServices Vice President, David Batts, narrates on-site at a mixed-use development property, showing the BMPs prior to the storm, during the storm and shortly after the storm.

beta-1-cover

FEATURED CASE STUDY

Modern School Gets Modern GSI Solution

Fifteen years after New Orleans Charter Science & Mathematics High School leaders said they needed a new campus; officials have cut the ribbon on a $27.5 million building in the city’s medical and biosciences corridor. The 129,716-square-foot, three-story building has capacity for 750 students in grades 9 through 12. The new facility comes equipped with an outdoor learning space, science laboratories, visual art labs, advanced tech classrooms and a media center. Green Infrastructure was included in the design of the outdoor space, including permeable pavement and high performance biofiltration with expanded underground storage.

VergesRome Architects New Orleans Charter Science and Mathematics High School (Sci High)

FEATURED PRODUCT

martpond-bw-2020-logo-400

Using automation to manage the retention, detention and drainage of watersheds offers a world of new benefits.

smartPONDbw takes passive stormwater controls and gives them brains, allowing for both pre-programmed stormwater quality management and application-based real-time controls. Routine inspections can be monitored remotely with the smartPONDbw onboard camera, giving owners and operators instant feedback. Automated processes also make users aware of upcoming system maintenance needs by sending alerts to a smartphone or an email address. All components are modular and can easily be replaced by the user.

smartpond-batch-weir-11

GOOD-TO-KNOW STORMWATER LINGO

  • National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES)
    As a result of the Clean Water Act, the NPDES program was developed to control the discharge of polluted runoff to the nation’s waterways from point and non-point sources, such as pipes or wells and stormwater runoff. The program was developed by the EPA, but for the majority of the country, the program is administered at the state level.
  • Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED)
    Developed by the U.S. Green Building Council, LEED is a program that certifies and recognizes new building projects for their innovative design practices. Certification is based on a point system for a particular category, including building design and construction, interior design and construction, building operations and management, neighborhood development, and homes. Projects can be certified under four categories, ranging from the minimum required point value to the highest: certified, silver, gold, or platinum.

GOT A PROJECT? GET IN TOUCH.

Let’s Talk

We offer stormwater consulting and value-engineering services, turnkey SWPPP compliance services during construction activity, erosion control solutions for slopes and channels, and post-construction compliance services for stormwater management systems for detention and stormwater quality treatment. Need help? Contact us today.

ontact-us-group-shot-1