According to the US EPA, "Green Infrastructure management approaches and
technologies infiltrate, evapotranspire, capture and reuse stormwater to maintain or restore
natural hydrologies." More simply, it keeps stormwater and its pollutants on your property and out of your local storm sewer system. Read below to learn more about Green Infrastructure techniques and to see what Kentucky's communities are doing to advance this technology in the Commonwealth.To learn how you can implement Green Infrastructure, visit www.gray2greenky.com.
When Kosair Children’s Hospital was planning its outpatient center in suburban Louisville, project staff wanted the facility to offer comfort and functional, natural beauty to patients. What they ended up with not only showcased abundant plant life, it served to protect the quality of the hospital’s watershed.
To meet their goal, Kosair teamed up with Eric Senn of Land Design and Development, Inc. to install bioswales and biocells, which also helped the facility achieve LEED certification. These elements have lead to reduced stormwater runoff from the property and decreased pollution in the creek that runs directly behind it.
Found throughout the hospital’s parking lot, the bioswales catch water from rain and snow events and their plants filter out pollutants such as silt, metals and pathogens, preventing these contaminants from entering the storm drain system and flowing into nearby waterways.
Kosair Children’s Hospital’s bioswales filter pollutants such as silt and heavy metals that run off of the facility’s parking lots during rain and snow events.
Similar to bioswales, biocells have been installed on the hospital’s grounds. These gardens are planted in shallow depressions and have an underground pipe system that encourages water to soak into the ground before it can enter the municipal storm drain system. The plants in the biocell were chosen for their tolerance to a variety of conditions, including extreme wetness and extreme dryness. In addition, they can survive through periods of standing water.
The biocells at Kosair Children’s Hospital catch stormwater runoff, filter pollutants and encourage the water to soak into the ground rather than enter the storm drain system.
