UC Davis EPA's 2015 Campus RainWorks Challenge Narrative

FACULTY ADVISOR: Kevin Robert Perry, ASLA, Landscape Architecture

CAMPUS PLANNING AND LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE LIAISON:Matthew Wong, Landscape Architecture

STUDENT DESIGN TEAM: Magdalena Aravena, Landscape Architecture

Taylor Baer, Landscape Architecture

Flora Barbash, Landscape Architecture

Winnie Chang, Landscape Architecture

Tyler Loughlan, Environmental Policy Analysis and Planning

Nathaniel Oakley, Landscape Architecture

Sean Vang, Landscape Architecture

Elvis Wong, Landscape Architecture

Mayton Xu, Landscape Architecture

Boya Ye, Landscape ArchitectureDenny Zhu, Civil Engineering

The Convergence: Campus, People, and Water

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, DAVIS

Registration #M25

University of California, Davis The Convergence: Campus, People, and Water

Project Abstract

The purpose of this project is to create a framework for future campus projects, as well as to create awareness and educate the student population about stormwater management and green infrastructure. The master plan area was chosen after analyzing the most frequenced places on campus. Hence, it is composed of a wide variation of buildings: Social Sciences and Humanities building, Wellman Hall (where most general education courses are taught), and what we call the Science Cluster (Engineering and Life Sciences buildings). At the center of our master plan area is the campus hub for social activity, the Memorial Union. Withall of these high-traffic places, this master plan area allows for a maximized exposure by a wide spectrum of students. This would allow the project to act as a vessel of knowledge regarding the huge problem that Californians especifically are facing, what the UC Davis campus, as an explempary institution, is doing about it, and how that progress can be translated to the general public.

The goal of our design interventions is to efficiently and effectively manage stormwater runoff and create opportunities for that stormwater to percolate into the ground, refilling our acquifers. Unlike in many other states, our campus encounters the challenge of suffering very dry conditions throughout the year, with only a limited number of big storm events. Therefore, the main parameter of this project needed to be a design that would survive in drought conditions as well as take full advantage of extremely wet ones.

By hugely decreasing the amount of impervious areas on site, replacing turf with rain gardens or native plantings, and implementing other types of green infrastructure, this master

plan will achieve that multi-purpose it needs. In the spirit of the academic excellence that UC Davis harbors, this master plan will serve as a living laboratory, providing students and faculty alike with learning experiences and an interaction that today’s landscape lacks. With various signage carefully designed to showcase the green infrastructure elements, a new topic of conversation would ensue among friends and colleagues that will further cement this campus as the sustainable powerhouse “Cool School” it was declared in 2012.

A new green wall installation, designed and built by current students, is part of a larger intervention in the Landscape Architecture building courtyard.


Design Statement: Functioning Between Drought and Flood

On December 11, 2014, 2.39 inches of rainfall fell in Davis, California. Prior to this significant storm event, our region received only 2.23 of rainfall in the entire five months between July through December 2014. In the same time period in 2013, we received only 1.47 inches of rainfall.

The drought in California is a relevant problem to the entire nation, and certain effects can be felt globally. The agricultural industry in California is the fifth largest supplier of food, meaning even small changes in water availability and food production can have major effects on prices and availability throughout the world. As a whole, California uses groundwater to meet 40 percent of the state water supply, and under drought conditions, 60 percent Under these conditions, the supply of groundwater is limited. The lack of infrastructure and regulation only increases the severity of the groundwater limits. As the only western state without a groundwater management plan, California is in danger of relying on storm and flooding events such as the colloquially dubbed “Pineapple Express” that occurred on December 11, 2014. As a power-holding state, California can no longer live between two extremes of flooding and drought. We believe that green infrastructure provides a multitude of solutions, from managing wet weather to water conservation for drought conditions.

Innovation in green infrastructure has allowed for communities, including college campuses, to improve their overall sustainability goals and water management. The urge to implement green projects has increased substantially within the past decade, spreading from campus to community.

The University of California, Davis is no exception. Part of our goal within the EPA RainWorks challenge is to create a Green Infrastructure Master Plan that provides inspiration for our campus to further it’s commitment to sustainable use of resources and be a model for other campuses and municipalities throughout the State of California.

We can do this by using the campus as a laboratory to demonstrate different design tools for green infrastructure. Our master plan has identified the potential to showcase a complete toolkit of design strategies that can tackle stormwater runoff from streets, buildings, and parking areas. However, that is only one facet of a larger goal to help bring awareness and education of what green infrastructure is and how it can function during extreme wet and dry conditions. We have very purposefully and selectively chosen our master plan project area to provide the highest amount of exposure to those visiting and learning at the campus. Lecture halls, main campus entries, student unions, and high-capacity pedestrian and bike corridors are all places where we have targeted green infrastructure interventions.

Green infrastructure projects can be very simple or quite complex depending on the site location and existing conditions. Within our master plan, we have developed a range of potential demonstration project types ranging from simply converting high-water use lawn areas to native planting, to re-imagining a main campus entry from Downtown Davis. After numerous conversations with campus planning, we believe that UC Davis is at an exciting point for green infrastructure implementation.

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Site Analysis: Surfaces

After extensive site analysis and inventory, the following built environment relationships were attained. Out of the approximate fifty acres that the master plan covers, thirty acres are impervious paving and nearly fifteen are rooftops. Therefore, almost ninety percent of the site area is currently impervious cover. Of the overall site area, only twelve acres are have defined catchment areas. About four acres is devoted to landscape, but most of this area allocated to turfgrass. All of these numbers lead to a very simple realization: although our master plan represents a small sliver of our 5,300-acre-campus, the hardscape to softscape ratio in our site area is not sustainably balanced and leads to a large volume of stormwater runoff in wet conditions. It is likely, however, that this ratio is not much different elsewhere on campus.

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As part of our initial site analysis, we conducted a survey to over 250 people in a controlled manner to back up our decision for choosing this master plan area. In the survey, we asked random students walking by at each of our hubs (Science Cluster, Wellman, Memorial Union (MU) and Social Sciences & Humanities (SSH)) what their favorite place on campus was, whether it be for hanging out or for attending a course. Although Social Sciences and Humanities had the least amount of visitors,

the other three hubs were all hotspots. The other question was where the student was coming from and where he was going. As shown by the bottom diagram, most people were circulating between the SSH building and the MU, with the other hubs close behind. Therefore, while it may not be a favorite spot, the SSH is definitely a frequent one.

Site Analysis: Human Interaction

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Multi-Phased Master Plan

Bike Parking Intervention: Replacing current bike parking impervious surface with permeable paving and high-density bike racks

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4 Rain Garden: Large landscaped holding basins that manage large volumes of runoff

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Micro-greening: A type of pervious paving system that allows landscape to grow within small pavement cracks

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Green Roofs: A living roof, using climate-adaptable landscape

Stormwater/Vine Wall: Rainfall is captured and redirected down a textured/planted wall

Stormwater Canopy: A structured canopy that captures rainfall and directs it to a stormwater facility

Turf Removal: Removal of under-utilized turf, replaced with drought-tolerant plants

Green Gutter: Narrow and shallow depth landscaped stormwater planters

Bioswale: Long, continuous landscape areas used to convey and treat stormwater runoff

Stormwater Planter: Vertically contained landscaped system used to treat stormwater runoff


Case Studies: Social Sciences & Humanities | Memorial Union

Social Sciences and HumanitiesThe design intervention for this case study area consists of three different green infrastructure elements. The north section of the steep stairs would be replaced with planter terraces that would each end at a trench drain. There is also a cascading runnel that would cut through the center of the terraces to collect planter water and runoff from the adjacent impervious surfaces, daylighting the process. The added seating areas invite visitors to interact at this key campus gateway from Downtown Davis.

Memorial UnionDue to its high amount of pedestrian use and visibility, the MU design intervention is a top priority for implementation. One of its main features is retrofitting multiple roof downspouts that would allow flow to enter new stormwater planters. This solves the current problem of uncontrolled water spilling from the roof, and daylights the water process. Another main element is integrating these new planters with seating areas. Converting some of this underutilized space could offer new opportunities for social engagement and increase the pervious

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Case Studies: Science Cluster | Storer Pedestrian Mall

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Storer Mall Pedestrian CorridorGreen gutters significantly “green” Storer Mall by bringing the landscape directly to the street’s edge to help slow and filter pollutants. They can simultaneously act as buffers for separating bike and pedestrian traffic but can still allow for frequent pedestrian crossings. Micro-greening uses thin strips of vegetation to manage small amounts of runoff. Applied to Storer Mall, these micro-greening interventions will treat runoff from non-through zone pedestrian areas and gathering spaces, while providing a unique aesthetic.

Briggs HallThis area next to a large lecture hall is a high-circulation area that is unfortunately under-utilized due to the lack pedestrian amenities. To help solve this as well as manage stormwater runoff, a main intervention is to create a series of connected stormwater planters that would also have seat walls to define new pedestrian space to buffer the high flow of bicycle traffic. Walkable grate material can also span the stormwater planters. The current bike parking area is in poor condition and would ideally be repaved with pervious concrete.


Water Performance Metrics

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As part of our collaboration with Campus Grounds Supervisor, Matt Forrest, we researched information on the campus water consumption, stormwater capture, as well as how our proposal would affect landscape and water use performance.

On average, the month of July has the highest water consumption for our campus. Within our master plan area, the lawn consumes an average of 950,000 gallons per month. If we were to replace that lawn with our proposed green infrastructure and utilize a drip irrigation system, the average water consumption would be 130,000. That is a savings of almost 820,000 gallons per month or a 86% reduction.

For our region, the 85th percentile storm event is 0.6 inches in a 24 hour period. Within our master plan area, the total Drainage Management Area is 293,200 square feet. Our proposed master plan develops 59,820 square feet of Green Infrastructure footprint, which is over 27,000 square feet more than calculated to manage the 85th percentile storm event. In total, the master plan area would be able to manage almost 100,000 gallons.

Water Use Reduction

86% Reduction in Water Consumption

*for exact numbers, refer to text

Current water use in lawn areas

Water use for proposed greeninfrastructuee with drip irrigation


Implementation and Costs

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These are the cost estimates of each area based off of a cost for construction, materials, & labor per square feet given to each toolkit. Each toolkit should have roughly the same cost per square feet despite the location but there are some areas that would require more work than others, thus higher cost. For example, a new rain garden on an existing lawn area would cost less than one done on concrete. Generally, this cost estimate demonstrates two things: 1) how phasing works in our master plan. The less expensive toolkits ($10-20) would realistically be done sooner than the ones that cost more; 2) How feasible our master plan is. Majority of the proposed toolkits cost land in the lower end.


Collaboration and Campus Planning Integration

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Design team meeting with Skip Mezger from UC Davis Campus Planning.

Talking about campus water use with Matt Forrest, UC Davis Grounds Supervisor.

The Design Team gives a lunchtime lecture about the master plan to UC Davis students.

Circulation + Green Infrastructure Survey, Rnd 1

Meeting w/ Skip Mezger

Meeting w/ Camille Kirk

Survey, Round 2

Website Up + Running

Meeting w/ Matt Forrest

LDA 190 Seminar Presentation

October 14 October 24 October 28 November 3 November 6 December 5 December 12

TimelineMeetings


Education, Outreach, and Next Steps

Next StepsOur Campus Rainworks Challenge design team has completed this design competition as year-long, three course landscape architecture course series that studies the design and implementation of green infrastructure on the UC Davis campus.

The first course LDA 198 (Fall 2014) is the creation of the our master plan The Convergence: Campus, People, and Water. However, our design effort does not stop with the creation of the master plan and the completion of the design competition. In Winter 2015, the LDA 198 course series continues by creating more detailed site design drawings for potential green infrastructure demonstration projects outlined within the master plan. We will meet again with Campus Planning to determine which project sites should be considered for more detailed design thought. Ultimately the goal of the LDA 198 coursework is to actually have students implement their design work. In Spring 2015, this would be allowed to happen. The course would build upon the detailed design work from the previous quarter and require students to work with the campus Design and Construction Management to construct a simple green infrastructure retrofit identified within the master plan.

Hence, during the 9-month academic year, the goal of our design team is to move from master planning, concept design, detailed design, and implementation of multiple project sites. We are completing the first phase of this process now and looking forward to updating you as we continue to implement green infrastructure at UC Davis campus.

Education and OutreachDuring our student survey exercise, we asked people if they knew what green infrastructure was. 68 percent of the respondents said that they did not know what green infrastructure was, but most knew about the current drought situation. Our design team feels strongly that in order for green infrastructure to truly become an effective tool, people need to be brought to light to what it is and how it can help solve multiple problems. Hence, along with implementing various demonstration projects, the education and outreach component is equally vital. In November, our design team created a website that explains the EPA Campus RainWorks Challenge and the benefits for using green infrastructure. It is one of many steps needed to help supplement the campus’ concurrent outreach to students, staff, and the surrounding community.

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http://humanecology.ucdavis.edu/lda/rain/index.htmlCheck out the QR Code below!


References and Acknowledgements

AcknowledgementsA special thanks to all of those who volunteered their time and knowledge:

Bob Segar, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Campus Planning

Skip Mezger, Campus Lead Landscape Architect

Matt Forrest, Campus Grounds Supervisor

Camille Kirk, Assistant Director of Sustainability

Brad Wilcox, Landscape Architecture Computer Resource Specialist

Students of UC Davis who were surveyed

References•December 11, 2014 Rainfall Data: http://www. sacbee.com/news/local/article4444578.html

•California Drought Conditions: http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cgi-progs/reports/EXECSUM

•Global Implications of California Drought Conditions: http://www.kcet.org/living/food/food-rant/the-mismanagement-of-californias-groundwater-supply.html

•California Ground Water Use: http://www.waterplan.water.ca.gov/docs/cwpu2013/Final/Vol3_Ch09_ConjMgmt-GW-Storage.pdf

•Sacramento State OWP California Phase II LID Sizing Tool: http://owp-web1.saclink.csus.edu/LIDTool/Start.aspx

•Drought Response Outreach Program for Schools (DROP’s Program) LID Cost Data: http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/water_issues/programs/grants_loans/drops/docs/drops_webex.pdf

•LDA 198 Fall 2014 Green Infrastructure Lectures, Instructor: Kevin Perry•LDA 190 Fall 2014 Proseminar Guest Speaker Series, Instructor: Kevin Perry•Storer Mall Pedestrian Improvement Concept Plan (2014)•California Avenue Green Street Concept Plan (2014)•UC Davis Stormwater Master Plan Addendum (2014)•Wickson/Kerr Alley Concept Plan (2014)•UC Davis Physical Framework Plan (2009)

UC Davis EPA's 2015 Campus RainWorks Challenge Narrative

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