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NPDES Topics Alphabetical Index Glossary About NPDES

Green Infrastructure - Technologies and Approaches


Common Green Infrastructure Approaches

Development Patterns with Better Environmental Performance
Downspout Disconnection Planter Boxes
Green Parking Pocket Wetlands
Green Roofs Rain Gardens
Green Streets & Highways Rain Harvesting
Land Protection Trees & Urban Forestry
Riparian Buffers Vegetated Swales
Permeable Pavements Design Manuals for Multiple Practices


Development Patterns with Better Environmental Performance

Parking Spaces / Community Places: Finding the Balance through Smart Growth Solutions (PDF) (70 pp, 3.43MB) - Describes approaches that can help communities explore new, flexible parking policies that can encourage growth and balance parking needs with their other goals. The report also demonstrates the significance of parking decisions in development patterns and presents case studies of places that are successfully using these strategies.

Protecting Water Resources with Higher-Density Development (PDF) (46 pp, 1.35MB) - Helps communities better understand the impacts of higher and lower density development on water resources. The findings indicate that low-density development may not always be the preferred strategy for protecting water resources.

Using Smart Growth Techniques as Stormwater Best Management Practices (PDF) (112 pp, 1.6MB) - Reviews nine common smart growth techniques and examines how they can be used to prevent or manage stormwater runoff.

Using Rainwater to Grow Livable Communities Exit EPA Site - Provides tools and resources for integrating stormwater BMPs into development projects as well as case studies that examine BMP integration in several cities across the United States.

Menu of BMPs Fact Sheet: Redevelopment


Downspout Disconnection

Toronto Homeowners' Guide to Rainfall: Downspout Disconnection Exit EPA Site

D.C. Greenworks: Downspout Disconnection Exit EPA Site


Green Parking

Green Parking Lot Case Study (PDF) (9 pp, 34K) - Heifer International, a non-profit sustainable community development organization, published this case study on the environmental impacts associated with parking lots and identifies techniques that can be used to mitigate them. The report includes information on the environmental benefits and costs of green parking, and also explores ideas for developing policies that encourage the use of green parking lot techniques.

Urban Design Tools, Bioretention Exit EPA Site

Menu of BMPs Fact Sheet: Green Parking


Green Roofs

Green Roofs as Urban Ecosystems: Ecological Structures, Functions, and Services Exit EPA Site - Provides a general overview of green roof design and function while also discussing the multiple benefits these roof systems can provide.

Green Roofs for Healthy Cities Exit EPA Site - Collects and publishes technical information on green roof products and services.

Seattle Green Roof Evaluation Project: Final Report (PDF) Exit EPA Site (6 pp, 1.7MB) - Magnusson Klemencic Associates (MKA), a structural engineering firm, led a $125,000 two-year vegetated roof evaluation project in Seattle and found that a green roof has the potential to lower stormwater runoff from 65-94%.

Stormwater Monitoring on Two Ecoroofs in Portland, Oregon, USA Exit EPA Site - In this report, the Portland Bureau of Environmental Services initiated a monitoring project of an apartment building vegetated with two different ecoroofs. After over two years of water quality monitoring and over a year of flow monitoring, some impressive performance has been measured. Precipitation retention has been calculated at 69% for the 4-5 inch ecoroof substrate section and nearly all of the rainfall is absorbed during dry period storm events.

Menu of BMPs Fact Sheet: Green Roofs


Green Streets & Highways

City of Portland, Green Street Program Exit EPA Site

Seattle Public Utilities, Street Edge Alternatives (SEA Streets) Project Exit EPA Site

Green Highways Partnership

The Chicago Green Alley Handbook (PDF) Exit EPA Site (24 pp, 3.72MB)

Menu of BMPs Fact Sheet: Street Design and Patterns


Land Protection

Menu of BMPs Fact Sheet: Protection of Natural Features

Menu of BMPs Fact Sheet: Conservation Easements


Riparian Buffers

Virginia Cooperative Extensions, Understanding the Science Behind Riparian Forest Buffers: Planning, Establishment, and Maintenance Exit EPA Site

Menu of BMPs Fact Sheet: Riparian/Forested Buffers


Permeable Pavements

Hydrologic and Water Quality Comparison of Four Types of Permeable Pavement and Standard Asphalt in Eastern North Carolina (PDF) Exit EPA Site (91 pp, 1.3MB) - This report, published by North Carolina State University and the Interlocking Concrete Pavement Institute, provides monitoring data from a parking lot with four different types of permeable pavements as well as traditional asphalt. The parking lot was monitored from July 2006 - July 2007 to identify hydrologic and water quality characteristics associated with different types of porous and impervious pavements.

Long-Term Stormwater Quantity and Quality Performance of Permeable Pavements Systems (PDF) Exit EPA Site (15 pp, 293K) - This University of Washington study examined the long-term effectiveness of permeable pavement as an alternative to traditional impervious asphalt pavement in a perking area. Four commercially available permeable pavement systems were evaluated after six years of daily parking usage for structural durability, ability to infiltrate precipitation, and impacts on water quality via infiltration.

Menu of BMPs Fact Sheet: Porous Pavement


Planter Boxes

City of Portland, Planter Boxes Exit EPA Site


Pocket Wetlands

Menu of BMPs Fact Sheet: Stormwater Wetlands


Rain Gardens

Burnsville Stormwater Retrofit Study Exit EPA Site - To limit large volumes of stormwater runoff, the City of Burnsville, Minnesota installed an experimental raingarden system to infiltrate street runoff. To better document the performance capacity of the raingardens, this project involved the completion of a "paired watershed" study, in which two very similar residential areas are monitored - one control watershed with a traditional curb and gutter system, and one test watershed with 17 new raingardens within a 25-lot, 5.3-acre neighborhood. Both the control and treatment watersheds were monitored before and after raingarden construction to facilitate the statistical evaluation of the paired watershed data.

Menu of BMPs Fact Sheet: Bioretention (Rain Gardens)


Rain Harvesting

Water Harvesting at NC State University Exit EPA Site

Menu of BMPs Fact Sheet: On-Lot Treatment


Trees & Urban Forestry

Casey Trees Exit EPA Site - A Washington-based organization dedicated to restoring, enhancing and protecting the tree canopy of the nation's capitol.

Center for Watershed Protection's Urban Forestry Series Exit EPA Site - In cooperation with the USDA Forest Service, Northeastern Area State and Private Forestry, has produced a three-part manual series on using trees to protect and restore urban watersheds.

San Francisco Bay Area State of the Urban Forest Final Report (PDF) Exit EPA Site (92 pp, 2.5MB) - The USDA Forest Service's Center for Urban Forest Research recently released their study of the urban tree canopy of the San Francisco Bay area. The report had three goals: (1) to describe the historic changes to the region's urban canopy cover and amount of impervious surface, (2) to quantify the value of ecosystem services the current forest provides, and (3) to estimate future benefits based on possible expansion of the urban forest. It's full of interesting information for Bay area residents and anyone who would like to know more about the benefits of trees.

The Sustainable Urban Forests Coalition Exit EPA Site - A national coalition to advance a unified urban forest agenda for our nation's communities. The Coalition views urban forests as the aggregate of all vegetation and green spaces within communities that provide benefits vital to enriching overall quality of life.

TreePeople Exit EPA Site - A nonprofit organization that promotes various urban forestry initiatives through education, planting projects, policy development and research.

Menu of BMPs Fact Sheet: Reforestation Programs


Vegetated Swales

Menu of BMPs Fact Sheet: Vegetated Filter Strips


Planning and Design Manual

Low Impact Development: Technical Guidance Manual for Puget Sound Exit EPA Site - This guidance manual, developed by the Puget Sound Action Team and Washington State University, is designed to provide stormwater managers and site designers with a common understanding of low impact development/green infrastructure goals and objectives. It includes technical specifications for individual practices as well as research data related to those practices.

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Last updated on June 30, 2008 2:54 PM
URL:http://cfpub.epa.gov/npdes/greeninfrastructure/technology.cfm