A Green Infrastructure Tour - The Washington Metropolitan Area -

A Green Infrastructure Tour

- The Washington Metropolitan Area -

Developed under a grant from the National Park Service, National Capital Region through

the Metropolitan Washington Green Infrastructure Demonstration Project

Tour Introduction

• Purpose – To Provide Visitors and Residents of the Washington Metropolitan Area (WMA) (click to see map) with various examples of existing Best Management Practices (BMP’s) that are helping to sustain our local green infrastructure (e.g., agricultural and forested areas, stream valley parks, green roofs, low impact development techniques, stream valley restoration projects, etc.) and protect and restore our natural resources.

Tour Introduction – cont.

• The Anacostia was selected as the featured watershed because the breadth of related and representative practices present. We have also included two recently completed projects outside this watershed in the District of Columbia and Arlington County, Virginia.

• In addition to provide greater regional context and representation, we invite other submissions for green infrastructure sites to broaden the scope of this dynamic virtual tour.

Tour Logistics• This tour has been intentionally designed so that all

sites (click to see map) may be physically visited via automobile in one day. The sites in the Anacostia watershed are numbered in a logical line of travel via automobile. Alternatively, this presentation provides representative site information for those that may only have time for a virtual regional tour.

• There are also two other sites that lie outside the Anacostia watershed. These sites may be combined to modify the Anacostia Tour with those sites in the lower Anacostia Watershed in order to maintain a one-day tour.

Tour Logistics – Cont.

• Many sites are only accessible via automobile due to their remote locations. However, a few sites are accessible via Metro-Rail. Site accessibility is noted with each destination.

• When planning to conduct a tour of the sites in this presentation, please be sure to contact the landowners prior to your visit.

Anacostia Watershed Geographic Scope

• The 176 sq-mi. Anacostia River watershed, which encompasses portions of suburban Maryland and the District of Columbia (click to see map) is a green infrastructure microcosm of the larger 3,020 sq-mi Washington Metro Area.

The Metropolitan Washington Green Infrastructure Demonstration Project

• The Green Infrastructure Demonstration Project is a partnership between the National Park Service and the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments to move parks, open space and recreation areas to the forefront -- these areas are the green infrastructure of the Metropolitan Washington.

• Through the use of geographical information; technical forums and workshops; improved communication; and targeted technical assistance, this project has worked to build a lasting public constituency and create a model public and private partnership for parks and open space.

• The Project’s ultimate goal is to impart a metropolitan region

that continually strives to achieve a balance between the built environment and green space, sustained by natural processes and able to support and enhance the quality of life for its people and communities.

What is Green Infrastructure?

• Green Infrastructure is “Green Infrastructure is a network of open space, airsheds, watersheds, woodlands, wildlife habitat, parks, and other natural areas, which provide many vital services that sustain life and enrich quality of life”.

President’s Council on Sustainable Development Report - 1999

“I think there’s an opportunity to look at how we regenerate communities and ecologies by looking at green space as a form of infrastructure like roads, water lines, and sewers. When we talk about green infrastructure in the Washington [D.C.] area, we talk about everything from window boxes, to Rock Creek Park and in between: it’s urban gardens, residential landscaping, pocket parks, landscaped portions of a development parcel, linear parks, riparian buffers, street trees, parkways, farms and large parks and reserves.”

Green Infrastructure / Gray Infrastructure

J. Glenn Eugster, National Park Service - OMG Open Space Roundtable -Philadelphia, 2001

Green Infrastructure Tour Sites:

• Visit The Anacostia Watershed (next slide)

• Visit The Arlington County Government Center

• Visit The National Park Service Center for Urban Ecology

Address:2000 Half Street, SWWashington, DC 20024

Phone: 202-479-6710Fax: 202-479-9509 Email: info@ecc1

Ground Transportation RecommendedMetro Rail Stop: Navy Yard (8 block walk)

Tour Stop No. 1Earth Conservation Corps

Matthew Henson Earth Conservation Center

mailto:[email protected]

Green Roofs

• Green roofs are an alternative to traditional asphalt-based roofs constructed of waterproofing, soil and plants. They are an innovative stormwater management solution especially in intensely developed urban areas where open land is scarce. Green roofs have been used extensively in Europe for many years to improve water and air quality, mitigate the urban heat island effect, and improve the energy performance of buildings.

Site Features

• Green Roof

• Green Kiosk

• Rain Garden

Green Roof

Looking north toward the Anacostia River and the Whitney Young Bridge

Green Roof

Looking south toward the Matthew Henson second floor meeting room

Green Roof

Multi-level green roof area

Green Roof

Close up view of Sedum sp. and other plant materials

Green Roofed Kiosk

View of Kiosk at ECC with miniature green roof

Rain Garden

Recently constructed rain garden immediately following a 0.5 inch rain fall event

Tour Stop No. 2 National Park Service

Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens/Marsh

Address: Anacostia Ave. & Douglas St., N.E.Washington, D.C. 20019

Phone: 202-426-6905

Ground Transportation RecommendedMetro Rail Stop: Closest is Minnesota Ave (several blocks)

Site Features

• Historic Aquatic Gardens (dating from the 1860’s)• 32-acre freshwater tidal river marsh restoration

project (constructed 1993)• River trail and boardwalk (constructed 2002)• Interpretative signage

Trailhead

Aquatic Gardens

Looking west from visitor’s center

Lotus Blossoms

Kenilworth Marsh Restoration 1993

At the time of its completion, this 32 acre tidal-fresh water restoration project was the largest of its kind in the U.S. It involved the raising of the marsh bed elevations through the addition of approximately 130,000 cubic yards of clean Anacostia River dredge spoil material and the planting of 300,000 native emergent aquatic plants

Project partners included: National Park Service, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the District of Columbia and COG

Kenilworth Marsh – Before Restoration

Anacostia River in foreground

Kenilworth Marsh mud flats pre-restoration (circa 1989)

Kenilworth Marsh – Before Restoration

Close up of extensive mud flat area where pre-restoration water depths were generally too deep to support emergent aquatic plants

Marsh at low tide

Kenilworth Marsh - After Restoration

Tidal gut at low tide

Kenilworth Marsh - After Restoration

Tidal gut at high tide

Boardwalk Over Marsh

Interpretative Signage

Tour Stop No. 3City of Greenbelt /

Buddy Attick Lake Park

Address:555 Crescent RoadGreenbelt, Md. 20770

Phone: City of Greenbelt: 301-474-8000

Buddy Attick Lake Park: 301- 397-2200

Ground Transportation Recommended

Site Features

• Historic Green Town with planned wooded open space areas and trail systems

• Greenbelt Museum (fully restored and furnished 1930’s house)

• 23-acre Greenbelt Lake and recreation area

Background/History of City of Greenbelt

• Greenbelt is one of three "green towns" built during President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Administration (The other two being Greenhills, OH and Greendale, WI). The primary purpose of these projects was to provide employment during the Great Depression, the green towns were innovative planned communities, designed to provide economical housing in a pleasant, healthy surrounding.

• In 1935, the U.S. Government assembled parcels of overworked farmland to become the site of a new community to be called Greenbelt. Groundbreaking was in October 1935 and the first residents arrived two years later. The government created a community of mixed housing types, a school, town center with shops and theater, underpasses, walkways, parks, playgrounds, swimming pool, and a 23 acre lake.

• For additional information see: http://www.ci.greenbelt.md.us/About_Greenbelt/history.htm

Historic Frame Homes

Planned Green Space

Typical community open space area

Buddy Attick Lake Park

23-Acre Greenbelt Lake Recreation Area

Tour Stop No. 4U.S. Department of Agriculture

Beltsville Agricultural Research Center (BARC)

Address:National Visitor CenterBuilding 302 (Log Lodge)Powder Mill RoadBeltsville, Maryland 20705

Phone: 301-504-9403

Scheduled Tours Available (301-504-8483) Ground Transportation Recommended

Site Features

• Largest remaining green space in the Anacostia Watershed (7,200 acres)

• Working research farm

• National Visitor Center

Background

• The 7,200-acre Beltsville Agricultural Research Center is the largest and most prominent of USDA’s Agricultural Research Services 100-plus sites. It is a dynamic, highly diversified research facility featuring large expanses of forest and farm fields. The facility’s origins date back to livestock experiments in 1910. At its maximum size during the 1940’s, the facility encompassed over 14,000 acres of land.

• A trip to the ARS Visitor Center will provide guests a broad picture of agricultural research in America, as well as a glimpse back at the Washington Metro Area’s agricultural roots.

Aerial Photo of BARC, 2000

Visitor Center (Log Lodge)

BARC property is outlined in red

BARC Welcome Sign

USDA National Visitor’s Center

National Visitor’s Center1930’s Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)

Log Cabin Building

Grain Fields

Historic Farm Buildings

Tour Stop No. 5 M-NCPPC Fairland Regional Park- Fairland

Sports and Aquatics Complex

Address:13950 Old Gunpowder RdLaurel, Maryland 20707

Phone: 301-504-9595

www.pgparks.com/places/parks/fairland.html


http://www.pgparks.com/places/parks/fairland.html

Site Features

• Stormwater management demonstration area featuring parking lot sand filter, artificial wetlands, infiltration trench, grass swale and check dam system, and stormwater management wet pond

• Stormwater management pavilion and self-guided walking tour with interpretive signage

• Multi-recreational facilities including aquatic swim center, open and covered tennis courts, baseball and soccer fields and a hiker-biker trail system

Background

• 150 acre regional park (Prince George’s County, Maryland portion)

• Stormwater management pavilion and best management practices (BMP’s) demonstration area. Constructed in 1994 in partnership with Maryland Department of the Environment as a BMP demonstration site for both the public and building industry

• BMP demonstration area features parking lot sand filter, artificial wetlands, infiltration trench, grass swale and check dam system, and stormwater management wet pond

Fairland Sports and Aquatics Complex Facilities Map

Aquatics Center

Parking Lot Sand Filter

Provides water quality control for the first 0.5 inches of runoff.

Infiltration Trench and Interpretive Signage

Gravel-lined infiltration trench in background.

Chesapeake Bay Information Signageand Artificial Wetland

Stormwater management wetland in background.

Grass Swale with Check Dams

Provides first-flush water quality control.

Tour Stop No. 6 M-NCPPC Paint Branch Stream

Valley Park/Hobbs Drive

Site Address: 10011 Hobbs Drive Silver Spring, Maryland 20904

Contact Address:Maryland- National Capital Park and Planning Commission Department of Park and Planning8787 Georgia AvenueSilver Spring, Maryland 20910

Phone: (301) 495-2500E-mail: [email protected]



Site Features:

• Wooded stream valley park area and trout stream in designated Montgomery County Special Protection Area (SPA).

• Large lot (1-2 acres) of single family residential development

• Open section road drainage

Background• The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission is a

bi-county agency empowered by the State of Maryland in 1927 to acquire, develop, maintain and administer a regional system of parks within Montgomery and Prince George's Counties, and to prepare and administer a general plan for the physical development of the two counties. In addition, the Commission gained responsibility for the public recreation program in Prince George's County in 1970.

• The Upper Paint Branch stream valley park system includes large conservation park designation areas intended for natural resource protection and non-developed recreational uses such as hiking, bird watching and fishing. The Paint Branch is unique in that it supports one of the WMA’s last self-sustaining trout fisheries.

Background – Cont.

• Since 1996, M-NCPPC and the state of Maryland have acquired over 400 acres in the Upper Paint Branch at a cost of over $20 million dollars to protect the trout resource.

• In 1997, Montgomery County created an SPA program to: establish coordinated procedures, performance goals, criteria and requirements for development that will mitigate adverse development-related impacts on water resources. To date, three areas in the County have been designated as SPA’s (Upper Paint Branch, Clarksburg and Piney Branch).

Hobbs Drive/Park Entrance

Park Entrance Signage

Hobbs Drive - Open Road Section

The grass swale drainage system promotes infiltration and filtration of road runoff and increases flow-path and time of concentration.

Address: 1700 Block of Dennis Avenue

Silver Spring, Maryland 20902

Contact Address:

Montgomery County GovernmentDepartment of Environmental Protection255 Rockville Pike, Suite 120Rockville, Maryland 20850

Phone: 240-777-7700


Metro Rail Stop: Forest Glen or Wheaton

Tour Stop No. 7 Wheaton Branch/Dennis Avenue Stormwater

Management Facility

Background

• Keystone stormwater management retrofit facility constructed by Montgomery County Department of the Environment which is instrumental in the restoration of the highly urbanized Sligo Creek sub-watershed

• The 11 square mile Sligo Creek subwatershed is typical of the many older drainage basins in the WMA which were developed prior to the advent of stormwater management control requirements

• Land uses in the Sligo Creek subwatershed are predominantly residential with a commercial corridor located along MD Route 97 (Georgia Ave.). Most of the development in this subwatershed occurred between the 1930’s and the 1950’s

• The success of this stormwater retrofit facility has enabled the restoration of downstream degraded aquatic habitat in both the Wheaton Branch tributary and Sligo Creek mainstem

Site Features

• 3-celled extended detention stormwater management wet pond/marsh system constructed in 1989-90

• Provides water quantity and quality control for a 55% impervious, 805 acre drainage area draining the Wheaton Branch headwaters

• 6-acre wet pool surface area with both aquatic and terrestrial plantings

• Cell No. 1 (closest to road) dredged in 1997. Note: over 3,000 yd3 of sediment removed

Site Map

SWM Pond

Winter scene looking south toward concrete control structure

Cell No. 2 - Winter

Control structure

Cell No. 2 - Summer

Summertime scene with creeping primrose willow (aquatic plant) in foreground

Site No. 8 M-NCPPC Sligo Creek Park

/Forest Glen Road

Address: 1400 Block of Forest Glen RoadSilver Spring, Maryland 20910

Contact Address:Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission Department of Park and Planning8787 Georgia AvenueSilver Spring, MD 20910

Phone: (301) 495-2500E-mail: [email protected] Transportation Recommended

Metro Stop: Closest is Forest Glen


Site Features:

• Representative stream restoration and stormwater management control area for the larger multi-agency Sligo Creek restoration effort

• Two off-line artificial marshes• Stream habitat enhancement – (boulder placement

and stone wing deflector)• Understory reforestation• Riparian buffers• Hiker – Biker trail system• Bio-filtration swale system (~200 feet long with pre-

treatment sediment basin)

Background

• This portion of the Sligo Creek Stream Valley Park System is the site of stream restoration work completed between 1994-2002

• It also includes various stormwater management BMP’s including artificial marshes and a bio-filtration swale system

• The Forest Glen Road marsh was constructed in 1994 and serves as both a stormwater management facility and wildlife habitat feature

• The Godwin Drive marsh was constructed in 1999 and provides stormwater management control for a 30 - acre residential neighborhood area

Site Map

Wetland, bio-filtration, stream restoration area

Godwin Drive Marsh

Off-line marsh treating 30-acres of residential stormwater runoff

Storm Flow Splitting Weir

Godwin Drive weir design diverts first inch of runoff into marsh

Stone Wing Deflector and Boulder Placement

Stone Wing Deflector

Boulder Placement

Looking upstream from Sligo Creek footbridge

The techniques in this photograph were designed to enhance aquatic habitat for this degraded urban stream.

Sligo Creek Hiker-Biker Trail Signage

This ten mile-long Hiker-Biker trail connects Wheaton Regional Park with the lower Northwest Branch Stream Valley Park

Bio-filtration Swale

Pre-treatment sediment basin

Bio-filtration swale

8-foot wide, 200-foot long bio-filtration swale (looking north toward Forest Glen Road)

This BMP provides water quality control

for an approximately

0.5 mile portion of

Interstate 495

Bio-filtration Swale

View of pre-treatment sediment basin and I-495 over pass

Forest Glen Road/Sligo Creek Parkway Intersection Concrete Flume Storm Drain

Stormwater runoff from storm drain system treated in Forest Glen Road marsh

Concrete flume

Forest Glen Road Marsh

Off-line marsh treating 14-acres of residential stormwater runoff

Buttonbush plantings

Tour Stop No. 9M-NCPPC Sligo Creek Park/

Park Valley Road

Address: 800 Block of Park Valley Road

Silver Spring, Maryland 20910

Contact Address:

Maryland- National Capital Park and Planning Commission

Department of Park and Planning

8787 Georgia AvenueSilver Spring, Maryland 20910

Phone: (301) 495-2500

E-mail: [email protected]



Site Features:

• Stream Habitat Enhancement (rootwads, j-hook, log spurs, boulder placement and rock spur). These are commonly employed techniques for both enhancing stream channel stability and fish habitat

• Understory Riparian Reforestation Plantings (both upstream and downstream of Park Valley Road)

• Narrow, Urban Stream Riparian Buffer

• Hiker – Biker Trail System

Background• As part of the larger Sligo Creek restoration effort, this site features

various 1999 vintage stream restoration project site areas, as well as riparian understory plantings

• This park area was acquired via Capper-Cramton Act funds which were used regionally to purchase open space areas (In 1930 this Act authorized funding for the acquisition of lands in the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia for the park and parkway system of the national capital. Property acquisition included lands for George Washington Memorial Parkway; stream valley parks in Maryland and Virginia; and the park, parkway, and playground system of the District of Columbia)

• The Sligo Creek Stream Valley Park area featured herein, is one of the oldest park areas in the WMA and dates from the mid-1930’s

Site Map

Riparian reforestation and stream restoration area

J-Hook and Rootwad - Fish Habitat Enhancement Techniques

J-Hook

Rootwad

View of J-Hook and Rootwad installed in 1999 to improve pool habitat

J-Hook and Rootwad

Looking downstream at J-Hook (right side) and Rootwad

Flow

Understory Plantings

Planting area

View of 1999 riparian reforestation planting area featuring 17 native tree and shrub species

Log Spur

Log Spur employed both for deflecting storm flows away from bank areas and for fish habitat enhancement

Tour Stop No. 10Mount Rainier

Address: Bunker Hill Fire Station 3716 Rhode Island AvenueMount Rainier, Maryland, 20712

Contact Address:Prince George’s County Department of

Environmental Resources 9400 Peppercorn Place

Largo, Maryland 20774Phone: 301-883-5834




Site Features:

• A municipal application of a Bio-retention stormwater management system

• Incorporates use of Low Impact Development (LID) techniques in construction.

• Reduces stormwater runoff to the Bay

Background - LID• Low Impact Development (LID) is an innovative stormwater

management approach with a basic principle that is modeled after nature: manage rainfall at the source using uniformly distributed decentralized micro-scale controls. LID's goal is to mimic a site's predevelopment hydrology by using design techniques that infiltrate, filter, store, evaporate, and detain runoff close to its source.

• LID addresses stormwater management through small, cost-effective landscape features located at the lot level. These landscape features, known as Integrated Management Practices (IMPs), are the building blocks of LID. Almost all components of the urban environment have the potential to serve as an IMP. This includes not only open space, but also rooftops, streetscapes, parking lots, sidewalks, and medians. LID is a versatile approach that can be applied equally well to new development, urban retrofits, and redevelopment / revitalization projects.

Background – LID ContinuedBioretention

• Bioretention is a best management practice (BMP) developed in the early 1990's by the Prince George's County, MD, Department of Environmental Resources (PGDER). Bioretention utilizes soils and both woody and herbaceous plants to remove pollutants from storm water runoff. Stormwater runoff is conveyed as sheet flow to the treatment area, which consists of a grass buffer strip, sand bed, ponding area, organic layer or mulch layer, topsoil, and plants

• In bioretention systems, runoff passes over a grassed pre-treatment strip, which slows the runoff's velocity, distributes it evenly along the length of the ponding area (which consists of a surface mulch layer with plantings and the underlying topsoil). The ponding area is graded, its center depressed and water is ponded to a depth of 6 inches. Runoff gradually infiltrates into the underlying bioretention area and is evapo-transpired

Bunker Hill Fire Station

Recently constructed fire station with bioretention system

Bioretention System

Recently constructed bioretention system at Bunker Hill fire station

Bioretention

Example of parking lot bioretention system treating stormwater runoff

Tour Stop No. 11Bertie Backus Middle School

District of Columbia Public SchoolsBio-retention Area

Site Address: 5707 South Dakota Ave, N.E.Washington, DC 20011

Phone: 202 596-6110Principle: Alfonzo Powell

Site Contact: Ms. Gloria Thompson 7th Grade Science Teacher

Project Installation Contact: Jim Shell – Metro-Wash. COGPhone: 202 962-3342E-mail: [email protected]

Metro Rail Stop: Fort Totten


Site Features:

• Bio-retention cell retrofits in a large paved playground / parking area

• Three 64 square foot cells planted with native vegetation

• Metro accessible from the Fort Totten Metro (Red or Green Line)

• Accessible without a prior appointment or guide

Background• The project described herein involved two DC Public

Schools in the Anacostia watershed and featured the installation of bioretention cells, the planting of trees and shrubs, mulching of eroded areas, and cleaning of clogged storm drain inlets and installation of porous pavement in parking areas.

• The Pollution Prevention Program in the public schools has been an ongoing environmental education effort for both DC-DOH/EHA and COG. COG staff has worked within the WMA students to teach product substitution to reduce chemical usage, recycling and product reuse to reduce waste in concert with the national recycling motto, of “Reduce, Reuse and Recycle”.

Background – Cont.

• Through various programs, COG and DC-DOH/EHA have installed water-saving devices on faucets and toilets, instituted recycling programs, influenced a reduction in chemical use, addressed erosion problems, planted trees and cleaned out storm drains.

• This work was grant funded from the DC Department of

Health Environmental Health Administration (DC-DOH/EHA) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments.

Bio-Retention Cell Installation

Cutting through asphalt adjacent to the storm drains.


Excavating holes through asphalt


Breaking through storm drain inlet and checking fit of drain pipe coupling

Installing gravel and perforated underdrain pipe

Backfilling with a compost, topsoil and sand mix

Project at Completion

Project Completed in June 2004

Tour Stop No. 12Casey Trees Endowment – Green Roof

Downtown Washington, DC

Address: Casey Trees Endowment 1425 K Street, NW Washington, DC 20005

Phone: 202-833-4010E-mail: friends @caseytrees.org

Metro Rail Stop: Farragut North

Site Features:

• A partnership between the business and nonprofit sectors

• Tallest green roof in DC (12 stories high)• 3500 square feet in size • Planted in Spring of 2005• Monitoring equipment installed to measure

temperature modification, moisture retention and effluent quality and quality to the stormwater system

Background

• This project is collaboration between DC Greenworks, Casey Trees and Blake Real Estate through a grant with the Chesapeake Bay Program’s Small Watershed Grants program through the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and the Watershed Protection Division of the DC Department of Health.

• Installation was completed with the help of at-risk youth of Covenant House as well as Casey Trees volunteers

• Local roofing contractors and other businesses contributed their time at a reduced rate

Roof Planting Stock

Flats of Sedum and other plant plugs are ready for transplanting.

Completed Installation

Plants are installed with a jute mat for soil stabilization until plants are established.

Casey Trees Green RoofFall of 2005

Sites Outside the Anacostia

• Arlington County Governmental Center

• National Park Service – Center for Urban Ecology

Tour Stop No. 13Arlington County Governmental Center

Green Roof

Site Address: 2100 Clarendon Boulevard Suite 801 Arlington, VA 22201

Project Contact: Joan Kelsch

Phone: 703 228-3599


Metro Stop: Courthouse – Orange Line


Site Features:

• Limited temperature monitoring

• 3,285 square feet in size

• Metro accessible from the Courthouse Metro Orange Line

• Accessible without a prior appointment or guide

Background

• Arlington County local government officials are encouraging developers to make projects more environmentally friendly, by practicing what they preach through the installation of a 3,285 square foot green roof that is viewable from the county’s third floor conference room at Courthouse Plaza. The new roof garden improves looks, energy-efficiency, and reduces stormwater runoff.

• The Barrett Green Roof Roofscapes system was installed on the building in September 2003. The project team consisted of the building owner, Charles E. Smith Company; the architect, Page Southerland Page; and Arlington County’s Department of Environmental Services and Office of Support Services. Barrett Roofs, Commercial Roofing, and Chapel Valley Landscaping were instrumental in completing the roof. Total installation costs for the green roof that has a life expectancy of approximately 40 years, was under $65,000.

Arlington County Governmental Center – Green Roof

Post-Installation in late summer of

2003

Arlington County Governmental Center – Green Roof

One Year’s Growth -

Summer 2004

Go Back – Click Here

Tour Stop No. 14National Park Service

Green Roof at the Center for Urban Ecology(CUE)

Site Address: Center for Urban Ecology4598 MacArthur Blvd. NWWashington, DC 20007-4227

Project Contact: Jim Sherald and Doug CurtisPhone: (202) 342-1443

E-mail: [email protected][email protected]




Site Features: CUE

• Limited temperature monitoring

• 7,000 square feet in size

• 90 % roof area planted

• An example of an ‘extensive’ green roof

Background CUE

• The Center for Urban Ecology (CUE), in Washington, DC, staffs the Natural Resources and Science Division for the National Park Service, National Capital Region. It is appropriate that this unit of the National Park Service be the first to install a green roof because of their vested interest in utilizing sustainable technology that reduces and/or mitigates the adverse impacts created by impervious surfaces in an ultra urban area.

• Architect?• Contractor?• Cost?• Installation Date?• Temperature Monitoring• SWM Runoff calculations from the average storm event

Background CUE

• The roof construction under the green roof at CUE consists of a wood deck overlying steel web joists. A tapered rigid insulation board provides positive drainage to the gutters over an 80 mil. PVC roofing membrane.

• The soil media and plants are placed in sections that contain 2 foot by 2 foot plastic flats that are filled with 3 inches of planting media. The flats are placed right on top of the roofing membrane.

• A durable lightweight planting medium is used to prevent compaction and maintain the necessary pore space for water and oxygen retention. The planting medium consists of 75 to 85 percent inert expanded slate, with 15 to 25 percent organic material.

Green Roof at the Center for Urban Ecology

Green Roof Under

Construction

Green Roof at the Center for Urban Ecology

The Completed Green Roof

Go Back – Click Here

Washington Metropolitan Green Infrastructure Tour

Contacts:Glenn EugsterAssistant Regional Director, Partnerships OfficeNational Park Service,National Capital Region1100 Ohio Drive, SW,Room 350, Washington, D.C. 20242202 [email protected]

Brian M. LeCouteur Senior Environmental Planner / Urban Forester Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments

777 North Capitol St. N.E. Suite 300 Washington, DC 20002 202 962-3393 [email protected]

John GalliAnacostia Program ManagerDepartment of Environmental ProgramsMetropolitan Washington Council of Governments 777 North Capitol St. NE. Suite 300, Washington, D.C. 20002202 [email protected]

A Green Infrastructure Tour - The Washington Metropolitan Area -

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