Green Remediation Conference Kicks off in Amherst
Today marks the beginning of the Green Remediation Conference at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. The conference is providing professionals from around the country a terrific opportunity to discuss the state of green remediation strategies and technologies and their role in shaping future development. Camera in hand, I will be there to learn all I can about the latest and greatest in green remediation and bring it back for the APUS community. But APUS isn’t just a spectator at this conference. As of this morning, the APUS’ Academic Center project went on display as part of a collection from around the country to showcase green remediation strategies, projects and products. Our project will be on display throughout the conference as a case study on the use of sustainable development as a means to bring new life and new economic opportunity to brownfield properties. From 5-7pm tomorrow (Jun 16), I will be on hand to highlight our Academic Center project for academics, industry professionals and laypersons alike. Below I have posted the formal paper which will accompany the terrific looking poster put together by the APUS graphic design department (thanks again David!). The paper highlights APUS use of LEED design principles to control the watershed threat posed by the property at 330 North George Street and the ability of such projects to revitalize brownfield properties across the country.
American Public University System Converts Brownfield into 45,000sqft of LEED Gold Work Space
By Wesley Holmes and Carol A. Pollio
American Public University System
May, 25, 2010
Abstract:
American Public University System (APUS) is a regionally and nationally accredited online institution of higher education. In October of 2009, APUS broke ground on its first new construction development project in Charles Town, West Virginia. In keeping with the institution’s sustainable development policies, this project is following the design, development, and operating procedures specified by the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) to achieve a Gold performance rating under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) 2009 rating system. The 1.59 acre property under development is designated as a Brownfield. APUS has selected to use their planned property development as a means to remediate the contaminated site. The buildings foundations and parking facilities have been designed to contain the contaminants embedded in the soil and cap the brownfield site to prevent groundwater seepage by controlling the flow of stormwater on site. Through effective control of stormwater runoff, the former brownfield is being rehabilitated into a successful commercial property. The APUS project serves as a case study for the use of “green remediation” principles to rehabilitate a brownfield property into an ecologically viable economic development.
The Project Owners
American Public University System (APUS) is a regionally and nationally accredited online institution of higher education. Operating through two universities, American Military University and American Public University, APUS serves more than 60,000 adult learners worldwide. The institution’s curriculum offers students undergraduate and graduate degrees in subjects ranging from homeland security, military studies, and criminal justice, to technology, business administration, and environmental management. Since locating to Charles Town, West Virginia in 2002, APUS operations have grown from eight employees occupying a single building, to more than 240 employees occupying 10 facilities. Despite substantial growth of infrastructure, APUS has been able to achieve minimal landscape impact by selecting pre-developed properties for renovation. Throughout its growth, APUS has demonstrated an institution-wide approach to sustainable development practices.
As an online institution, American Public University System is able to achieve significantly lower environmental impact than traditional “brick and mortar” higher learning institutions (Roy, Potter & Yarrow, 2008). The online format provides a medium through which more than 750 faculty and over 60,000 students attend classes without the impact of commuting to campus. Institutional policies also allow staff members to work from home one day or more each week, further saving on fuel consumption and emissions. To further reduce environmental impact, APUS utilizes two electric vehicles for local business travel at its corporate offices in Charles Town, West Virginia.
As an early signatory to the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment (ACUPCC), APUS has taken several significant steps toward reducing its overall carbon footprint and working toward achieving carbon neutrality in its operations. Under President Wallace Boston’s guidance, APUS has implemented a Sustainability Committee that is tasked with managing the various aspects of the Commitment. The school has implemented a recycling program in both its Charles Town, WV, and Manassas, VA locations. Additionally, the school’s admissions process is now completely paperless. The school is currently working to implement systems to create a paperless accounts payables process as well. In late 2009, the University installed an environmentally friendly porous paving system in its Charles Town, WV location. The system prevents stormwater runoff by providing a compacted layer of stone beneath the pavers which serve as a filter for water prior to its absorption into the ground. Nearly all buildings in both APUS campus locations have been outfitted with occupancy sensors that have greatly increased energy efficiency. Members of the school’s Sustainability Committee have recently launched a blog, http://apus-sustainability.com, which will serve as an outreach mechanism for sharing ideas related to sustainability in higher education, in general, as well as a means of documenting and sharing APUS’ experiences as it works toward achieving a more sustainable future. The APUS approach to sustainable development can be described as strategic (Barker, et al 2009). APUS policies fully incorporate sustainable strategies to help reduce operational costs and sustain the human and natural resources they need to continue future operations over the long term
The Project Site
APUS’ first new construction development is located at 330 North George Street, Charles Town, WV. The four story masonry and steel structure will serve as the new academic center and admissions building. The 45,000-square foot building will be constructed on a 1.59 acre parcel located in the heart of the Charles Town – Ranson “Commerce Corridor”. The “Commerce Corridor” is a stretch of abandoned and under-utilized former industrial sites located between the central business districts of the two cities, within walking distance historic residential streets, and served by major rail, road, public transit, and utility systems. The 330 North George Street parcel was formerly utilized as a scrap metal waste disposal site. Stormwater seepage through old machinery and metal products became inundated with soluble metal forms and petroleum based lubricants and compounds, which were then transported into the soil. The residual wastes imbedded in the soil remained, following removal of the scrap metal wastes. The presence of these residual wastes was confirmed in the property’s Phase I and II Environmental Site Assessments and the site was designated as a Brownfield.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) defines Brownfields as real property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant (EPA, 1995). The U.S. General Accounting Office estimates that there are more than 450,000 Brownfields in the U.S., amounting to estimates as high as 5 million acres (GAO, 1998). Cleaning up and reinvesting in these properties protects the environment, reduces blight, and takes development pressures off Greenfields and working lands (EPA, 2010). In the Green Remediation Primer (2008), the EPA recommends that strategies for green remediation rely on sustainable development, whereby environmental protection does not preclude economic development, and economic development is ecologically viable today and in the long run.
Stormwater Control
Stormwater is a pulse disturbance that is capable of conveying large quantities of chemical contaminants to recipient environments in a short period of time. These contaminants may accumulate in sediments and microalgae and have been linked to the chronic degradation of watershed health (EPA, 1993; Center for Watershed Protection, 2003; Sanders et al, 2006; Roberts et al, 2008). Brownfield sites are often polluted by a variety of contaminants such as fuels, metals, solvents, and volatile organic compounds. These contaminants can impair a community’s water quality if they seep into groundwater or run off into surface water. Remediation of brownfield sites can address these water quality concerns and also prepare the sites for other uses (EPA, 2001). To prevent further leaching of metal contaminants present in the soil, the site has been capped with concrete and asphalt. The APUS Gateway Building provides the means to seal off the environmental hazard and contain the contaminants at 330 North George Street.
The cap consists of building footings (4′ of concrete, compacted stone and a vapor barrier) and an asphalt parking lot. To aid in the control of stormwater flows, the cap is graded to direct the flow of water to retention and treatment ponds or stormwater management (SWM) ponds. In accordance with stormwater best management practices outlined by the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (WVDEP, 2009; WVDEP, 2010) and the USGBC (2009), the site cap is designed to capture and treat stormwater runoff from 90% of the average annual rainfall. Elements utilized for treatment are designed in accordance with standards and specifications from the West Virginia Stormwater Management Plan, which is capable of removing 80% of the average annual post development total suspended solids (TSS) load (WVDEP, 2010). For the project in Charles Town, APUS is utilizing a wet SWM pond. The retention areas will serve the building site and primary parking lot as well as the overflow parking area. The ponds, designed by the Civil Engineering firm Dewberry & Davis, have a combined volume of 3,051 cu.ft.
Once water has collected in the pond, a flow regulator will hold the water for several hours. In a standard SWM pond, a flow regulator is attached to the pond drain pipe to reduce the size of the outlet. A smaller outlet causes the pond to collect excess flow and reduces the erosion potential of the initial pulse of water. Conventional stormwater retention ponds will release stormwater over 2-3 hours. The treatment ponds on this site will release the water over 2-3 days, allowing for optimum removal of sediment and nutrient loads (EPA, 1993; Brown & Schueler, 1997). Following on site treatment, water volumes will be released to municipal storm drains.
The Gateway Building
The Gateway building, designed by Harne-Bowen Architects, is a 45,000 sq ft facility on four floors. The four story masonry and steel structure is being constructed in compliance with the energy and environmental design standards set by US Green Building Council (USGBC) pursuant to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification at the Gold Level. Some of the environmental features include efficient insulation and windows, lighting controls to manage energy use and solar panels on the roof to provide a portion of the building’s energy requirements. When completed, the building will initially accommodate approximately 140 personnel and contain one of the world’s largest book collections on military history. The building is on track to achieve significant performance gains over the average building of this size.
(See LEED Credit Scorecard for performance details)
Conclusions
Through adherence to LEED design and construction principles, APUS is effectively creating new economic opportunity, while preserving landscape integrity and protecting watershed health. In attendance at the site’s groundbreaking was David R. Lloyd, Director of the Office of Brownfields and Land Revitalization, who stated, “The EPA is proud to have provided some of the environmental assessment funding that allowed this impressive project to develop. The outcome from today’s groundbreaking event will represent an important goal of the EPA Brownfields Program – to help assess and clean contaminated sites, and to help communities reuse land in a sustainable way that will benefit the environmental and economic health of the community” (Symanoskie, 2009). Through effective control of the site’s stormwater runoff, the former brownfield is being rehabilitated into a successful commercial property. In making this strategic investment in sustainable development, the institution is also embracing a transformative, participatory educational opportunity to showcase the process and results of green remediation as a mechanism for landscape management and business development. In doing so, APUS is making a significant stride in establishing their institution within the campus sustainability movement (Sterling, 2001; Wals & Jickling, 2002; Sharp, 2009).
Works Cited
Barker, J, Besland, L, Mahler, D, & Schulz, O (2009). Companies With a Commitment to Sustainability Tend to Outperform Their Peers During the Financial Crisis. Environmental Valuation and Cost Benefit News, March, Retrieved March 12, 2009, from http://www.envirovaluation.org/index.php Full Report at http://www.atkearney.com/main.taf?p=1,5,1,223.
Brown, W. and T. Schueler (1997) National Pollutant Removal Performance Database for Stormwater BMPs. Center for Watershed Protection. Chesapeake Research Consortium.
Center for Watershed Protection (2003) Impacts of Impervious Cover on Aquatic Systems. Center for Watershed Protection. Ellicott City, MD. Available Online:
http://www.cwp.org/Store/guidance.htm.
Environmental Protection Agency (1993) Guidance Specifying Management Measures for Sources of Nonpoint Pollution in Coastal Waters. EPA-840-B-92-002. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Office of Wetlands, Oceans and Watersheds. Washington, DC. Available Online: http://www.epa.gov/nps/MMGI/
EPA: Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response (April 2008):
Incorporating Sustainable Environmental Practices into Remediation of Contaminated Sites EPA 542-R-08-002
General Accounting Office (March 1998) Superfund: EPA’s Use of Funds for Brownfield Revitalization. GAO\RCED-98-87. www.gao.gov
Roberts , D. A., Johnstona, E. L. , Müllera, S. , & Poore, A. G.B. (2008). Field and laboratory simulations of storm water pulses: Behavioral avoidance by marine epifauna.
Roy, Potter, & Yarrow. (2008). Designing low carbon higher education systems: Environmental impacts of campus and distance learning systems. International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, 9(2), 116-130. Environmental Pollution, 152, 153-162. Taken from: http://www.sciencedirect.com.ezproxy2.apus.edu/science/
Sanders, B., Grant, S., Horne, A., Keller, R., & Sobsey, M (2006) Final Report: Identification and Control of Non-Point Sources of Microbial Pollution in a Coastal Watershed. National Center for Environmental Research
Sharp, L. (2009) Higher education: the quest for the sustainable campus. Sustainability: Science, Practice, & Policy 5(1):1-8. http://ejournal.nbii.org/archives/vol5iss1/editorial.sharp.html.
Sterling, S. (2001). The name assigned to the document by the author. This field may also contain sub-titles, series names, and report numbers.Sustainable Education: Re-Visioning Learning and Change. Schumacher Briefings, Bristol, U.K.
Symanoskie, C. (2009) APUS Press Release: APUS Breaks Ground on New Academic Center in Charles Town, WV. Retrieved from http://www.apus.edu/news-events/news/2009/101509_Groundbreaking.htm, April 21, 2010.
US Green Building Council (2008). LEED for New Construction and Major Renovations Project Checklist. Retrieved August 20, 2009 from www.USGBC.org.
Wals, A. and B. Jickling (2002). “Sustainability” in higher education: From
doublethink and newspeak to critical thinking and meaningful learning. International Journal of Sustainability in Education, 3(3): 221 – 232.
West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (2006) West Virginia Erosion and Sediment Control Best Management Practice Manual.
http://www2.wvdep.org/dwwm/stormwater/BMP/index.html.
West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (2009) Water Quality Monitoring Web page. Division of Water and Waste Management. www.wvdep.org/item.cfm?ssid=11&ss1id=192. Accessed Dec, 21.
West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (2010) Storm Water Management – Ground Water Protection Plan Guidance Document. Taken on April, 21 from http://www.dep.wv.gov/WWE/permit/individual/Documents/367_gppguide.pdf
July 9th, 2010 at 4:33 am
following your blog, great stuff!