Reinforced Concrete Pipe and Precast Boxes Have Unique Applications in LEED-ND
Concrete pipe and LEED-ND
were made for each other when it comes to stormwater management. One is a
product of the Earth using natural materials, while the other a standards
product of The U.S. Green Building Council, the
Congress for the New Urbanism, and the Natural Resources Defense Council.
Prior to 1914, members of the American Concrete Pipe Association spent
considerable time preparing specifications and standards for drain tile. This
action led to the organization of a committee of the American Society for
Testing Materials (ASTM) that prepared specification ASTM C-4 for concrete pipe,
almost 100 years ago. The use of concrete pipe for sewers governed by strict
standards and specifications is well established, so new LEED-ND standards are
welcome.
Reinforced concrete pipe is favored for storm sewers
servicing large tracts of land, because concrete pipelines can make it possible
to reduce adverse
impacts on water resources for long periods that can extend beyond 100 years.
Concrete pipelines fit within stormwater management plans because they can drain
landscapes where excess runoff cannot be accommodated by percolation into the
native soils and where constructed surfaces become impervious, inhibiting or
limiting infiltration. Once properly installed, these sewers require little
maintenance until they reach the end of their service life, which may extend
well beyond the design life of a neighbourhood development. Unplanned
maintenance of a pipeline or a catastrophic failure can very quickly negate
benefits that the project achieved through LEED-ND accreditation, if the
construction footprint becomes a beaten path for maintenance
crews.
Similarly, precast concrete
boxes have become standard fare for buried stormwater detention and retention
systems that treat, control and sometimes provide stormwater for reuse for both
neighborhood and new site construction. It is now commonplace for designers of
stormwater management systems to include reinforced concrete boxes because of
speed of installation and versatility of design to reduce the construction
footprint and provide a structure that will last for the full design life of the
project. Both concrete pipe and boxes, along with pre-treatment systems like
oil-sediment separators and energy dissipaters, are being used for a wide range
of stormwater management applications, mimicking the natural hydrology of an
area while reducing pollutant loadings from stormwater discharges, reducing peak
flow rates to minimize downstream channel erosion, and maintaining or restoring
chemical, physical, and biological integrity of downstream waterways. For
instance, concrete pipe is used widely in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas for
irrigating croplands and conserving water that could be lost through evaporation
from open channels.
LEED for Neighborhood Development places emphasis on the
design and construction elements that bring buildings together into a
neighborhood, and relate the neighborhood to its larger region and landscape.
Developers are required to evaluate where they build, and how they build
to preserve environmentally sensitive areas and accommodate pedestrian traffic
that would relate to jobs, education, services, amenities, and public transit.
The LEED Rating System notes that, “development will
have a similarly positive effect in encouraging developers to revitalize
existing urban areas, reduce land consumption, reduce automobile dependence,
promote pedestrian activity, improve air quality, decrease polluted stormwater
runoff, and build more liveable, sustainable, communities for people of all
income levels.” Concrete pipelines and buried stormwater management and
treatment systems have a significant place in determining construction elements
and construction best practices. This is somewhat
different from LEED for New Construction that focuses primarily on green
building practices, with relatively few credits regarding site selection and
design.
Under the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental
Design) Green Building Rating System, there are 1 to 5 points available under
the “Green Construction and Technology Credit 9: Stormwater Management” in
LEED-ND. There are a total of 120 available points for LEED-ND. The rating
system is designed to certify exemplary development projects that perform well
in terms of smart growth, new urbanism, and green building. Projects may
constitute whole neighborhoods, fractions of neighborhoods, or multiple
neighborhoods. Smaller, infill projects that are single use but complement
existing neighboring uses should be able to earn certification as well as larger
and mixed use developments. All of these development types are ideal for
concrete pipe and box applications.
Developers would have to
implement a comprehensive
stormwater management plan that
infiltrates, reuses, or evapotranspirates the below-specified amount of rainfall
from the project’s development
footprint and
other areas that have been graded so as to be effectively impervious for two
possibilities of development; previously developed sites, and all other sites.
In arid watersheds with less than 20 inches of rain/year; semi-arid watersheds
between 20 and 40 inches rain/year and humid watersheds with at least 40 inches
of rain/year, a project would be eligible for the following points, if the
stormwater management solution were to meet the combined infiltration, reuse or
evapotranspiration criterion.
The
concrete pipe industry throughout North America welcomes the proposed LEED-ND
rating system and the standards for helping clients achieve certification based
on the points attributed to the Green
Construction and Technology Credit 9: Storm Water Management. Although the
LEED-ND program is still in the pilot stage, the concrete pipe industry is ready
to assist developers in achieving LEED-certified projects.
Table 1.
Table 2.
July 22, 2008
Reinforced Concrete Pipe and Precast Boxes Have Unique Applications in LEED-ND
Photo Credit: Erica A. Vasquez Photography, Denton, TX
Concrete pipe and LEED-ND
were made for each other when it comes to stormwater management. One is a
product of the Earth using natural materials, while the other a standards
product of The U.S. Green Building Council, the
Congress for the New Urbanism, and the Natural Resources Defense Council.
Prior to 1914, members of the American Concrete Pipe Association spent
considerable time preparing specifications and standards for drain tile. This
action led to the organization of a committee of the American Society for
Testing Materials (ASTM) that prepared specification ASTM C-4 for concrete pipe,
almost 100 years ago. The use of concrete pipe for sewers governed by strict
standards and specifications is well established, so new LEED-ND standards are
welcome.
Reinforced concrete pipe is favored for storm sewers
servicing large tracts of land, because concrete pipelines can make it possible
to reduce adverse
impacts on water resources for long periods that can extend beyond 100 years.
Concrete pipelines fit within stormwater management plans because they can drain
landscapes where excess runoff cannot be accommodated by percolation into the
native soils and where constructed surfaces become impervious, inhibiting or
limiting infiltration. Once properly installed, these sewers require little
maintenance until they reach the end of their service life, which may extend
well beyond the design life of a neighbourhood development. Unplanned
maintenance of a pipeline or a catastrophic failure can very quickly negate
benefits that the project achieved through LEED-ND accreditation, if the
construction footprint becomes a beaten path for maintenance
crews.
Similarly, precast concrete
boxes have become standard fare for buried stormwater detention and retention
systems that treat, control and sometimes provide stormwater for reuse for both
neighborhood and new site construction. It is now commonplace for designers of
stormwater management systems to include reinforced concrete boxes because of
speed of installation and versatility of design to reduce the construction
footprint and provide a structure that will last for the full design life of the
project. Both concrete pipe and boxes, along with pre-treatment systems like
oil-sediment separators and energy dissipaters, are being used for a wide range
of stormwater management applications, mimicking the natural hydrology of an
area while reducing pollutant loadings from stormwater discharges, reducing peak
flow rates to minimize downstream channel erosion, and maintaining or restoring
chemical, physical, and biological integrity of downstream waterways. For
instance, concrete pipe is used widely in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas for
irrigating croplands and conserving water that could be lost through evaporation
from open channels.
LEED for Neighborhood Development places emphasis on the
design and construction elements that bring buildings together into a
neighborhood, and relate the neighborhood to its larger region and landscape.
Developers are required to evaluate where they build, and how they build
to preserve environmentally sensitive areas and accommodate pedestrian traffic
that would relate to jobs, education, services, amenities, and public transit.
The LEED Rating System notes that, “development will
have a similarly positive effect in encouraging developers to revitalize
existing urban areas, reduce land consumption, reduce automobile dependence,
promote pedestrian activity, improve air quality, decrease polluted stormwater
runoff, and build more liveable, sustainable, communities for people of all
income levels.” Concrete pipelines and buried stormwater management and
treatment systems have a significant place in determining construction elements
and construction best practices. This is somewhat
different from LEED for New Construction that focuses primarily on green
building practices, with relatively few credits regarding site selection and
design.
Under the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental
Design) Green Building Rating System, there are 1 to 5 points available under
the “Green Construction and Technology Credit 9: Stormwater Management” in
LEED-ND. There are a total of 120 available points for LEED-ND. The rating
system is designed to certify exemplary development projects that perform well
in terms of smart growth, new urbanism, and green building. Projects may
constitute whole neighborhoods, fractions of neighborhoods, or multiple
neighborhoods. Smaller, infill projects that are single use but complement
existing neighboring uses should be able to earn certification as well as larger
and mixed use developments. All of these development types are ideal for
concrete pipe and box applications.
Developers would have to
implement a comprehensive
stormwater management plan that
infiltrates, reuses, or evapotranspirates the below-specified amount of rainfall
from the project’s development
footprint and
other areas that have been graded so as to be effectively impervious for two
possibilities of development; previously developed sites, and all other sites.
In arid watersheds with less than 20 inches of rain/year; semi-arid watersheds
between 20 and 40 inches rain/year and humid watersheds with at least 40 inches
of rain/year, a project would be eligible for the following points, if the
stormwater management solution were to meet the combined infiltration, reuse or
evapotranspiration criterion.
The
concrete pipe industry throughout North America welcomes the proposed LEED-ND
rating system and the standards for helping clients achieve certification based
on the points attributed to the Green
Construction and Technology Credit 9: Storm Water Management. Although the
LEED-ND program is still in the pilot stage, the concrete pipe industry is ready
to assist developers in achieving LEED-certified projects.
Table 1.
Table 2.