BROOKLYN GREENWAY WINS 2018 AIANY + ASLANY TRANSPORTATION + INFRASTRUCTURE DESIGN EXCELLENCE AWARD AS BEST IN COMPETITION

New York City Urban Field Station Science of the Living City Seminar

BROOKLYN GREENWAY WINS 2018 AIANY + ASLANY TRANSPORTATION + INFRASTRUCTURE DESIGN EXCELLENCE AWARD AS “BEST IN COMPETITION”!

eDesign Dynamics has been recognized during The American Institute of Architects' first AIANY + ASLANY Transportation + Infrastructure Design Excellence Awards for its part in designing The Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway. The project was conceived in 1999 as a “thick ribbon of green” along the Brooklyn waterfront comprised of a landscaped bicycle and pedestrian corridor contiguous with parks and open space, enabling access and connectivity to the waterfront as well as new mobility options for transit-starved coastal communities.  
The AIANY + ASLANY Transportation + Infrastructure Design Excellence Awards recognize exceptional design by AIA and ASLA members. Built and unbuilt projects are reviewed for their innovative design approaches to transportation and infrastructure. AIANY + ASLANY recognize projects that reflect a commitment to sustainability, community engagement, and civic architecture. Read more >HERE<  

The First Smart Sponge City Forum

Eric Rothstein, Managing Partner and Engineer at eDesign Dynamics, attended "The First Smart Sponge City Forum & The Launching of the Research Center for Sponge City, Wuhan University," December 17-19 in Wuhan, China.

 
Eric Rothstein was a keynote and the title of the talk was 'Innovations in Green Infrastructure Design and Monitoring in New York City." He was flown in as the New York expert to share his experience in design and monitoring of green infrastructure in New York City. 

So what is a smart sponge city?

Instead of funneling rainwater away, a sponge city retains it for use within its own boundaries. Some might be used to recharge depleted aquifers or irrigate gardens and urban farms. Some could replace the drinking water we use to flush our toilets and clean our homes. It could even be processed to make it clean enough to drink.

China has enthusiastically embraced the idea of sponge cities because few countries are wrestling so painfully with the twin problems of rapid urbanisation and poor water management. Around half of China's cities are considered water scarce or severely water scarce by UN measures, and another half fail to reach national standards for flood prevention. 

China has now chosen 16 urban districts across the country, including Wuhan, Chongqing and Xiamen, to become pilot sponge cities. Over the next three years, each will receive up to 600m yuan to develop ponds, filtration pools and wetlands, as well as to build permeable roads and public spaces that enable stormwater to soak into the ground. Ultimately, the plan is to manage 60% of rainwater falling in the cities.

A smart sponge city follows the philosophy of innovation: that a city can solve water problems instead of creating them. In the long run, sponge cities will reduce carbon emissions and help fight climate change.

CAEE Professor Montalto Gives Training in Italy

eDesign Dynamics, Green Engineering, From July 11-15, 2016 CAEE Professor Dr. Franco Montalto, P.E. was a trainer at UNESCO World Water Assessment Program (WWAP) headquarters in Colombella, Italy.

Dr. Franco Montalto, P.E. was recently a trainer at UNESCO World Water Assessment Program (WWAP) headquarters in Colombella, Italy.  The training was entitled “Capacity Development on Water and Sustainable Development,” and was a follow up to the WWAP’s 2015 report "Water for a Sustainable World." It was attended by 20 water professionals from 14 different African countries.

Dr. Montalto kicked off the program with a group role play exercise inspired by Garrett Hardin’s seminal 1968 Science article, Tragedy of the Commons. The goal of exercise was to explore the challenges associated with implementing the UN’s recent Sustainable Development Goals through a “fishing game”. Dr. Montalto also taught the portion of the training that focused on Urban Water Planning and Management.

Professor Montalto’s Sustainable Water Resource Engineering Class in Venice

New York City Urban Field Station Science of the Living City Seminar

From June 8-18, 2016, CAEE Professor Dr. Franco Montalto, P.E. brought a group of 13 student to Venice, Italy as part of his Sustainable Water Resource Engineering class.

The theme of this year's class was Water and Jobs, the name also given to the 2016 World Water Development Report produced by World Water Assessment Program (WWAP). Since it is estimated that 3 out of 4 global jobs are water dependent, new approaches to water management can help to foster new forms of sustainable development. The group explored this theme with a focus on historical and contemporary water management strategies in Venice, a city of water.

After an introductory presentation by Dr. Angela Ortigara from WWAP, the trip began with a tour of the controversial Venice MOSE storm surge barrier project, followed immediately by technical presentations by some of its most vocal local critics.

The students then joined researchers from the University of Padua who are exploring strategies for engaging unemployed fisherman, refugees, and others in wetland restoration and river corridor restoration projects as part of the EU’s LIFE Vimine Project. The Drexel students collected water quality samples at the inlet and outlet of a tidal wetland in the Northern Venice lagoon in an effort to quantify its potential for improving water quality.

Other excursions included to Lazzaretto Nuovo, the city’s historical quarantine, to traditional fish farms in the Po Delta region, and to one of the region’s most historical flood control districts il Consorzio di Bonifica Delta Po Adige.

The project capstone was independent research conducted by the Drexel team on how various nature-based water management strategies could be incorporated into regional climate change adaptation planning in and around Venice. This work was presented to students and researchers at the IUAV University in Venice, an institution with which Drexel has an Erasmus + agreement to promote academic exchange on climate proofing cities. Water Resource Engineering

ASLA New York 2016 Design Award Winners


Siteworks, the Trust for Public Land and eDesign Dynamics, wins ASLA New York 2016 Design Award

ASLA New York 2016 Design Award won by Siteworks, the Trust for Public Land and eDesign Dynamics for green playground design!

eDesign Dynamics is honored to have worked on such a tremendous project, transforming an asphalt lot to a state-of-the-art playground for NYC's Hells Kitchen community. The school, in an area almost devoid of parks, serves 600 kids, pre-K through 8th grade.  Designed with help from the school's students and built in partnership with New York City, the one-acre playground will include green infrastructure components that will allow the space to capture up to 700,000 gallons of stormwater runoff each year.

Congratulations to Siteworks, the Trust of Public Land and the P.S. 111 student consultants! 

See the full list of winning projects HERE >

Read more about our playground project HERE>

Photo credit: dnainfo.com

On February 27th, an interdisciplinary jury comprised of landscape architects and allied professionals from the Southern California Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) convened to select winners of the 2016 ASLA New York Chapter Design Awards. Of the 55 award submissions, 18 projects received “Honor” or “Merit” designations. The awards will be presented at the ASLA-NY Design Awards Ceremony and Reception to be held on Thursday, April 7th, at the Center for Architecture in Manhattan.

 

The projects chosen represent excellence in professional accomplishment by ASLA New York members in five categories: General Design, Residential Design, Collaborative Design, Analysis/Planning/Research and Communications, and Un-Built Projects. This year’s jury responded favorably to the interesting collection of valuable ideas and research-based design solutions presented by award winners.  ASLA-NY 2016 President Celine Armstrong notes, that “the body of work represented by this year’s award recipients is very inspiring as these projects will bring joy to those visiting these landscapes and awareness to our profession. I am thankful to the landscape architects who continue to work tirelessly creating such beautiful works of art.”

 

- See more at: http://aslany.org/7152-2/?cbg_tz=300#sthash.RWJoenwR.dpuf

ROOFS ARE SPROUTING GREENERY


Dr. Montalto was recently quoted in an article on Philly.com about Philadelphia’s increasing population of green roofs and their many benefits and possibilities.

Across the city, the tops of buildings and parking lots are sprouting greenery like never before. The number of green roofs in Philadelphia has tripled since 2010, according to the Water Department, which tracks the roofs because they absorb storm-water runoff.

The city now has 111 green roofs, roughly 25 acres’ worth. An additional 64 roofs are in the queue. The completed ones range from a tiny poof of greenery atop a bus stop shelter - installed at 15th and Market Streets as an attention-getter in 2011 - to one of the latest and biggest, one-acre-plus of greenery at Cira Centre South in University City.

The region’s universities have not only been installing roofs, but also avidly studying them.

Among questions Drexel associate engineering professor Franco Montalto and his colleagues are pondering: Can we grow food crops, use native species (instead of desert-adapted sedum species), or create more biodiversity on green roofs in the urban Northeast? How differently do green roofs constructed on steeply sloped roofs perform? Can we adjust the design of the green roof to maximize its habitat value, such as attracting pollinators?

Read the full article at philly.com HERE >

Photo credit: DAVID SWANSON

LESSONS ON POST-RESILIENCE


Writing from Venice, Italy, Dr. Montalto was recently featured on The Nature of Cities. He spoke on coastal resiliency, from his own experience, living in this city where dealing with flood waters (acqua alta) is a fact of life.

Walking through the flooded streets is another interesting experience. Everyone slows down—tremendously. It wasn’t initially clear to me why this was happening. Without cars, there’s always a lot of ground to cover in this city, and the average Venetian typically moves at a healthy gait. Feeling confident in my new stivali, I continued to move at this pace only to find out within a few minutes that I was suffering death by a thousand drops. It seems that each fast step kicks a few drops into the top of your boot. You don’t feel those individual drops, but keep it up and in a few minutes, your socks are soaked. I slowed down, realizing that alas, pazienza, everyone around me was used to this. When there’s acqua alta, it’s OK to be late, or to change the plan, or to cancel appointments. (Though, ironically, not for first graders. My daughter’s new teacher was careful to tell me that acqua alta is not an excuse to be late for school.) Venetians have adapted to contemporary acqua alta the way they adapted to life in a foggy lagoon over a thousand years ago. Life goes on despite it.

Read the full article in The Nature of Cities HERE >

INTERVIEW WITH URBAN OMNIBUS


Eric Rothstein was profiled in Urban Omnibus in January 2015 in an article entitled “Mitigate, Design, Restore: A Conversation on Hydrology and Habitat.”

In the interview, Mr. Rothstein discusses how he chose his line of work, some of eDesign Dynamics projects and collaborations in NYC, and the benefits - and challenges - of green infrastructure and habitat restoration.

Read an excerpt from the interview below:

How does restoration in an urban area like New York City differ from elsewhere?

Traditional restoration work is often led by ecologists and biologists because they know what they need to create. But in the urban, post-industrial setting, the foundations of ecosystems are basically screwed up. These soils are high in nutrients and pH because of all the concrete, so they favor weedy species instead of our native species, which thrive in lower nutrient and more acidic soils. Then there is the poor water quality of the runoff, which includes oil, metals, and various other contaminants. Aligned with that is the issue of “flashy” hydrology: we get much more runoff and we get it a lot faster. So before you can establish a sustainable ecosystem, you need to fix the soils, the hydrologic regime, and the water quality.

Do you have any particular hopes for further integration of ecological ideas into urban development?

To be truly green would be to design everything so that on balance it has a net positive effect on the planet. It’s really hard to offset the negative impact of a building, because of all the materials brought in and the pollution caused by construction and people living there. Most people say that the next best step is to do everything that’s feasible within the budget to have as little an impact as possible. I still struggle with the building scale. With park development, however, you’re taking something with no habitat value and creating both that value and an amenity for the community.

 The full article can be found HERE >

 

ALLEY POND PARK IN THE NEW YORK TIMES


The New York Times recently featured an article on Dr. Franco Montalto’s work in monitoring the ecology of Alley Pond Park and its recent inclusion in the US Forest Services Smart Forest program. The data being collected is part of his efforts in cooperation with the NYC Parks Department for city-wide monitoring of NYC Greenstreets and green stormwater infrastructure.

Franco A. Montalto, an associate professor in Drexel’s department of civil, architectural and environmental engineering, said that the availability of affordable digital sensors made it possible for him to gain access to that day’s recordings from Alley Pond Park on his iPad and instantly compare them with data from the two experimental storm-water runoff sites in the city.

But despite the high-tech tools, Dr. Montalto insists on having eyes and ears verify the data. To that end, more than a dozen high school, college and graduate students have periodically trekked to the site at Alley Pond to sift soil through their fingers and take photos.

“To believe the sensors, you need validation,” he said. “Bad data is worse than no data.”

Eventually, scientists working at Alley Pond Park would like local schools to make the research part of their lessons.

Read the full article at the New York Times HERE >

MORE RAIN THAN WE CAN HANDLE


Dr. Franco Montalto was interviewed by reporter Stephen Nessen of WNYC for their recent NYC 2050 series exploring the impact of climate change on New York City and beyond. Mr. Nessen’s report explores the implications of, and possible solutions to increases in the frequency of intense rain storms.

Speaking on the effectiveness of green infrastructure in the context of New York City’s Greenstreets program, Mr. Nessen reports:

According to Franco Montalto, a professor at Drexel University, who works with the city on its Greenstreets project, if placed in the right location, with curb cuts to allow water in, using sturdy plants that can withstand long droughts and long periods of heavy rain, and with add several layers of engineered soil, bioswales can absorb far more than an inch of rain water (which is what the city hopes they can absorb).

At a Greenstreets in Cambria Heights, Queens, Montalto outfitted the plot with sensitive measuring devices. He found during Sandy and Irene, this plot of land absorbed all the rain water that flowed in, more than seven inches, and didn’t dump any of it into the streets or sewers.

See Mr. Nessen's report at WNYC HERE >

TNOC GLOBAL ROUNDTABLE


Franco Montalto

In March, 2014, The Nature of Cities blog launched their monthly global round table seeking to have industry experts and professionals answer specific questions pertinent to the expansion and improvement of green spaces in urban environments.

This month’s question, on which Dr. Franco Montalto weighed in, was:

Many believe that better information on the monetary value of ecosystem services is critical for getting cities to adopt more green infrastructure solutions to issues such as storm water management, heat island, storm surge, etc. True? What are the key knowledge gaps for convincing cities to invest in ecosystems services?

Dr. Montalto's response below:

Decision makers (and individuals) always try to get the most out of their money. However, I believe that we could generate a lot more public support and associated investment in ecosystem services if they were better calibrated to the values, needs, and goals of diverse urban residents.

By modifying the configuration of urban spaces, we can change what happens there, i.e. we add and subtract functions to that particular urban space. A small but rapidly growing body of researchers from different disciplines (including yours truly) are working in lock step with practitioners to study these projects. I am confident that this work, though in its early stages, will ultimately produce robust empirical, statistical, or physical representations of these dynamic conditions, enabling us eventually to predict the various functions obtained from discreet modifications to urban space.

A related, and much more fundamental question, however, is why and how we modify urban spaces in the first place. Stated differently, given that there are an infinite number of ways that we can design/redesign/modify a space, be it a living room, a rooftop, or a wall, how do we settle on any one concept? Research here is less prevalent.

I believe that many green infrastructure advocates often mistakenly assume that a common set of values underlies such decisions, and expect that consensus regarding ecosystem service goals should follow. In my opinion, there is absolutely no reason to believe that such assumptions would be true. Anyone who grew up in a city remembers how differently you perceived the kids from your block compared to the kids on the next one. Even if you grew up in the suburbs, you remember how different the neighborhood on your side of the tracks was from the one on the other side. Our cities are dynamic networks of enclaves (voluntary clustering for example by ethnicity, lifestyle, or sexual orientation) and ghettos (default and/or imposed involuntary segregation of minority groups). In the US, zoning and other land use policies have also segmented our cities into commercial, residential and industrial areas, and physically separated high income from low income households on parcels of different sizes. We’ve got neighborhoods that are “where it is at”, neighborhoods that are “up and coming”, and neighborhoods that may- or may never- be; we’ve got contested, dangerous, sacred, and safe spaces; and both public and private land. The folks who live, work, and circulate through urban neighborhoods see different opportunities, face different challenges, have different goals, and, therefore, desire radically different things from the spaces around them. As any community planning meeting will demonstrate, most proposed changes to communities generate debate. If the transition to more enhanced urban ecosystem services is to be meaningful in scale and impact, it too will generate significant debate and discussion, and different strategies will emerge in different places.

I suppose that on a very basic level, it is safe to assume that we all want cleaner, healthier, more efficient cities, and broad typologies of ecosystem services (e.g. clean air, clean water, etc.) can be mapped to these goals. But in this usage, the ecosystem service concept is, to me, too general to be actionable and will therefore only generate lackluster support from the public. On the other hand, if the growing body of ecosystem service practitioners is willing to get down and dirty, more nuanced (and therefore more relevant = politically powerful) ecosystem service goals that address the real needs, goals, and aspirations of community residents can be developed. If you were a city council person, would you expect more phone calls from your constituents if you touted the need for cleaner water, or if instead you articulated your support to efforts that would create opportunities for gardening for local seniors; cut off the ability of thieves to access the backs of our houses; and eliminate persistent puddling in the streets after rainstorms?

The challenge is that as diverse as our communities are, is as diverse as these customized ecosystem service goals will be. It takes time and effort to inventory community needs, and the responsibility for doing so does not fall squarely on a water department, a public works department, or even on local politicians. Yet, by definition, ecosystem service goals need to be elicited directly from the public. They will be varied and responsive to the needs of different urban constituencies. They will vary from community to community, and from city to city. They will need to be adapted and changed over time, as communities change.

I am suggesting that instead of viewing ecosystem services as some new, noble, post-Brundtland, 21st century, game changing theoretical concept, let’s just think of this term as a name for our ever-improving multi-faceted abilities to map local to global, built to natural, and people to nature. If we can demonstrate the relevance of the concept in this way, very little convincing of the need for investment in ecosystem services will be required. It will be obvious.

The complete list of responses may be found at The Nature of Cities HERE >

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