Benchmark 17: Institute storm water management plan Target and Date: Plan adopted June 2012
As an institution committed to green building practices, all new construction and renovations on any Ohio University campus will consider a storm water management plan. As the university began its design phase for the Housing Development Plan in FY13, it was clear that considerable measures must be taken to manage volume and water quality control, especially with the project’s proximity to the Hocking River. A feasibility study conducted by the engineering firm Evans, Mechwart, Hambleton & Tilton, Inc. led the university to actively seek a partnership with the City of Athens and the Hocking Conservancy on storm water management practices. The resulting efforts suggested that all entities will work together now and into the future by holistically approaching storm water management to appropriately share access to release points along the Hocking River. While a formal, written agreement does not yet exist between these entities, such a valuable and proactive partnership on best practices suggests that future efforts on campus and in the city will offer significant benefits to the quality of waters and soils in Southeast Ohio. Many times, a storm water management plan can be difficult to see with the naked eye. Though, in FY13, Ohio University completed construction of a sophisticated storm water management plan at the Compost Facility on the Athens campus. Tours of this facility can be requested through online Tour Request Form.
Regional Campus Highlight: In August 2012, Ohio University’s Southern campus became the first of OHIO’s campuses to install Pervious Concrete in an effort to encourage increased sustainability in its storm water management efforts. This Pervious Concrete was installed in a high traffic parking lot that had, previously, been subject to flooding during heavy rains. The “holes” in the concrete allows for water to be filtered through layers of concrete, gravel. sand and soil so as to reduce the load on the city’s storm sewers and to protect the groundwater from contamination commonly caused by parking lot runoff.
Above: The Pervious Concrete parking lot at OU Southern. Left: A close-up view of the pervious concrete contrasted by the nonpervious concrete.
Below: OU Southern has instituted other storm water
Next Steps: Ohio University’s Office of Design and Construction will continue to work with the City of Athens to further identify partnership opportunities. Should formal agreements be developed, though will be added to the institution’s design standards and included in this report accordingly.
management efforts such as a n underground retention area (pictured below) to mitigate flooding from run-off during intense storms.
Land and Resource Management
Progress Overview:
OU Southern celebrated its one year anniversary of installing pervious concrete in August 2013. It is anticipated that they’ll be able to offer best practices to Design and Construction as time goes on.
Reporting Body: Design and Construction
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