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Frontiers of Environmental Science & Engineering

ISSN 2095-2201

ISSN 2095-221X(Online)

CN 10-1013/X

Postal Subscription Code 80-973

2018 Impact Factor: 3.883

Front. Environ. Sci. Eng.    2017, Vol. 11 Issue (4) : 15    https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-017-0973-z
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Dynamic design of green stormwater infrastructure
Robert G. Traver(), Ali Ebrahimian
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Villanova University, 800 E. Lancaster Ave, Villanova, PA 19085, USA
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Abstract

Research shows GSI Practices outperform static volume crediting.

Recommend including exfiltration and evapotranspiration for dynamic design.

Expand design to include climate, insitu soil and vegetation to take advantage of GSI Properties.

This paper compares ongoing research results on hydrologic performance to common design and crediting criteria, and recommends a change in direction from a static to a dynamic perspective to fully credit the performance of green infrastructure. Examples used in this article are primarily stormwater control measures built for research on the campus of Villanova University [1,2]. Evidence is presented demonstrating that the common practice of crediting water volume based on soil and surface storage underestimates the performance potential, and suggests that the profession move to a more dynamic approach that incorporates exfiltration and evapotransporation. The framework for a dynamic approach is discussed, with a view to broaden our design focus by including climate, configuration and the soil surroundings. The substance of this work was presented as a keynote speech at the 2016 international Low Impact Development Conference in Beijing China [3].

Keywords Low Impact Development (LID)      Stormwater control measures      Green infrastructure      Stormwater design     
Corresponding Author(s): Robert G. Traver   
Issue Date: 25 July 2017
 Cite this article:   
Robert G. Traver,Ali Ebrahimian. Dynamic design of green stormwater infrastructure[J]. Front. Environ. Sci. Eng., 2017, 11(4): 15.
 URL:  
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fese/EN/10.1007/s11783-017-0973-z
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fese/EN/Y2017/V11/I4/15
storm size (cm)sample sizeaverage volume reduction
small (<1.27)115100%
medium (1.27–2.54)12797%
large (>2.54)12250%
Tab.1  Villanova bioinfiltration SCM performance [12]
Fig.1  Bioinfiltration dynamic performance [21]
Fig.2  Rain garden system (Drawing: Carla Windt)
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18 Lee R, Traver R, Welker A. Evaluation of soil class proxies for hydrologic performance of in situ bioinfiltration systems. ASCE Journal of Sustainable Water in the Built Environment, 2016, 2(4):04016003 
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