Help! Desinging a City Park to be Environmentally Friendly

[PHX31]

So the City of Peoria has put out a request for Statement of Qualifications for the design and implementation of a new neighborhood park (which includes all aspects of design... geotech, traffic, drainage, enviro, etc. etc.).

The park is going in on a piece of land about 8 acres in size. This parcel is just off the 101 and Grand/91st Avenue, and was previously used as a maintenance operations center for the city of peoria, and was also used by ADOT during the construction of the 101. (it is the large empty piece of land just east of the 101 in the center of this aerial picture, to the left of that circular well/water tower thing.)

http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn20/azstate29/park.jpg


Among other things, it's my job right now to try to come up with "environmentally friendly practices and products" in the design of this park, which I'm assuming includes being environmentally friendly/sustainable after it is built, and maybe even during the construction itself.

Some thoughts already thrown out there include: water harvesting, solar/wind applications, low maintenance plant materials, carbon offsets, recycled materials. If anyone has better insight into the above things already mentioned that would be cool too. Do parks try to acheive LEED certification? Or is that only buildings? I think there are things all construction sites can do that are in support of LEED. (anyone?)

Due to budget constraints, I think the City would be more interested with ideas that aren't too cost prohibitive and are practical. But anything at this point is a good idea, so throw it out there, be creative! I know some of you have thought about this stuff before!

Hopefully some of you have some ideas, and would be interested in helping me, as well as helping build a pretty cool new park for the city.

I assumed people out there on SSP would be interested in building something environmentally friendly, so, any forumers from any city are welcome to bring input.

Thanks! :tup: :cool:

[HooverDam]

The first thing that popped to mind for me was Nikes Reuse-A- Shoe program. More info here:

http://www.letmeplay.com/reuseashoe/overview.html

Basically they recycle the rubber and what not from old shoes, and turn them into sport surfaces (basketball and tennis courts, etc). Its recycling, so that meets your environmentally friendly idea, plus I'd be willing to bet that a court made out of this material is better for reduction of the Urban Heat Island than a typical concrete court.

[Don B.]

If the city wants turf areas, they should use artificial turf. They don't require seeding, watering, mowing, maintaining, chemicals, fertilizer, etc.

Use only native Arizona vegetation on drip systems, with xeriscaping everywhere. Perhaps recycle rainwater and/or use graywater to water what plants are put in.

A mix of natural shade (e.g. Palo Verdes) and artificial shade would be cool. You could even put solar panels on the artificial shade structures that could power the lighting for the park at night.

Much of this will cost more up front, but if you amortize the cost out even ten or twenty years, it should more than pay for itself. Building the park totally off the grid would really be very nice.

--don

[vertex]

I think that parks do qualify for LEED. It's all in the way it's built.

Anyway, this is pretty exciting, and a nice opportunity to chip away at our urban heat island (as small as this chip is).

[Sonoran_Dweller]

No grass or non-native plants. Get rid of the east coast mindset of parks. Make a revolution in Sonoran Desert parks. Don't even have synthetic grass; it still uses park mindset of the east coast.

There is no appreciation for the Sonoran Desert in Phoenix. I don't know why, but it doesn't fascinate people. Make a Sonoran Desert park. That is very sustainable: native plants, no water, no cement, and no tar. Pure and natural Sonoran Desert.

[HooverDam]

No grass or non-native plants. Get rid of the east coast mindset of parks. Make a revolution in Sonoran Desert parks. Don't even have synthetic grass; it still uses park mindset of the east coast.

There is no appreciation for the Sonoran Desert in Phoenix. I don't know why, but it doesn't fascinate people. Make a Sonoran Desert park. That is very sustainable: native plants, no water, no cement, and no tar. Pure and natural Sonoran Desert.

I love the Sonoran desert and its plants, but I don't think your idea is very realistic. Soccer, football and baseball aren't played amongst desert scrub bush (but perhaps that would be exciting! "He dives for the catch-ouch- face full of prickly pear!). Im all for surrounding playing fields with natural plants, but green grass for playing surfaces is important.

[PHX31]

In regards to the grass issue, it is already guaranteed that they are going to be seeding for natural grass for playing fields. The city even already explained the project timeline and included seeding and the time it takes until it is a usable grass field(s).

So far, great ideas guys! Keep 'em coming. Any more ideas out there would be much appreciated, anything at all that you might have come across or thought about that would be keeping with progressive, environmentally friendly ideas and/or products would be great!

I'll be giving our client (we'll be a subconsultant to another firm if we "win") some feed back tomorrow late morning/early afternoon. So I'll be checking back regularly into this thread.

[HX_Guy]

No grass or non-native plants. Get rid of the east coast mindset of parks. Make a revolution in Sonoran Desert parks. Don't even have synthetic grass; it still uses park mindset of the east coast.

There is no appreciation for the Sonoran Desert in Phoenix. I don't know why, but it doesn't fascinate people. Make a Sonoran Desert park. That is very sustainable: native plants, no water, no cement, and no tar. Pure and natural Sonoran Desert.

I don't think it's so much th east coast mindset as it is being able to actually USE the park. How do you play soccer, football, or baseball on dirt/gravel with desert shrubs everywhere?

Besides, the NW Valley has many desert parks already...acres upon acres of hiking and such that can be done.

[PHX31]

Focus people, focus... ;)

[tempedude]

What about LED lighting in the park? LED street lights are brighter, use far less energy, and last 4 times longer than standard street lights. A LED lamp lasts round 50,0000 light hours, which equates to something around 12 years without having to be changed out, assuming that it burns on average 11 to 12 hours per day. (Some newer designs may last even longer)

The drawback is that LED lighting cost about twice as much as standard lighting.

Additional information:
http://www.ledsmagazine.com/press/12960

http://www.arabianbusiness.com/11570-philips-sees-the-light-with-led-street-launch

LED applications include roadways, paths, warehouse security, parking areas, landmarks, architectural and canopy lights....they provide better energy consumption and lower maintenance costs compared to traditional light sources when used in solid-state lighting systems. Lightweight and therefore easy to maintain, the approximate life of the Luxeon LED streetlight is 50,000 hours with only a 30% depreciation of light throughout its lifespan, compared with 80% depreciation for regular fittings. Precise colour temperatures are also available to enhance aesthetics on buildings, landmarks and monuments.

Use of Luxeon LEDs reduce light pollution such as glare (the result of excessive contrast between bright and dark areas in the field of view), light trespass (unwanted light falling on non-targeted areas) and sky glow, ensuring light is more managed and projected to the intended target.

[Don B.]

^ Can solar panels power LED? I would think so, since they draw so much less power. This would make solar more viable.

--don

[PHX31]

Good concept, I'll check into that as well. Thanks for the input! Anything else would be appreciated still.

[vertex]

Perhaps the city can use this park as a way to demonstrate organic landscaping methods and tools. Challenge the city to avoid the use of traditional fertilizers and other hazardous wastes when it comes time to maintain the park and it's greenery.

And regarding LEED certification, it's already happening elsewhere. Here's a really interesting article from the AIA on Virginia Avenue Park in Santa Monica that was certified LEED Silver two years ago. Perhaps the article will help you out; here's a snippet that talks about materials used for ground cover and the play area:

“Different permeable pavers were used. For the lawn, we used a fiber matrix of 2-inch by 2-inch turf squares, similar to a golf course. We created infiltration trenches under the pavers to catch, drain, and replenish storm water, which prevents super compaction of pollutants at the root zone. We used a concrete block permeable paver for areas such as the parking lot and walkways. Voids in the corners of the paver were filled with an aggregate. For the different playground surfaces we used a sand and ground rubber tire infill, and for other walkways we used a resin pavement with soil. The only asphalt we used was for the drive aisles in the parking lot.”

The article goes on to talk about topics such as storm water retention and reuse, the trees and plants used, and the reuse of existing buildings. Great stuff.

Santa Monica Park First to Receive LEED Silver Rating (http://www.aia.org/aiarchitect/thisweek06/0707/0707leed.cfm)

[PHX31]

/\ Awesome!

That's almost the exact size of the future Peoria Park. Although the one in Santa Monica cost a hell of a lot of money (which is way over budget for this park), I think a lot of that cost was for the new and rehabbed buildings that park has, so the ideas in there will probably be useful.

[PhxSprawler]

I love seeing solar panels being used for shade features.

This photo (from Butte County on Flickr) shows covered parking, but you get the idea.

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/28/38288929_c897a2e78f.jpg?v=0

To Don's point, collecting gray water for/from simple irrigation can be quite inexpensive.

To Sonoran_Dweller's point, there should be as many native plants as possible. Adding plaques to educate the park's users about the native plants and ways to protect the desert would be a simple means of making a difference that could carry beyond the park itself.

[combusean]

If you don't have much of a budget, forget solar panels unless you can get a partnership with APS or SRP to cover the cost. Failing that, it may be prudent to use solar if there is a long-term cost savings in any power used by the park, but you have to put that on paper and cost it out to justify its upfront costs.

But do use white paint. Some studies suggest that white paint where necessary (do a google search for White is the New Green) has a significant contribution to our environment/reduction of the heat island that makes solar no longer the obvious choice for roofing and those kinds of surfaces.

Rubberized asphalt (made from recycled tires) is cooler at night and doesn't retain heat as well as concrete which is somewhat counter-intuitive given the color. I'd definitely look into any sort of recycled paving materials available and make your decision on heat retention.

By the same logic a lot of the suggestions to not use grass is short-sighted. Walk around Roosevelt at night--you will instantly feel the difference if you're by any amount of grass. Rocks, xeriscaping, et al is HOT and retains heat and I can hardly think of more things unfriendly in a park setting than any amount of crushed rock. Doesn't seem much coincidence that Chandler's xeriscape demonstration park is totally fenced off. Water at night and you don't lose that much to evaporation and you do recharge the groundwater or read on for a better idea than recharging groundwater.

Don't get me wrong, I can totally appreciate the Sonoran Desert plenty but that's hard in a manufactured setting. I would take a trip out there and pay close interaction to species cohabiting--I remember there was this one bush out on a friend of mine's land in Tonopah that was supporting a huge range of insects and birds and small animals.

This would have to be very carefully executed to work, but here's my best suggestion: Collect water and create interest through varied topography. A mini-river of sorts running through the center of the park at the lowest elevation could channel water collected from and to be reused by the park. Lay a pad of concrete or something similarly non-permeable and non-biodegrading underneath the turf so that the water from sprinklers/irrigation and rain doesn't actually go underground but fills the river. At the end of the river the water goes into a tank to be re-used and pumped out by the irrigation system.

The problems in executing this are essentially what caused Patriots Square to fail--you can't dig too deep to lay the pad because that gets more expensive, but if you don't lay the pad deep enough nothing above it will grow and park users will roast. Don't do what Patriots Square did and rely on planters--let the trees' taproots actually go down as far as they can go through well placed and "insulated" holes in the concrete pad. That might help narrow down the vegetation choices--the root system of any tree you should employ should go more down than outward if you are considering the pad suggestion.

As I think of more suggestions I'll post here.

[PHX31]

Good ideas Sean - I'm going to mention the solar panels, etc., but also will mention the white paint if solar is not cost-effective/possible.

The river thing is a good idea for later (I'm not getting into too many details at this point). I'm not sure there is enough rain or enough excess watering that will go on to feed an entire (small) river all the time in a small park like this (and I thing design/constructing a huge underground concrete pad might be a little too expensive). But we'll keep it in mind for later.

Thanks for the continued info - great ideas.

[PHX31]

edit. DP.

[combusean]

Good ideas Sean - I'm going to mention the solar panels, etc., but also will mention the white paint if solar is not cost-effective/possible.

The river thing is a good idea for later (I'm not getting into too many details at this point). I'm not sure there is enough rain or enough excess watering that will go on to feed an entire (small) river all the time in a small park like this (and I thing design/constructing a huge underground concrete pad might be a little too expensive). But we'll keep it in mind for later.

Thanks for the continued info - great ideas.

I wonder if there's special white paint for that whole thing. Maybe you can add some kind of silica to the paint to add to the reflectivity (if that doesnt ultimately have the reverse effect in heat retention) if blinding pilots isn't a big concern--Luke is somewhat close tho.

I probably should have read the article posted above before I suggested the concrete pad idea--it looks like retention channels might have the same effect for less cost. I'm curious to know how that process is accomplished.

Looking at the site again, there are a few more design ideas that may still be relevant to the RFQ. The "split" by that dirt track in the photo got me thinking of the Civic Space park's "urban weave" concept in its transition from the historic agrarian west half of Central to the more urbanized east half. The CivicSpace park also spills out into the surrounding city.

Think outside the box--the parcel.

Contact ADOT to see if there's something that can be done with the huge buffer in the freeway--activate it maybe?. Maybe Sonoran Desert landscaping could be used as a buffer for the no-man's land closest to the freeway and transition to a more traditional park on eastern half.

The river idea could still serve an aesthetic purpose dry. My place in Chandler used to share the front yard with the house to the south--the perks of living next to a landscape architect (Don Teal, who I last heard was out of Vegas). We had a "river bottom" out of crushed granite at ground level and river rocks surrounded berms with honeysuckle groundcover and mesquite trees in the center. Not too useful from a lounging in the yard perspective but it looked damn nice. Perhaps if nothing else you can get the river to run "upside down" like the Hassayampa--dig a little bit and you hit mud. Cottonwood trees, which are endangered, could conceivably work here.

[Matty]

So, what happened?

[HX_Guy]

Rubberized asphalt (made from recycled tires) is cooler at night and doesn't retain heat as well as concrete which is somewhat counter-intuitive given the color. I'd definitely look into any sort of recycled paving materials available and make your decision on heat retention.

Really? I swear the sidewalks (concrete) feel a lot cooler to walk on barefoot then the asphalted road, still very hot...but much much cooler in comparison.


By the same logic a lot of the suggestions to not use grass is short-sighted. Walk around Roosevelt at night--you will instantly feel the difference if you're by any amount of grass.

Not only at night, but also during the day I've noticed. Maybe not in Roosevelt, because there are a lot of dusty lots, but if you go in the Palm Croft neighborhood or other North Central Neighborhoods, even during the day, you'll notice a 3-4 degree drop in temperature compared to the areas surrounding it.

[PHX31]

So, what happened?

We'll have to wait and see if the city of peoria picks our design team's submittal.



Not only at night, but also during the day I've noticed. Maybe not in Roosevelt, because there are a lot of dusty lots, but if you go in the Palm Croft neighborhood or other North Central Neighborhoods, even during the day, you'll notice a 3-4 degree drop in temperature compared to the areas surrounding it.

My friend told me a grass lawn cools the ambient temperature the equivalent of having 2 A/C units blowing outside. (obviously not if you're standing right next to the A/C, just the ambient temp.)

[combusean]

Really? I swear the sidewalks (concrete) feel a lot cooler to walk on barefoot then the asphalted road, still very hot...but much much cooler in comparison.

Not only at night, but also during the day I've noticed. Maybe not in Roosevelt, because there are a lot of dusty lots, but if you go in the Palm Croft neighborhood or other North Central Neighborhoods, even during the day, you'll notice a 3-4 degree drop in temperature compared to the areas surrounding it.

The asphalt that composes the streets might not necessarily be the same as they are using in the freeway--the inclusion of rubberized asphalt is key.

The key factor is not how hot it is during the day its the heat retention--the rubberized asphalt will be much cooler at night than the concrete.

[andrewkfromaz]

The asphalt that composes the streets might not necessarily be the same as they are using in the freeway--the inclusion of rubberized asphalt is key.

The key factor is not how hot it is during the day its the heat retention--the rubberized asphalt will be much cooler at night than the concrete.

Heat retention, basically the voids in the rubberized stuff allow the heat to escape faster overnight. Interestingly, it's the same voids that absorb the sound, thus rubberized's (talk about awkward grammar) appeal. Anyway, enough off-topic talk. They won't use rubberized for parking, it's typically for high-traffic roads. Now might even be a good time to look into the actual semi-permeable parking surface that some LEED projects around here are looking at, with asphalt prices going the way they are. (they're going crazy, for the uninitiated)