On November 5, Next City published an in depth profile of Philadelphia’s Green City, Clean Waters Green Infrastructure Initiative in Stormwater Greening Is Good For Business by James A. Anderson.  The subtitle tells you Anderson’s approach to the story-- Digging into the successes and stumbles of Philly’s ambitious 25-year stormwater mitigation plan. Here’s a good read on green infrastructure--

Five years ago, Philadelphia civil engineer Dennis Shelly glimpsed a business opportunity lying out in the open-- or more precisely, he spied that opportunity from 22,000 miles in orbit. Satellite images made plain an idea back on Earth that has since helped him grow a business that moves water around just below the planet’s surface.

Shelly heads PEER Environmental, an engineering and design firm that in its fifth year is well on the way to revenues of $1 million.

PEER’s specialty is green infrastructure-- green rooftops, rain gardens or infiltration beds-- on big plots of land.  This, to shift stormwater so that it’s absorbed into the ground and kept out of the city sewers.

Shelly’s clients are rewarded handsomely by the Philadelphia Water Department (PWD), which not only cuts their water bills-- by as much as 80 percent, which can translate to tens of thousands of dollars per year-- but also supplies grant funding to execute the projects.

His job is the behind-the-scenes (well, underground, mostly) work of using gravity, stone, pipes, dirt and plants to manage how fast water seeps into the ground, where it can soak in gradually or even evaporate.

Click Here to read the entire article.

Green Infrastructure Links:

Feature: Parks To The Rescue On Stormwater, Flooding

Economic Ecology - LandStudies

Green Infrastructure Offers Triple Benefits, Cost Effective Solutions To Stormwater Pollution, Reducing Flood Damage

The Economic Value Of Green Infrastructure: Calculating A Return On Investments In Parks, Watershed Restoration, Farmland BMPs, Open Space

Economic Impact Of Natural Resource Conservation In Somerset County

NewsClips:

Op-Ed: Clean Water Helps Create Healthy Communities - Wissahickon Creek

Philly Will Get 950 More Street Trees Planted This Weekend

Related Stories:

Leadership Opportunity: Competitive Imperative: Choices For Pennsylvania’s Energy Future

Leadership Opportunity: Re-Imagining Energy: Generation, Storing, Catching  Carbon, Built Environment, Pulling It All Together

Leadership Opportunity: Pennsylvania Should Make Mine Water Geothermal A Key Part Of Its Clean Energy Transformation

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[Posted: Nov. 14, 2018]

11/19/2018