Integrating Green infrastructure Onto UIC Construction Projects

• Jovaun Shaw
• Mario Ortega
• May Mwesigye

Development in Chicago requires the handling of rainwater that falls within its boundaries. Although Chicago houses one of the largest centralized stormwater systems in the country, it continues to face flooding and combined sewer overflows. Consequently, these complications allow pollutants and raw sewage to drain into local waterways without treatment. Green infrastructure is an approach that uses water treatment and control practices to manage and restore the natural water cycle. The city recognizes the importance of green infrastructure as a tool to help address flooding and overflows in a decentralized way. Chicago plans to invest fifty million dollars over five years toward green infrastructure construction. To achieve optimization, the city plans to analyze such advanced technologies to determine cost-effective practices and benefits that will create solutions and retrofit existing structures with planned assets to enhance value. Specifically, green infrastructure will be incorporated into the Academic and Residential Complex and the Engineering and Innovation Building on the university’s east campus. This project seeks to utilize the city’s methodology and the university’s plans of sustainability. To do so, this project will look at integrating pervious pavers, green roofs and walls, and bioswales on the two upcoming UIC construction projects. These will provide benefits such as reduced surface runoff, stormwater retention, and improved water and air quality. The objective is to apply these technologies that will coexist with congruent infrastructure models on campus to retain and control water supply. The integration of these systems is vital to forwarding sustainability on a small scale and are beneficial at the larger scale by helping to control Chicago’s existing stormwater complications.