Pratt Institute

**Each course runs for 7 hours during a single Saturday. The two dates listed for each class are different available course dates; students may choose between the two, keeping in mind that Drainage & Hydrology is a pre-requisite for the Site Assessment class.  

**Each class costs $295; the entire Fundamentals Series costs $590.

**Each course can count for the following:

• 7 AIA Learning Units
• 7 AIA HSW Learning Units
• 7 NSPE PDH Units
• other Continuing Education Units to come!

**To sign up for courses, go to my.pratt.edu.

COURSE DESCRIPTIONS:

PMPD 706  Drainage & Hydrology in NYC

The introductory course in our Urban Green Infrastructure foundation series, this seminar is intended for contractors, planners, engineers, architects, landscape architects, construction managers and green infrastructure enthusiasts who seek New York City specific information regarding the natural and infrastructural systems influencing the design, construction and maintenance of urban green infrastructure.  For this seminar “green Infrastructure” will refer to vegetated technologies which allow for rainwater to seep into soils and be taken up by plants rather than being funneled off to overwhelm our sewer systems and trigger combined sewer overflows (CSOs).   

Learning from current green infrastructure professionals, students will gain an understanding of:

1. The natural hydro-geology and soils of NYC with a focus on their influence in stormwater capture and plant growth.
2. Assessment and evaluation of soil profiles, including infiltration, hydraulic conductivity, drainage class and water tables.
3. The City’s approach to Stormwater Management, its focus on specific Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) outfalls, and how CSO sewersheds are defined.  
4. The City agencies and various stakeholders involved in green infrastructure and their corresponding responsibilities/roles.
5. Appropriate and inappropriate green infrastructure design development, construction methods, and long term stewardship as seen through case study of the creation and restoration of urban wetlands.
6. Best construction practices including maintenance and monitoring protocols.

Student Learning Objectives

1. Students will be able to identify, assess and evaluate soil profiles specific to NYC through an understanding of infiltration, hydraulic conductivity, drainage class and water tables.  
2. Students will be able to explain how green infrastructure, as outlined in NYC DEP’s Green Infrastructure Plan, pertains to stormwater management and the reduction of combined sewer outfalls, through strategic placement at priority locations determined by the DEP.
3. Students will be able to show sensitivity to as well as discuss the roles of various community and City green infrastructure stakeholders.
4. Students will be able to recognize construction best practices to enhance ecological function in the urban environment.  

Unit 1.  Soils  (1.5 hrs)

Instructor: Richard K. Shaw; Soil Scientist, USDA-NRCS NYC Soil Survey

Unit Description:  This unit will cover the definition of soil, soil function, formation, properties and its description in the field.  Hydrologic parameters of soil and the means by which they are evaluated will also be covered.  The unit will conclude with a discussion of urban soils, their classification and the soils of NYC.  

Readings (To be distributed in class):

1. A Field Guide to Describing Soils in NYC.  Shaw RK, Reinhardt, LP, Isleib, JT. 2011. NYC Soil Survey, USDA-NRCS.

2. Chemical, physical, and biological characteristics of urban soils.  Pouyat RP, Slavecz K, Yesilonis I, Groffman PM, Schwarz K. 2010. In Urban Ecosystem Ecology, J Aitkenhead-Peterson and A Volder, Eds. Agronomy Monograph 55, American Society of Agronomy, Madison, WI.

Topics to be covered:

• Soil properties & their description in the field
  • Horizonation
  • Color
  • Texture
  • Structure
  • Consistency
  • pH
• Hydrologic parameters & their evaluation
  • Water movement in soils
  • Saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ksat)
  • Infiltration
  • Water tables in soil
  • Soil drainage class

Unit 2.  Hydro-geology  (1.5 hrs)

Instructor: Zhongqi (Joshua) Cheng; Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Brooklyn College

Unit Description:  Basic framework and concepts of urban hydrology, focusing on those relevant to New York City.  Basic quantitative treatments and models will be introduced in simple exercises.

Topics to be covered:

• Natural and Urban Water Cycle (Water sources, Precipitation, Runoff, Infiltration, Wastewater treatment)
• Impact of urbanization on stream runoff
• Watersheds & models
• Urban water quantity and quality
• Impact of climate change
• Groundwater

Unit 3.  NYC’s Watershed & Sewershed  (1hr)

Instructor: Raymond Palmares; PE, NYC DEP Office of Green Infrastructure

Unit Description:  With the release of the NYC Green Infrastructure Plan in 2010, New York City outlined its plan to reduce combined sewer overflows using green infrastructure in conjunction with cost effective grey infrastructure.  This course will focus on the green infrastructure portion of the plan.  Students will learn the City’s approach to stormwater management, which priority sewersheds are being targeted, and how the sewersheds are being identified.

Topics to be covered:

• How Green Infrastructure, as outlined in DEP’s Green Infrastructure Plan, pertains to stormwater management and the reduction of CSO.
• DEP’s stormwater management criteria.
• CSO sewersheds, boundaries and priority areas.
• DEP’s method of determining tributary areas within CSO sewersheds.

Unit 4.  Green Infrastructure Stakeholders  (1hr)

Instructor: Kate Zidar; Coordinator, S.W.I.M. Coalition

Unit Description:  This session will introduce the universe of stakeholders relevant to Green Infrastructure planning, design,  implementation and maintenance in NYC.  Beginning with the regulatory framework for GI, through permissions and site control, out to long-term monitoring and maintenance of the project, we will unpack the – at times complex – communications and collaborations needed for successful GI implementation. We will also explore the significant differences between working in the public right-of-way, open space and on private lots.
Topics to be covered:

• DEP’s Long Term Control Plans
• Various stages of GI implementation
• Stakeholders at each stage of implementation on public realm, open space and private GI projects

Unit 5.  Construction Guidelines to Protect and Create Ecological Function  (2hr)

Instructor: Bryan Quinn; Consultant, Applied Ecological Services

Unit Description:  This brief 2-hour session will use a Green Infrastructure Case   Study to introduce students to technical principles important to design, construction, and care of Green Infrastructure projects. Using the Croton Water Treatment Plant as an example, the instructor will use his first-hand knowledge of the project to provide students with a detailed understanding of the project.  

Topics to be covered:

• Case Study GI Design & Technology Concepts
  • Ground Water Modeling
  • Hydrology
  • Grading
  • Native Plant Communities
  • Maintenance & Operations
• Project Management Opportunities for GI
  • Planning & Analysis
  • Concept & Schematic Design Development
  • Construction Documentation
  • Value Engineering
  • Construction Administration
  • Stewardship

PMPD 707  Green Infrastructure Site Assessment

The key to successful, long lasting green infrastructure is accurate site assessment.  This hands on workshop is the second course in our Urban Green Infrastructure fundamentals series. It is geared toward contractors, planners, engineers, architects, landscape architects, construction managers and green infrastructure enthusiasts.  Working in teams facilitated by a green infrastructure professional , students will travel to 2 green infrastructure sites at varying stages of development to assess the site conditions, design specifications and performance.   Students will be expected to travel via public transportation to sites and workshop is at risk of being rescheduled in the instance of inclement weather.  Duration at each site will be 3 hrs.

Student Learning Objectives:

1. Students will be able to discuss the value of integrating green infrastructure into greenways and blueways to create a neighborhood-scale stormwater management network.
2. Students will be able to illustrate site assessment steps and methods at the scale of a typical street block through core sampling, canopy interception and infiltration/percolation testing.
3. Students will be able to identify subwatershed data that needs to be collected and assessed to maximize the potential of green infrastructure techniques, including subwatershed delineation.
4. Students will be able to perform the analysis of a roof’s hydrological and budgetary performance, through rainwater calculation tools and cost-benefit analysis as well as identify and describe monitoring techniques, including evaporative cooling measurement and sewer catchment stormwater measurements.

Site #1:  IKEA Ferry Landing  10AM

Using the Brooklyn Greenway as a lens for instruction, this course will demonstrate important site assessment steps and methods at various scales that are necessary in order to design and build green infrastructure systems. This course will also demonstrate the important subwatershed data that is needed in order to design systems that can ultimately be part of a larger. A three-hour tour of the planned Columbia Street Greenway site will demonstrate the multiple environmental, infrastructural, and cultural site assessments that are necessary in designing a green infrastructure system within the public right-of-way.  

Instructor:  Tricia Martin; We Design, Principal; NYASLA, President

Topics to be covered:

• Brooklyn Greenway as a critical piece of an interconnected subwatershed network
• The value of GI beyond stormwater management especially in underserved communities
• Watershed maps and subwatershed delineation
• Water quality issues, including:
  • direct discharge
  • off grid drainage

• Pre-design data collection:
  • Professional survey
  • Soil borings
  • DEP Maps

Site #2:  Degraw Street Green Roof  2PM

A three-hour tour of a green roof in Gowanus, Brooklyn with facilitated discussion of how a green roof functions to solve stormwater issues.  The tour will include an explanation of the main site considerations including structural stability of roof, engineered soils selection/composition and varying layering systems.  Students will also gain an understanding of green roof performance monitoring techniques, including evaporative cooling and stormwater capture measurements.

Instructor: Inger Staggs-Yancey; Architect, LEED AP; Green Roof Professional; Founder, Brooklyn Greenroof

Topics to be covered:

• Green roof layer system
• Site and systems specific designs including plant selection
• Structural considerations
• Facilitated calculation of rainfall and structural loads
• Monitoring & Testing
  • Rooftop temperatures
  • Rainfall capture

**For any questions, please contact:

Jaime Stein
Coordinator, Environmental Systems Management.  
Email: jstein9@pratt.edu   Phone: 718-399-4323