by Brianna Crandall — May 6, 2015—The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently announced the winners of its third annual Campus RainWorks Challenge, a design competition created to engage college and university students in reinventing the nation’s water infrastructure. Student teams proposed innovative green infrastructure designs to reduce stormwater pollution and develop sustainable communities, coming up with ideas that could benefit campuses across the country.
The Illinois team’s plan aims to not only help mitigate urban flooding in Chicago and provide educational and recreational opportunities on campus, but also demonstrate an adaptable planning process for implementing green infrastructure.(Click on image to enlarge)
Stormwater is one of the nation’s most widespread challenges to water quality, points out EPA. Large volumes of stormwater pollute our nation’s streams, rivers and lakes, posing a threat to human health and the environment and contributing to downstream flooding. Green infrastructure captures pollutants by filtering stormwater through soils and retaining stormwater on site.
Student teams competed in two design categories — the Master Plan category, which examines how green infrastructure could be integrated into a broad area of a school’s campus, and the Demonstration Project category, which examines how green infrastructure could be integrated into a particular site on the team’s campus.
This year’s Campus RainWorks Challenge winners are:
First Place Winners
- University of Illinois at Chicago (Master Plan category)
- University of Maryland, College Park (Demonstration Project category)
Second Place Winners
- University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (Master Plan)
- Queens College, City University of New York (Demonstration Project)
Honorable Mentions
- University of Maryland, College Park (Master Plan)
- Georgetown University (Demonstration Project)
EPA created the Campus RainWorks Challenge in 2012 to inspire the next generation of landscape architects, planners and engineers to develop innovative green infrastructure systems that mitigate urban stormwater impacts while supporting vibrant and sustainable communities.
According to EPA, green infrastructure helps communities maintain healthy waters, support sustainable communities and provide multiple environmental benefits. Examples of green infrastructure practices include green roofs, permeable pavements, rain gardens, urban forests and rain-harvesting systems.
