by Shane Henson — May 21, 2012—The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is launching a new design competition called the Campus RainWorks Challenge to encourage student teams on college and university campuses across the country to develop innovative approaches to stormwater management.
While stormwater may not receive as much press as other forms of pollution, it is a major cause of water pollution in urban areas in the United States, says the EPA. Stormwater reportedly impacts the health of people across the country as well as tens of thousands of miles of rivers, streams, and coastal shorelines, and hundreds of thousands of acres of lakes, reservoirs, and ponds. The EPA hopes the competition will help raise awareness of green design and planning approaches at colleges and universities, and train the next generation of landscape architects, planners, and engineers in green infrastructure principles and design.
Student teams, working with a faculty advisor, will submit design plans for a proposed green infrastructure project for their campus. Registration for the Campus RainWorks Challenge opens September 4, and entries must be submitted by December 14, 2012 for consideration. Winning entries will be selected by the EPA and announced in April 2013. Winning teams will earn a cash prize of $1,500 to $2,500, as well as $8,000 to $11,000 in funds for their faculty advisor to conduct research on green infrastructure. In 2013, the EPA plans to expand Campus RainWorks by inviting students to design and complete a demonstration project assessing innovative green infrastructure approaches on their campus.
