Depave driveways and increase rain barrel irrigation by qyz

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Jennifer Lawrence Dec 17, 2014 01:24 Fellow 1 \| Share via:	Quinton: Thank you for this well-thought out and creative idea. This is exactly the kind of detail we are looking for! My one comment would be that in the next week, we will have the heat maps from the Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment on our Resources page. It will be helpful if you could look through these maps and add a bit of detail on which neighborhoods you feel will benefit the most so that we can start to prioritize potential targeting each year, as laid out in your timeline. Thanks for submitting an idea. - Jen
Quinton Zondervan Dec 19, 2014 01:28 Member 2 \| Share via:	Proposal contributor Thanks Jen, can you post the link to the heat maps? Best, Q
Jennifer Lawrence Dec 22, 2014 10:20 Fellow 3 \| Share via:	They are uploaded now!
Quinton Zondervan Dec 22, 2014 11:03 Member 4 \| Share via:	Proposal contributor Thanks; can you post the link?
Hanaa Rohman Jan 13, 2015 10:59 Fellow 5 \| Share via:	Here it is on the reference page, last link at the bottom: https://www.climatecolab.org/resources/-/wiki/Main/Urban+Heat+Island+Effect
Quinton Zondervan Jan 13, 2015 01:41 Member 6 \| Share via:	Proposal contributor Thanks hanaa :-) I did find it a while ago but kind of you to post it here. Best, Q
Climate Colab Feb 18, 2015 12:03 Member 7 \| Share via:	Congratulations on making it to the Semi-Finals for the Urban Heat Island Effect contest. Please take into consideration the comments left by the judges and do please incorporate that feedback into your final proposal. We look forward to seeing your ideas finalized in the next iteration!
Jennifer Lawrence Feb 18, 2015 11:43 Fellow 8 \| Share via:	Dear Quinton: The CoLab had a typo in their previous message to you. The proposal revision period closes on March 1st, NOT the 31st. Below are your proposal's comments from the judging team. Thank you for participating! Judge 1: The proposal needs area quantification for impact assessment. Is the project going to have a significant impact? If so, what is the percentage of area that it affects, so that it is worth the door-to-door approach to convince citizens to be entirely engaged. Judge 2: This idea makes a lot of sense - eliminate paved areas where possible, and encourage landowners to do so. I'm curious about some of the details - are there options for folks who don't want to commit to a fully depaved driveway? For example, a driveway reinforced with concrete block (that allows grass to grow, but can still be shoveled/doesn't turn into mud in heavy rain)? Can similar effect be gained by covering over the driveway? What are the disposal costs associated with pavement? Are there alternatives for how the depaved pavement is disposed of, rather than by dumpster (and presumably landfill)?
Jennifer Lawrence Feb 27, 2015 12:02 Fellow 9 \| Share via:	Reminder: Review period ends on Sunday. Please take a look at the judging feedback and update your proposal. Thanks!
Quinton Zondervan Feb 27, 2015 02:48 Member 10 \| Share via:	Proposal contributor Response to Judge 1: According to this article over 50,000 square feet of pavement was depaved in Portland, OR through volunteer efforts alone: http://www.groundworksomerville.org/depave-in-the-boston-globe/ According to Cambridge city website's summary of the 2010 census http://www.cambridgema.gov/CDD/factsandmaps/demographicfaq.aspx there are 47,291 housing units in Cambridge as of 2010, with 44.4% in buildings with less than 6 units. If half of those units have 100 square feet of paved driveway per unit, that is 47,291 x .444 x .5 x 100 = ~1 million sq. ft. of pavement. Even if we could only depave 5% of that estimated total it would represent 50,000 sq. ft. of pavement that could be removed. I don't know if 50% having a driveway is a reasonable assumption, or if 100 sq. feet is a reasonable amount, so these are just estimates to get an idea of the scope. Response to Judge 2: Yes, there are many alternative permeable surfaces that can be created besides grass. Disposal costs are around $600 for the dumpster rental. Depaved asphalt is recycled and is not allowed in landfills: http://www.recyclingworksma.com/how-to/materials-guidance/construction-materials/
Laur Hesse Fisher Mar 4, 2015 09:29 Staff 11 \| Share via:	Dear proposal authors: The Finalist selection phase has been extended so Judges could finalize their comments. The Fellow team will be in touch with more details as they arise. Thank you for your patience and understanding. ~~ Laur Climate CoLab Project Manager
Climate Colab Mar 6, 2015 12:51 Member 12 \| Share via:	Even though I've heard of this before, I like this proposal because our communities need to depave; However, more work needs to be done to make a convincing argument. Where will the old asphalt go? What are the implications of permeable asphalt and Boston Winters? Will freeze-thaw cycles, snow plows and shovels sabotage the potential plants that will grow in these depaved areas? From my understanding of rainwater harvesting, a 55 gallon barrel is a drop in the bucket and almost not worth the while. Has rainwater barrel programs seen much success across the nation? I think a much better idea would be to depave driveways and then bury a much larger underground cistern, depending on the intended use of the water. I think what will be important for this proposal to work is to find the right end user who will provide the proper maintenance for both the new impermeable driveway and cisterns and will utilize the water coming from the cistern.
Michael Hayes Mar 13, 2015 05:09 Member 13 \| Share via:	Hi Folks, The comment of "I think a much better idea would be to depave driveways and then bury a much larger underground cistern, depending on the intended use of the water." has a good deal of wisdom in it. The driveway cisterns can be used for organic flow batteries: http://www.seas.harvard.edu/news/2014/01/organic-mega-flow-battery-promises-breakthrough-for-renewable-energy and possibly even chemosynthetic sewage->algal biomass->biofuel/biochar production: Alabama Gets First-In-World Carbon-Negative Algae Biofuel http://cleantechnica.com/2014/08/20/alabama-gets-first-world-carbon-negative-algae-biofuel/ The energy production and storage potential of a large number of sub-driveway urban cisterns may justify the creation of a local B Corp. which can eventually support many other urban mitigation and adaptation needs. As a final thought, the driveway cement can be cut up on-site as pavers and reused for landscape improvements on the site or elsewhere. Building a Bobcat paver-cutter attachment, using available masonry cutting tools, would be rather straight forward. https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=stihl+masonry+chainsaw&tbm=vid The above referenced chainsaw bar can be ganged together to cut standard widths of cement and the diamond chains can be driven by the Bobcat's on-board hydraulics. In brief, the energy implications of a distributed energy conversion/storage system using a large number of driveway cisterns does seem significant. The issue of hardening the system against winter wear and tear can be addressed through a specialized B. Corp which is equipped with modified tools designed to install the cisterns, maintain and harvest the energy/sewage system and rapidly repair surface winter damage. And, the engineering and availability of an energy/cistern system is not an issue. http://www.ads-pipe.com/pdf/en/A7.01-HDPE_Underground_Cisterns.pdf Best regards, Michael
Michael Hayes Mar 13, 2015 05:38 Member 14 \| Share via:	I found the masonry cutter link was broken. Here is another: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DguNavRgRtE M
Michael Hayes Apr 24, 2015 07:34 Member 15 \| Share via:	Wow!!! Rain Barrels actually impressed these judges. Remarkable. I guess the rest of the contributors should not have taken that 'Heat Island' thing so seriously.