Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

EPA Awards Green Infrastructure Grant of $20,000 to Kansas State University

  • 09/10/15

LENEXA, KS – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has awarded a $20,000 grant to Kansas State University to carry out a green infrastructure demonstration and training project on its campus in Manhattan, KS.

Faculty and students will create “living laboratories” to conduct green infrastructure monitoring at two on-campus sites — the rain garden at the International Student Center and the meadow at the Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art.

According to the project narrative, faculty will devise a “green infrastructure monitoring curriculum” that will offer “technical training on water quality analysis, runoff modeling, and overall ecological health assessments.” Students from different disciplines will collaborate on the monitoring program. They will record and analyze data to gauge performance, then develop communication materials, including brochures and a touch screen at the museum.

“Measuring green infrastructure’s impact is important, and so is training individuals who can make contributions to the field,” says Ken Kopocis, EPA’s deputy assistant administrator for Water. “By giving students hands-on experience with green infrastructure monitoring, this project achieves both objectives.”

Green infrastructure uses vegetation, soils and natural processes to manage wet weather runoff, treating stormwater as a resource rather than a waste. It can enhance resiliency for communities and landscapes faced with water pollution and climate change impacts by increasing water supplies, reducing flooding, combatting urban heat island effect and improving water quality.

The award encourages sustainable stormwater management by educating the next generation of scientists, designers and engineers about green infrastructure. By supporting demonstrations and training, colleges and universities can advance the implementation of green infrastructure to protect water quality.

This award builds on the success of EPA’s Campus RainWorks Challenge, in which faculty and student teams design green infrastructure projects for their campuses. Kansas State won a $2,000 first-place prize in 2013.

EPA also awarded a $20,000 grant to Mississippi State University to design and construct a 1,500-square-foot rain garden to manage runoff from a nearby building.

Featured

  • URI Cuts Underwater Ribbon on New Ocean Robotics Laboratory

    The University of Rhode Island recently held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new Ocean Robotics Laboratory at its Narragansett Bay Campus, according to a news release. Two students used a remotely operated vehicle to cut an underwater ribbon in a 30-by-20-foot test tank.

  • University of Pennsylvania Releases Design of Future Physical Sciences Building

    The University of Pennsylvania (Penn) in Philadelphia, Penn., recently released renderings of an upcoming 350,000-square-foot Physical Sciences Building, according to news release. The facility was designed by CO Architects and will unite the university’s departments of Physics and Astronomy, Mathematics, and Earth and Environmental Science.

  • Barbara Vick Western Branch

    Barbara Vick Western Branch

    Established in 1999, the Education Design Showcase is a vehicle for showing off innovative — yet practical — solutions in planning, design, architecture, and construction. The Barbara Vick Western Branch has been recognized with an EDS 2026 Grand Prize award in the category of Renovation.

  • Deferred Maintenance Issues Growing at Universities, Gordian Reports

    U.S. colleges and universities are falling increasingly behind on facilities maintenance and repair, according to Gordian’s 13th annual State of Facilities in Higher Education report. The deferred capital renewal burden has reached $156 per gross square foot, an 8% increase over the previous year.