New York City’s Sheldon Avenue storm water management project on Staten Island, executed by the New York City Department of Design and Construction (NYCDDC) on behalf of the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (NYCDEP), is the recipient of the Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure (ISI) Envision Silver sustainable infrastructure award. The ISI Envision rating system rates sustainable infrastructure across the full range of environmental, social and economic impacts. This project is the NYCDDC’s first to earn an Envision award for sustainability and the second Envision project awarded in the city overall.
Currently in construction, the Sheldon Avenue project involves the creation of a natural wetland to more effectively and sustainably manage and filter storm water captured from the local community. Additionally, sanitary sewers will be installed to allow nearly 600 local homeowners to be taken off septic systems, improving water quality, increasing home values and eliminating the headaches for homeowners associated with managing these systems. This project is the largest expansion to date of the Staten Island Bluebelt, a storm water program created in response to frequent flooding on the island during rain events that were caused by a lack of sufficient storm water drainage.
Key organizations involved in the planning, design and construction of the project include NYCDDC, which is responsible for both the in-house design of the storm and sanitary sewers as well as construction management; NYCDEP, the client agency; Hazen and Sawyer, which is responsible for the design of the stormwater Best Management Practice (BMP) wetland; and Arcadis, which provided construction oversight services and steered the Envision application process.
“This award demonstrates that when sustainability is at the heart of the project, solutions don’t just address the problem, but deliver social, environmental and economic outcomes that improve the quality of life in our communities,” said Ifetayo Venner, Arcadis global leader for water supply and treatment.
Created in 2012 through the collaboration between ISI and the Zofnass Program for Sustainable Infrastructure at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design, the Envision system rates the impact of sustainable infrastructure projects as a whole. The ISI Envision system measures sustainability in five categories: Quality of Life, Leadership, Natural World, Resource Allocation, and Climate and Risk. These key areas contribute to the positive social, economic and environmental impacts on a community.
“Sustainable design is a guiding principle that the New York City Department of Design and Construction follows in all its work as we seek to implement Mayor Bill de Blasio’s vision for a stronger, more equitable and more resilient city,” said DDC Commissioner Feniosky Peña-Mora. “Envision has proven to be a useful tool for not only assessing the sustainability of our infrastructure projects, but for identifying areas for improvement.”
The Sheldon Avenue project earned high scores in the Climate and Risk, Natural World, and Leadership Envision categories.
This project is part of a much larger program: the Staten Island Bluebelt program, designed to address flooding issues and improve water quality in a sustainable manner. The overall integration of the existing community wetland infrastructure is well documented in an Environmental Impact Statement document, a holistic evaluation of the wetlands in the Bluebelt system. Beyond integrated wetlands, this project also integrates well with existing transportation infrastructure and the existing residential and commercial building infrastructure. This project will improve sewerage, drainage and water quality in the Bluebelt area, without adversely impacting the existing population and associated community infrastructure.
“ISI is pleased to present the New York City Department of Design and Construction with the Envision Silver award for sustainable infrastructure,” said ISI President and CEO John Stanton. “The residents of Staten Island can look forward to improved stormwater management, less flooding and better water quality due to the Sheldon Avenue project’s sustainable characteristics, which is part of the larger Staten Island Bluebelt program.”
To learn more about the Sheldon Avenue storm water management project, visit www.nyc.gov/html/dep/html/dep_projects/bluebelt.shtml.
Source: New York City Department of Design and Construction
