SORP Presentation May 13, 2014 Presentation by Jessica Dunn, Landscape Architect and Sarah Baker, Engineer
Transcript
SORP PresentationMay 13, 2014Presentation by Jessica Dunn, Landscape Architect and Sarah Baker, Engineer
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Presentation Notes
Intros--- Landscape architects and engineers in the Forest Service provide design services for all developed and dispersed recreation opportunities– campgrounds, trails, interpretive exhibits, overlooks, picnic areas, etc. We are here today to talk about an exciting sustainable design project we are working on in the Forest Service. This presentation will cover: Brief description and background on the project What the SRDG hopes to accomplish Content development of SRDG SRDG in practice- case studies
What is sustainability?‘‘Sustainable
means to create and
maintain conditions, under which
humans and nature can exist in
productive harmony, that permit
fulfilling the social, economic, and
other requirements of present and
future generations
of Americans.”
“The mission of the USDA Forest
Service is to sustain the health,
diversity, and productivity of the
Nation’s forests and grasslands to
meet the needs of present and
future generations.”
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I want to start out by talking about sustainability in general. The definition of sustainability from the 2009’s EO 13514, Federal Leadership in Environmental, Energy, and Economic Performance, reads ‘‘Sustainable means to create and maintain conditions, under which humans and nature can exist in productive harmony, that permit fulfilling the social, economic, and other requirements of present and future generations of Americans.” �This definition sounds very similar to the mission of the Forest Service. “The mission of the USDA Forest Service is to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of the Nation’s forests and grasslands to meet the needs of present and future generations.” Sustainability is not only a good thing to include in our agency’s operations--- it is also part of our mission. We have a responsibility to include it.
Private Sector Innovations
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In terms of sustainable design, we can start by looking to the private sector, and efforts undertaken to incorporate sustainability into project design and implementation in the design and planning world at large. “Green” design and sustainable methods are now everyday best practices . Some leading efforts coming out of the private sector include---- LEED- the original architecture standards and rating system for designing green buildings—and more recent, similar efforts such as: Living Building Challenge-- a philosophy, advocacy tool and certification program that promotes the most advanced measurement of sustainability in the built environment and GreenGlobes-- a building environmental design and management tool that includes an online assessment protocol, rating system and guidance for green building design, operation and management. Sustainable Sites Initiatives– like LEED but for landscapes A set of prerequisites and credits combining current research, technology, best practices and performance goals for the design, construction and maintenance of sustainable sites. (a major predecessor for the project we will be discussing today) Sustainable design Assessment Team by the AIA- community assistance program providing sustainable design The International Code Council (ICC), 2012 International Green Construction Code (IgCC). model code that includes sustainability measures for the entire construction project and its site — from design through construction
Public Sector Innovations
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Other innovations from the public sector: NPS, many developments, from guidance on sustainability for historic buildings to agencywide guidelines Council on environmental quality/EPA: instrumental in producing executive orders, particularly 13514, Federal Leadership in Environmental, Energy, and Economic Performance, which set sustainability goals for Federal agencies and focuses on making improvements in their environmental, energy and economic performance. Resulting Guidance for Federal Agencies on Sustainable Design for Designed Landscapes– federal guidance, tailored to facilities FEDERAL LEADERSHIP IN HIGH PERFORMANCE and SUSTAINABLE BUILDINGS MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING –MOU that instructs signatory agencies commit to federal leadership in the design, construction, and operation of High-Performance and Sustainable Buildings. A major element of this strategy is the implementation of common strategies for planning, acquiring, siting, designing, building, operating, and maintaining High Performance and Sustainable Buildings. (pic of Luis Luna, then the EPA Assistant Administrator for Administration and Resources Management, signing the MOU in 2006, At the White House Summit on Federal Sustainable Buildings)
Guiding FS Sustainability Efforts
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In our own agency, 2010 saw the introduction of the Framework for Sustainable Recreation- a new strategy for management of national forest lands. ---critical turning point as an agency; shrinking budgets, increasing visitor demands for quality recreation, and degraded recreation settings, “We can no longer manage as we have in the past.” Show Chief’s video?? 3 minutes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrHXROxXco8 There is a FSR Implementation Guide underway, focused on “big picture” of FS management- developing partnerships, protecting heritage, developing a sustainable financial foundation, etc; instruction for field-level folks not yet available new planning rule--new directives concerning sustainability, scenic character, and recreation opportunities have emerged. in 2011, FS 2300 was updated to reflect agency focus on sustainability: “Create an integrated and sustainable program that fosters conservation of natural and cultural resources.”(FSM 2300, 6). In the region that the three of us work in, the Southwestern Region, we have recently debuted a Sustainable Recreation Strategy for all of our Forests’ Recreation programs to follow. This strategy focuses on the three spheres of sustainability, and how to manage the social, economic, and environmental aspects of recreation for longevity and sustainability. Much work has been done to date within our agency regarding sustainability as it relates to Administrative buildings, facilities, and operations, but a need has been identified for recreation-specific guidance for planning at the project-level.
How Does Sustainable Recreation Design Fit with Agency Priorities Around Ecosystems?
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How Does Sustainable Recreation Design Fit with Agency Priorities Around Ecosystems? Additionally we are interested in how sustainable recreation design can fit in with our agency’s priorities around ecosystems. Recreation use and recreation infrastructure are important elements of many of the ecosystems the agency manages . A focus on Sustainable recreation helps us toward a more integrated view and strategy for managing these landscapes. This focus also lays the foundation for sustainable design’s application of ecosystem principles to recreation design, planning, development, and maintenance. Sust rec design can serves as bridge between recreation planning and design and ecosystem health initiatives. Agency has many systems for prioritizing landscape treatments, including Watershed Condition Framework, upcoming Terrestrial Condition Assessment, High Priority Partnerships, and Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program. Sus rec design is an opportunity to begin to breakdown the barriers between recreation and other resource areas by referencing these ecological frameworks Sus rec design can also help ensure that design projects bridge disciplines to meet ecosystem health objectives in addition to meeting recreation needs. Sustainable recreation design can not only protect but enhance ecosystem services,
How to integrate sustainability into Forest Service design projects?
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So…how do we integrate sustainability into Forest Service design projects? The project proposal for “The Sustainable Recreation Design Guide” that we are speaking about this afternoon came from many discussions in R3 concerning how to implement sustainable design principles into our daily management activities. We realized that there was a pressing need for a guide incorporating sustainable design principles &strategies into planning and design projects, focusing specifically on project-level implementation Francisco and I would have lots of conversations about sustainable design, as he was a key player in developing the Framework. He would say to me “I want to see sustainable designs coming out of our shop, nothing traditional” I would say, ok, excellent… how? ….how can we create an integrated sustainable design methodology in the FS? How can we introduce sustainable design into the well-entrenched traditional FS ways of going about design? (For example, how can we encapsulate and acknowledge ways that have worked in the past---a 1960s era FS wooden building that survived a wildfire, and also include new ways of designing sustainably-- a soda can wall at the Earthships in Taos) We agreed that some sort of guidance needed to be developed…and we submitted a proposal to our agency’s research and development team for consideration . He encouraged me to contact Sarah Baker, an engineer working within the field of sustainable operations. Well, Sarah and I went to coffee back in 2012, and couldn’t stop talking! We spent hours talking about design and the Forest Service, and the need for the big sustainable ideas that got us excited to be drilled down into the day to day work that we do. We talked about biomimicry, about earthships which we then later visited together, and discussed the desire to make sustainable design a field-going practice. We decided that a partnership between engineering and recreation was integral to sustainable design becoming a fixture-- since partnerships between those two discplines were necessary for effective design in the first place. We decided we needed to create something to fill the gap between then and now….
• Solution: The Sustainable Recreation Guide (SRDG)!
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The proposal’s premise: There is an immediate need to develop a sustainability design resource tailored to the unique assessment and management needs of our national forest landscapes. It was picked up by our research and development branch, San Dimas TDC , it is strongly supported by our WO Recreation shop (the #1 priority project). Since the beginning, we have partnered with multiple internal groups, and have created a network of consultants nationwide Have assembled a team of LAs, Engineers, and Rec planners nationwide to help with the creation of the document--- some of which are pictured here at a Visioning Workshop we held at the end of 2012. Guiding principle for us as a team is that an interdisciplinary, diverse approach to the publication is necessary for its success. This project for the FS is cutting edge, timely, allowing us to be proactive instead of reactive, and puts us on par with private industry advances. Now I will go into some background, our vision, goals, objectives, purpose and need.
Vision of the SRDG
• SRDG=Development of a national
guidebook of best practices and
processes for implementing
sustainable recreation design
• Not a prescriptive document, but
a set of guiding principles, a
collection of expectations,
questions, and broad approaches
that help designers incorporate
sustainability into recreation
planning and design
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Since the project’s inception in mid-2012, we have been working on articulating a vision for the project, and identifying the necessary components for the publication. Vision The SRDG will be a national guidebook of best practices and processes for implementing sustainable recreation design not be a prescriptive document, but a set of guiding principles, a collection of expectations, questions, and broad approaches that help designers incorporate sustainability into recreation planning and design. (this is integral to keeping the document’s integrity, and allowing for constant updates in sustainability advancements) Thinking of our recreation sites as holistic concepts– environmental, social, economical systems with built elements
Goals of the SRDG• Resource for field‐level
recreation designers and
planners
• Tailored to the unique assessment and management
needs of our national forest
landscapes
• Provide the necessary metrics
to apply
the principles of the
Forest Service’s A
Framework
for Sustainable Recreation.
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Goals The goal of this project is to produce a resource for field-level recreation designers and planners (LAs, engineers, rec staff, etc), tailored to the unique assessment and management needs of our national forest landscapes. Additionally, the resulting guidebook will provide the necessary metrics to apply the principles of the Forest Service’s A Framework for Sustainable Recreation, and specifically three focus areas when constructing new or rehabilitating existing Forest Service recreation developments and sites: Restore and Adapt Recreation Settings Invest in Special Places, and Implement “Green” Operations.
• Provide field‐level guidance for incorporating sustainability
practices into Forest Service
recreation planning and design
processes.
• Align best available sustainability science to the
uniqueness of outdoor
recreation management.
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Our Objectives The objective is to provide field-level guidance for incorporating sustainability practices into Forest Service recreation planning and design processes. This guidance document could be a companion to the Forest Service’s Built Environment Image Guide (BEIG), a guide to incorporating regional aesthetic design into FS sites, and will reference other existing Forest Service efforts to date. It will align best-available sustainability science to the uniqueness of outdoor recreation management. Also, imperative that the SRDG be scaleable--- easy to implement no matter what the size of the project.
Structure of the SRDG• The guidebook will address how
sustainability factors into each major
step of the design and planning
process, including:
• Planning, NEPA, and draft Design Narrative/Engineering Report
• Design• Construction/Implementation
• Operation and Maintenance
• Post‐construction/ monitoring
• End of life cycle (decommissioning)
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The guidebook will address how sustainability factors into each major step of the design and planning process, including: Planning, NEPA, and draft Design Narrative/Engineering Report Design Construction/Implementation (to incorporate rehabilitation projects) Operation and Maintenance Post-construction/ monitoring End of life cycle (decommissioning) The guidebook will provide questions and principles regarding sustainability, inserted in the appropriate steps of the design and planning process, and will provide an agency foundation for sustainable best practices in recreation.
Audience of the SRDG• Field‐level designers; landscape
architects, engineers, project
managers, recreation staff, and
recreation planners.
• Designed for project‐level planning and design at the
Ranger District and Forest
Supervisor Office levels.
• May also be of general value as a
reference for other levels of USFS
staff.
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Key factor in the project development identifying our audience. The audience for the SRDG includes field-level designers (Landscape Architects and Engineers); project managers; recreation staff; and recreation planners. The guidebook will be designed for project-level planning and design at the Ranger District and Forest Supervisor Office levels. Not for our regional offices or Washington Office, but for on- the –ground projects. It may also be of general value as a reference for other levels of USFS staff. In an age of limited time and limited budgets, one of our major questions is how we can break down barriers and make SRDG a part of daily practice for other disciplines. Barriers being funding, timing, separation of design resources. Some ideas: Identify key personnel to help disseminate the product Clearly highlight engineers contributing in case studies and pilot projects Get RLAs to work with R Engineers to get training in engineering annual docket. Issue an interim directive to the handbook (when you don’t want to update the handbook but want to update the line)….handbook not manual…gives us opportunity to put this in once it is complete as a tool to meet the Framework for the Sust Framework Opportunity to bring it into the new employee training, remind people about with letter from WO, etc Having it on Engineering and Recreation webpages
Phase I: Develop a sustainable best practices and design implementation guide specific to recreation projects on national forests. Current Phase we are in…. Phase II: Develop an evaluation process similar to the urban-based SITES rating system specific to Forest Service management and projects. Companion to the implementation guide, and could be used to evaluate projects for sustainability, identify and apply mitigation techniques, and improve the sustainability of on-the-ground projects. Our recent direction with the project has centered this evaluation process more as an integral part of the document itself, as opposed to a separate phase. Phase III: Develop an interactive, web-based version of the implementation guide to function as an online knowledge base, to collect and archive stories of success, case studies, and keep up to date on advancements in sustainability. Train the agency and partners. Also develop trainings….SRDG as example of great virtual training program; Recorded and live webinars, peer learning sessions, interactive groups on RecLink, SharePoint, outward facing website with collection of training resources Integrated SRDG training meeting in conjunction with national conferences like SORP or ASLA Also have a SRDG analysis that applies to projects; i.e. projects over a certain $ amount recommended that a SRDG analysis is conducted, where a team of experts walks the project through SRDG and trains the local designers during the process Cross-pollination with other agencies and partners; how the SRDG can apply and also how it can be approved We are in phase 1, probably will be for another year. We are currently finishing up our literature review of important documents and research, and will begin generating content for the publication’s chapters within the next few months. Right now we are considering the structure and outline of the document and working on case studies, more of which will be talked about in Sarah’s presentation next.
USFS Sustainable Operations
• Sustainable Operations Collective
• Grassroots beginnings
• Bottom Up and Top
Down
• Collaboration• Behaviors• Systems
Biomimicry
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Principle: Life Creates Conditions Conducive to Life Adapt to Changing Conditions Be Locally Attuned and Responsive Use Life-friendly Chemistry Be Resource Efficient Integrate Development with Growth Evolve to Survive
Recreation – Traditional Design
Visitors
USFS
Experience
Waste
Visitor Use
GHG
Recreation – with Sustainability
USFS
Waste
Visitors Connection
to the Land
Visitor Use
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Scale can be a program, a project, or a site GHG gives us a possible measure of environmental sustainability
Links
Design to reduce water use
• Reduce O&M costs
• Increase awareness• Enhance experience• Increase personal
connection to Nature
Build with waste
materialNet‐zero energyNet‐zero GHG
emissions
Links• Net Positive as a goal?
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What if our construction enhances the natural environment or the ecosystem? Rain gardens around our features to promote pollinators and native plants?
SRDG Outline• Introduction• Sustainable Recreation• Goals and Objectives• Field Guide
• Planning, NEPA, and draft Design
Narrative/Engineering Report
• Design• Construction• Operation and Maintenance
• Post‐construction/ monitoring
• End of life cycle (decommissioning)
SRDG Design Goals• Preserve, restore, or enhance
ecosystems and ecosystem
functions
• Be resource efficient• Prevent pollution and use life‐
friendly chemistry
• Be locally attuned and responsive• Evolve to be resilient• Promote public health, wellness,
and connections to the land
• Enhance community vitality and
support local economies
SRDG Design ObjectivesExamples:•Preserve, restore, or enhance ecosystems
and ecosystem functions • Preserve, enhance, or restore soils • Preserve, enhance, or restore native
vegetation
• Preserve, restore, or enhance water
resources
•Be resource efficient• Minimize water consumption• Minimize energy consumption
from non‐
renewable sources
• Minimize and manage onsite and offsite
waste
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For each goal, we have objectives.
SRDG Content
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Sample page
Pilot Projects & Case Studies
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SARAH to talk about this? Fossil Creek. Need to identify on the ground personnel to help with case studies and have commitment of time Need to identify travel funds to bring SRDG team members to the location. Radar: need to identify some pilot projects- projects that from a-z use the guidelines (after completion of the guide)
Fossil Creek
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Changing planning process to include sustainability upfront
Interested in questions and feedback from you during our question/answer session at the end…we are interested in howthis would help other rec planners and also any input you may have for us on improving the document. Also, our emails are above to keep the dialogue going.
