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Green Stormwater Monitoring Interim Report

Gilmore & Associates, Inc. was awarded a grant from the Sustainable Business Network to perform Water Level Monitoring and Soil Moisture Monitoring in Green Stormwater Infrastructure – site of the monitoring is the Germantown Friends School in Philadelphia PA.

The monitoring site is the area of the GFS Wade Science Center, which was constructed in 2007-2009.  The Wade Science Center is a LEED® Gold building that serves as an educational setting and laboratory for GFS students.  Construction of the building was performed in accordance with the Philadelphia Water Stormwater Regulations and included Green Stormwater Infrastructure (GSI). 

The monitoring of green stormwater infrastructure at private properties will further the capability to evaluate capture of rainfall in the city.  G&A has installed monitoring equipment at two types of rain gardens; one rain garden is lined due to environmental remediation.  The second rain garden infiltrates to underlying soils.  G&A is also monitoring soil moisture on the green roof. The monitoring includes soil moisture and water levels, and deployment of data collectors with solar panels and cellular transmitters.  The School’s 5th grade science class is performing monthly monitoring through the end of the 1-year grant period.

About the Sustainable Business Network of Greater Philadelphia (SBN) and
Green Stormwater Infrastructure (GSI) Partners

The Sustainable Business Network of Greater Philadelphia (SBN) is a non-profit membership organization working to build a just, green, and thriving economy in the Greater Philadelphia region. SBN accomplishes this by growing and educating a broad base of local, independent businesses and educating policymakers and the public. SBN supports Green City, Clean Waters and its triple-bottom line approach to urban stormwater management, and through the GSI Partners, SBN is working to maximize the local economic, environmental, and social impact of the plan.

The Green Stormwater Infrastructure (GSI) Partners is a signature initiative of SBN working to advance the local GSI industry, innovation, and the local economy as it relates to GSI. Formed in 2012 in response to Philadelphia’s ambitious and innovative stormwater management plan, Green City, Clean Waters, the GSI Partners advocate for the greenest approaches to be facilitated and incentivized as much as possible, and for the public and private investment to remain as local as possible. Members include locally-owned engineering and landscape architecture firms; landscape design, build, and maintenance firms; and material suppliers whose services and products pertain to GSI. Many members are recognized locally, regionally, and nationally as industry experts. SBN’s GSI Partners developed the GSI Monitoring Grant pilot program to support performance monitoring of private GSI projects and encourage the broad dissemination of the results. Learn more at gsipartners.sbnphiladelphia.org