Types of Green Infrastructure
Planter Box
Planter boxes are urban rain gardens with vertical walls and either open or closed bottoms. They collect and absorb runoff from sidewalks, parking lots, and streets and are ideal for space-limited sites in dense urban areas.
Permeable Pavement
Permeable pavements infiltrate, treat, and store rainwater where it falls. They can be made of pervious concrete, porous asphalt, or permeable interlocking pavers. This practice is particularly cost effective in areas of high precipitation and high land values.
Rain Garden
Rain gardens, also known as bioretention or bioinfiltration cells, are shallow, vegetated basins that collect and absorb runoff from rooftops, sidewalks, and streets.
Flow Through Planter
Flow-through planter boxes are structural landscaped reservoirs that collect stormwater, filter out pollutants, and disperse water through the vegetation, growing mediums, and gravel.
Green Roof
Green roofs are growing media and vegetation that enable rainfall infiltration and evapotranspiration of stored water. These systems also help regulate building temperature keeping buildings cooler in warm weather and retaining heat in cool weather.
Land Conservation
Preserving open spaces improve water quality and buffer against flooding impacts of urban stormwater while providing recreational opportunities for city residents.
Rain Barrels
Rain barrels are harvesting systems that collect and store rainfall for later use. When designed appropriately, they slow runoff and provide a sustainable source of water.
Cisterns
Similar to rain barrels, cisterns collect rainwater from high places that would otherwise be lost to runoff and divert it to storm drains and streams
Bioswale
Bioswales are vegetated, mulched, or landscaped channels that provide treatment and retention of stormwater from one place to another. As linear features, they are particularly well suited to being placed along streets and parking lots.
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