David Yocca, a project principal at Conservation Design Forum, will lead a discussion on urban water systems from 3:40-4:30pm on Wednesday, October 9, 2013 at Engineering 1.
As an approach to sustainable, water-focused planning, design and engineering practice, he will share examples of “green infrastructure” in public streets, parks, buildings and other applications that provide multiple benefits, with a focus on opportunities to integrate high-performance materials and technologies as whole systems to improve and enhance the ecology of public space in urban contexts as a key to long-term community prosperity and quality-of-life.
Yucca serves on the Technical Core Committee for the Sustainable Sites Initiative (SITES) and on the Board of Directors of Green Roofs for Healthy Cities, based in Toronto, where he is leading the development of the Living Architecture Performance Tool (LAPT).
Roughly a third of the total land area in typical American cities is public space which is primarily right-of-way for roadways, parking, and utilities. By going beyond auto and utility-related functions, this space presents an enormous opportunity to improve the ecological, social, and economic functions and benefits this asset can provide. For cities to be resilient and prosperous now into the future, the public must offer solutions to deferred maintenance, increasing water quality standards, traffic congestion, unstable energy prices, and social needs simultaneously.
The Urban Water Systems lecture series, co-hosted by College of Architecture Assistant Professor Mary Pat Mattson and Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Associate Professor Paul Anderson offers a series of seminar-style discussions focused on green stormwater infrastructure in Chicago. Lectures and discussions are open to everyone.