Public Workshop Presentation (March 30, 2013)
Remember, you must have signed in at one of our workshops to be eligible for Illinois Green Infrastructure (IGIG) funding.
What City of Chicago programs are available to assist with stormwater management?
Chicago Center for Green Technology (here’s a schedule of FREE classes, including many on rain gardens, rain barrels, green roofs, and other ways to help manage wet weather on your property)
Sustainable Backyard Program (rebates for purchasing trees, rain barrels, and native plants… and compost bins, but they aren’t relevant to stormwater management)
Green Permitting (expedited permitting, and potentially fee waivers, for green roof projects and the Chicago Green Home Program)
Basement Flooding Partnership (if you can get 70% of your neighbors interested in downspout disconnection, the Dept. of Water Management will take you the rest of the way, including installing restrictor valves on stormwater drains, which will force excess water to pool in the street… but better in the street than in your basement)
Green Alleys (information about the program in general, but also a link to the program handbook, which might be useful if you’re considering permeable paving as part of your application)
What other resources might be helpful to me?
Managing Stormwater at Home (a useful guide on the basics of green infrastructure)
Administración del Agua de Lluvia en Casa (same as above, but en español)
CNT’s Green Values Stormwater Toolbox (a collection of useful information, including the Green Values Stormwater Management Calculator)
What if I need financial assistance to follow through with my project?
Chicago Community Loan Fund: CCLF specializes in serving the needs of emerging organizations—who often have the most difficulty accessing capital—by providing reasonably priced loan products and free (or low-cost) technical assistance. CCLF’s equity requirements are flexible and our loan-to-value ratios are more generous than many other lenders, even other CDFIs.
SomerCor 504, Inc: The program uses local Tax Increment Financing (TIF) revenues to help owners of commercial and industrial properties and/or tenants within specific TIF districts to repair or remodel their facilities. Program participants can receive reimbursing grants to cover 25%, 50%, or 75% of the cost of remodeling work, with a maximum grant amount of $ 150,000. The grant does not have to be repaid. SBIF grants are provided to property owners after remodeling work is completed and all expenses are paid. Residential property, residential components of a mixed-use building, and property leased to certain businesses are not eligible for the program.
Manuals and permit websites listed In application packet
Department of Buildings: Permit Overview
Self Certification for Engineers and Architects
Estimating Pollutant Load Reductions for Nonpoint Source Pollution Control BMPs (use the Region 5 Load Estimation Spreadsheet Model)
Other helpful info
Chicago’s Rain Harvesting Blog
MeterSave - a program offered by the City of Chicago Department of Water Management (DWM) to non-metered Chicago homeowners to voluntarily install meters to help them save water and save money.
Glossary of terms
- Green infrastructure: any practice employed with the primary goal of preserving, restoring, mimicking, or enhancing natural hydrology. Green infrastructure includes, but is not limited to, methods of using soil and vegetation to promote soil percolation, evapotranspiration, and filtering or the harvesting and reuse of precipitation.
- BMP: best management practice, a method or technique that has consistently shown results superior to those achieved with other means, and that is used as a benchmark.
- Green roof: also known as a living roof, is a roof of a building that is partially or completely covered with vegetation of a growing medium planted over a water proofing membrane.
- Green walls: a wall, freestanding or part of a building, that is partially or completely covered with vegetation.
- Permeable pavement: a range of materials that are used for sidewalks, roads, and other paved surfaces that allow water and air to flow through to the ground, thus decreasing the likelihood of flooding.
- Bioswales: landscape elements that are designed to remove silt and pollution from surface runoff water. They consist of a swaled drainage course with gently sloping sides (less than 6%) and typically filled with vegetation or compost.
- Infiltration trenches: also called a percolation trench, this BMP is used to manage stormwater runoff, prevent flooding, and improve water quality in local water systems. It is a shallow trench filled with gravel designed to slowly infiltrate stormwater into permeable soil.
- Rainwater harvesting system: a system that collects and stores rainwater for reuse before it connects with the aquifer. Uses range from garden watering to toilet tank use.
- Rain barrel: a large barrel used to collect rainwater to decrease flooding potential as well as collect rainwater for reuse in water related chores that use gray water (non potable). Examples: watering gardens, washing cars, toilet tanks.
- Nonpoint source pollution: refers to both water and air pollution from diffuse sources. Nonpoint source water pollution affects a water body from sources such as polluted runoff from agricultural areas draining into a river, or wind-borne debris blowing out to sea.
- Downspout: roof drain pipe is a vertical pipe for carrying rainwater from a rain gutter to ground level.
- Permeable alley: an alley that has pavement that can be permeated by air and water, thus decreasing flooding problems and sewer overflow.
- LEED certification: Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, developed by the United States Green Building Council, this certification consists of a suite of rating systems for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings, homes and neighborhoods. LEED certifications are intended to provide building owners and operators a concise framework for identifying and implementing practical and measurable green building design, construction, operations and maintenance solutions.