Landscape Architecture Frontiers

This paper presents an integrated education and research program that involves extensive participation from stakeholders on campus and beyond. The resultant water conscious design proposal promotes efficient stormwater management on Utah State University’s campus, situated in the semi-arid Intermountain West. Utah State has adopted various “green” solutions for stormwater management, such as directing most campus runoff to recharge groundwater. Yet, there is no comprehensive plan that lays out its sustainable practices, and little quantitative assessment of the design performance has been performed. In accord with the University Campus Master Plan of 2011 and Campus Sustainability Plan 2013-2020, this paper addresses this gap and proposes a series of green infrastructure strategies that make use of rain as a resource, and that can be implemented across campus in three phases. A built green roof project is part of the Phase I master plan. Pilot performance data are presented regarding stormwater runoff and temperature reduction on a green roof surface versus an adjacent test-bed asphalt roof. In summary, the paper provides a holistic approach toward adopting green infrastructure designs and assessing green infrastructure performance in the less evaluated semi-arid climatic conditions, and it serves as an example of research through design process.