APRIL 2024CONSTRUCTIONTECHREVIEW.COM9Further, politicians, planners, engineers and other stakeholders could also continually re-examine how resources and processes are designed and managed, rather than automatically reaching for the status quo of viewing rainwater as a "waste" to get rid of instead of as a "resource" to hold on to. Greater recognition of the value and use of vegetation can also play a major role in catchment and evaporation processes, immensely benefitting developments, especially in flood prone areas. By reducing impervious areas and introducing vegetation, immediate results of reducing flooding can be brought by allowing stormwater to infiltrate into the soil as well as up taken by plants. Vegetation also allows for water to go through a pre-treatment process by sedimentation of suspended matter as well as more directed and intentional bioremediation processes, thereby reducing pollution into our water bodies. Also, encouraging smaller scale, localized, grass root efforts will have a major impact and bode well for the neighborhood as well. One great local approach is by having rain gardens instead of lawns, and reintroducing native prairie grasses back into the area, such as what the Texas-based landscape firm Ecosystem Regeneration Artisans (ERA) practices. As Shannon Brown, founder of ERA, recently told me, native prairie grasses can have root systems that grow to 15 feet in depth, as compared to lawn grasses that generally grow only 4-8 inches. When these native prairie grasses grow, their root systems open up "root channels" that further help the water sink deeper into the soil, which in turn helps reduce flooding, reduce soil erosion, and recharge the groundwater. With additional synergies and multitudes of other benefits, such as reducing the heat island effect, providing recreational opportunities in biophilic spaces, and reduction of pollution and CSOs to name a few, a community's quality of life can further be enhanced.As we're witnessing the increasing and intensifying effects of climate change to the hydrological cycle, and the devastating effects it's having on life and property, it's clear that innovative approaches are urgently needed. It's time to think outside of the catch basin box. By 2024, 50 per cent of Asia-based 2000 (A2000) companies will capture their carbon data and report their enterprise-wide carbon footprint using quantifiable metrics. QUI CKB Y TESOne of the simplest ways to effectuate a needed paradigm shift is to go back to basics
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