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INSTRUCTOR: 
Mark Peterson, P.E.

Purpose and Background

Green Infrastructure, also referred to as Low Impact Development (LID) techniques are being used extensively for storm water controls. Most LID techniques are designed to attempt to replicate the original hydrology of a site. They are also sometimes promoted as a way to significantly reduce the storm sewer system required for a development. But do they actually meet these requirements? If so, as engineers, how can we verify that we can meet these goals?

This course will cover the methods of analysis to determine the design rainfall, including a brief example of the statistical analysis required. The course will also cover the use of the EPA SWMM software to determine if the proposed LID features will actually capture the required amount of annual rainfall, including longer-term simulations that are often required.

This course will also cover hydraulic analysis of numerous LID features, including structures intended to divert water into LID features. It will also examine how the use of LID features impacts the required sizing of storm sewer systems.

Benefits and Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this course, you will be able to:

• Explain how rainfall data is used to develop the 80% and 90% events
• Explain what field measurements are necessary to estimate the performance of a bioretention cell
• Model infiltration and runoff from bioretention cells using the EPA SWMM software
• Estimate the potential capacity of infiltration trenches
• Model permeable pavement options using the EPA SWMM software
• Explain how LID features can impact peak flow calculations
• Improve the performance of LID features including bioretention cells and infiltration trenches
• Explain how maintenance requirements are different for LID features compared to typical storm water infrastructure
• Use data available from the Weather Service to estimate appropriate rainfall factors for LID features
• Determine the hydrologic and hydraulic performance of bioretention cells
• Determine how to model infiltration and permeable pavement features using common software
• Determine how improvements to specific hydraulic features can improve performance

Assessment of Learning Outcomes

Students’ achievement of the learning outcomes will be assessed through a series of problem-solving exercises and a post-test.

Who Should Attend?

This course is for anyone involved with the design or review of Green Infrastructure. This includes design engineers, regulatory officials and landscape architects. The course is technical in nature but the equations used are not complicated. Participants should bring a calculator for the problem solving exercises.

Outline

DAY 1

• Introduction, Principles, LID Overview
• Rainfall and Rainfall Patterns
• Infiltration
• Bioretention and Infiltration Concepts
• Vegetative Swales and Pervious Pavements
• LID Pollutant Removal
• Maintenance Requirements

DAY 2

• Curb Opening Hydraulics
• Bioretention and Infiltration Trench – Design and Examples
• Vegetative Swales and Pervious Pavements – Design and Examples
• Response to Larger Rainfall Events
• LID Impacts on Design Flows
• Analysis of Specific Events
• Additional Design Examples
• Analysis of Long-Term LID Performance
• Improving Performance of LID Features

How to Earn your CEUs/PDHs

This course is worth 1.4 CEUs /14 PDHs. To receive your certificate of completion, you will need to complete a short post-test and receive a passing score of 70% or higher within 30 days of the course.

How do I convert CEUs to PDHs?

1.0 CEU = 10 PDHs [Example: 0.1 CEU = 1 PDH]