RESOLUTION FOR BOARD MEETING OF MAY 16, 2013
Title
RESOLUTION sponsored by the Board of Commissioners recognizing the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) as First Place Winner of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's first Campus RainWorks Challenge
Body
WHEREAS, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) held the first Campus RainWorks Challenge, designed to inspire the next generation of landscape architects, planners and engineers to develop innovative green infrastructure systems that mitigate the impacts of urban stormwater while supporting vibrant and sustainable communities; and
WHEREAS, a team consisting of 14 architecture, engineering and business students from the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) beat out 218 other universities to win the first place award of $2,500 cash and an $11,000 research grant for the school; and
WHEREAS, student team members include College of Architecture students Anne Brask, Bernardo Loureiro, Brandon Linder, David Abad, David Wilcox, Gwendolyn Parker, Jacob Singer, Kathryn Manwaring, Lara Rivera and Rachel Doliber; Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering students Xingu Zhang, Patrick Miller and Alexander Brown; and School of Business student Brock Auerbach-lynn; and
WHEREAS, faculty advisors include Dr. Paul Anderson, Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, and Mary Pat Mattson, Program of Landscape Architecture, College of Architecture; and
WHEREAS, the team's goals were to reduce the campus' impact on the local combined sewer system, reduce campus dependence on potable water from Lake Michigan, demonstrate how an urban area can develop stormwater strategies that mimic functioning ecosystems, and create an on-going stormwater management design and research site for the campus and the city at large; and
WHEREAS, the team's design includes plans for the redevelopment of a 1,200 long section of Dearborn Street on campus with permeable sidewalks, three large water gardens with native plants, underground cisterns to hold captured rain water for irrigation and non-potable reuse, and retrofits to campus buildings which together can reduce stormwater runoff from the site by 70 to 80 percent and reduce the campus' landscape water requirements by three million gallons annually; and
WHEREAS, stormwater is one of the most widespread challenges to water management in the nation and has the potential to pollute water bodies, pose a threat to human health and contribute to flooding and property damage; and
WHEREAS, the students' work helps the University move toward its goal of reducing the campus' stormwater runoff and its impact on the water environment; and
WHEREAS, the Board of Commissioners and staff of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago recognize that these students represent the future of the scientific community and we applaud their ingenuity and concern for our water environment and we encourage them to pursue careers in science; and
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that we, the Board of Commissioners of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago, on behalf of ourselves and staff, do hereby honor the Illinois Institute of Technology for their First Place Winner of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's first Campus RainWorks Challenge; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that this Resolution be spread upon the permanent Record of Proceedings of the Board of Commissioners of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago, and that a copy of same, suitably engrossed, be presented to the Illinois Institute of Technology.
Dated: May 16, 2013
Approved: KATHLEEN THERESE MEANY, President; BARBARA J. MCGOWAN, Vice-President; MARIYANA T. SPYROPOULOS, Chairman, Committee on Finance; MICHAEL A. ALVAREZ; FRANK AVILA; CYNTHIA M. SANTOS; DEBRA SHORE; KARI K. STEELE; PATRICK D. THOMPSON, Commissioners of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago
Approved as to Form and Legality: Ronald M. Hill, General Counsel