Overall Rating	Gold
Overall Score	72.67
Liaison	Aurora Sharrard
Submission Date	Feb. 13, 2024

STARS v2.2

University of Pittsburgh
OP-22: Rainwater Management

Status	Score	Responsible Party
	2.00 / 2.00	Aurora Sharrard Executive Director of Sustainability Office of Sustainability

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Which of the following best describes the institution’s approach to rainwater management?:

Comprehensive policies, plans or guidelines that require LID practices for all new projects

A brief description of the institution’s green infrastructure and LID practices:

The University of Pittsburgh is dedicated to stormwater management practices to help protect our local water ways from sewage overflows and preventing flooding. By 2030 Pitt will reduce impervious surfaces by 20% from 2017 baseline and divert 25% of stormwater from remaining surfaces to rain gardens, bioswales, or rainwater harvesting tanks.

The University of Pittsburgh completed its Stormwater Master Plan in January 2021; a public summary under internal review. This plan identifies major rainwater capture, storage, and reuse initiatives.

To reach toward the goal of diverting 25% of stormwater from impervious surfaces by 2030, the University is using both green and gray stormwater infrastructure solutions. Green stormwater infrastructure includes nature-based solutions (i.e., rain gardens, green roofs, and bioswales) to capture and store rainwater. Increasing tree canopy and green spaces around campus also helps manage rainwater and reduce flooding. Gray stormwater infrastructure is typically underground and focuses on rainwater retention and/or reuse. Both approaches are required to help lessen the regional combined sewer overflow burden (which includes a City of Pittsburgh consent decree with the U.S. EPA).

Pitt is dedicated to growing green stormwater infrastructure on campus, including by removing impervious surfaces, installing rain gardens, building green roofs, and by other strategies. Pitt has 10 rain gardens and 9 green roofs on campus that detain and absorb excess rainwater, enabling it to naturally infiltrate into and nourish the soil, while helping mitigate Pittsburgh’s combined sewer overflow (CSO) issues.

IMPERVIOUS SURFACES
The University’s 2021 Institutional Master Plan (IMP) reported 112 impervious acres in the IMP study area; a 20% reduction of impervious surfaces, the goal set to reach by 2030, would total 22.5 acres (975,744 square feet).

Between 2017 and 2022, the University eliminated or converted at least 30,645 square feet of impervious surfaces to pervious areas, helping bring the Pittsburgh campus total to 3.1% of impervious space converted (only about 40% of the progress required to meet the 2020 incremental target in this category).

RAIN GARDENS
Pitt’s rain gardens detain and absorb excess rainwater, enabling it to naturally infiltrate into and nourish the soil, while helping mitigate Pittsburgh’s combined sewer overflow challenges. 2 of these rain gardens are new since 2017, bringing the total rain gardens on campus to 10:

• Bigelow Bioswales – This series of rain gardens were added in 2020. In addition to handling 5,150 cubic feet of stormwater, the bioswales increase safety by direct pedestrians to the new raised crosswalk.
• Scaife Hall – Cascading rain garden on Lothrop Street added in 2023.
• Sutherland Hall Rain Gardens – Expanded to include 2 rain gardens in 2020.

GREEN ROOFS
Pitt’s 9 green roofs across the Pittsburgh campus also contribute to on-campus porosity. The only new green roof since 2017 is Schenley Quad (partial green roof, included above). The existing green roof on Forbes Hall is also being reconstructed in the near future. Over the next several years, new green roofs are expected across campus, including on the Campus Recreation & Wellness Center and Arena & Sports Performance Center, both of which were envisioned in the 2019 Campus Master Plan. These new green roofs will provide 135,750 square feet of pervious area by 2026.

RAINWATER REUSE
Given the urban nature of the University’s Pittsburgh campus, only so many aboveground rainwater management solutions are possible. As a result, the University has also prioritized a large underground, interconnected cross-campus rainwater capture and reuse system. Currently in various stages of design and construction, the system will allow Pitt to capture and reuse treated rainwater for processes in Pitt’s central utility plants; it is described in full in AASHE STARS Credit OP-21.

Highlights of stormwater strategies at play across Pitt’s Pittsburgh campus (Click both Stormwater & Rainwater Reuse tabs): https://www.sustainable.pitt.edu/campus-culture/facilities/water/

CAMPUS HIGHLIGHTS

2 recent stormwater-focused campus transformations are worth highlighting:

1) 2021 Bigelow Boulevard Reopening Transformation, including above and below ground stormwater amenities: https://www.sustainable.pitt.edu/bigelow-boulevard-transformation-reimagined-streetscape-now-open/
2) The largest strategy is Pitt’s “Hillside Framework Plan” for transforming 68 acres of upper campus with a unified design connecting people, place, and sustainable landscapes while reforesting to improve stormwater management and hillside ecosystems; under construction now, this strategy won national recognition in 2022 from the Society for College and University Planners. Learn more - https://www.sustainable.pitt.edu/pitts-hillside-area-development-recognized-with-national-scup-award/

A copy of the institution’s rainwater management policy, plan, and/or guidelines:

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A brief description of the institution’s rainwater management policy, plan, and/or guidelines that supports the responses above:

Due to urban nature, and large topographical differences of Pitt’s Pittsburgh campus, rainwater management is difficult at best.

The University of Pittsburgh’s draft stormwater master plan is complete and a public summary under internal review. Pitt’s Stormwater Masterplan sets forth stormwater requirements (including many sustainable and green "above ground" recommendations for all parts of our Pittsburgh campus).

Given that Pitt’s Pittsburgh campus has a wide variety of specific conditions (hillside, dense urban, or green space) recommendations vary widely based on their context. All Pitt campus building and infrastructure projects are required to abide by the recommendations in the Pitt Stormwater Master Plan and tailor them to each project. Additionally, all Pitt building and infrastructure projects in design have already taken the new recommendations and incorporated them into their scope of work.

All University rainwater management strategies are being deployed while considering the Pitt Sustainability Plan’s goals from both the “Landscape & Ecology” and “Water Systems” impact areas:

• Reduce impervious surfaces 20% by 2030 (from 2017 baseline).
• Divert 25% of stormwater from remaining impervious surfaces to rain gardens, bioswales, rainwater harvesting tanks, and/or other reuse and green stormwater infrastructure solutions by 2030.
• Increase tree canopy 50% by 2030 (from 2017 baseline)
• Replace 15% of lawn area with indigenous and adapted plants by 2030 (from 2017 baseline).
• Adhere to Pitt’s Sustainable Landscape Design Guidelines in all new landscape designs.
• Maintain at least 75% of landscaped areas in accordance with Northeast Organic Farming Association (NOFA) Standards for Organic Land Care by 2024.

Progress on all of these goals is summarized in 2 sections of the 2018-22 Progress Report on the Pitt Sustainability Plan:

>> Water Systems section - https://www.sustainable.pitt.edu/progress-report/water-2018-22/
>> Landscape & Ecology section - https://www.sustainable.pitt.edu/progress-report/landscape-ecology-2018-22/

The Stormwater Master Plan also identifies major rainwater capture, storage, and reuse initiatives. With the introduction of a dedicated rainwater capture and reuse system focused on certain areas of campus (and connected across it), Pitt is on the precipice of being able to collect rainwater and direct it to two of our central utility plants for reuse. The University will then store, treat, and reuse as much rainwater as we can in our chiller plants. Once the rainwater capture and reuse system is complete, we will collect and reuse between 7 and 9 million gallons of rainwater per year. In zones of campus not able to be served by this new rainwater capture and reuse network, we will meet all local code requirements, while improving on them with strategies laid out in the Stormwater Master Plan.

Website URL where information about the institution’s green infrastructure and LID practices is available:

https://www.sustainable.pitt.edu/campus-culture/facilities/water/

Additional documentation to support the submission:

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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

While the University of Pittsburgh's Campus Stormwater Master Plan is not a public document, a comprehensive stormwater strategy is outlined in the University’s 10-Year Institutional Master Plan (approved in July 2021 by the City of Pittsburgh.

Data source(s) and notes about the submission

The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.

STARS v2.2

University of Pittsburgh OP-22: Rainwater Management

University of Pittsburgh
OP-22: Rainwater Management