Since last week’s class tour around the Brooklyn College campus, our group has thought hard about the specific area(s) we’d like to change in our plan for a better, more rainwater-friendly Brooklyn College. We have decided that the best area to work with is the large, grassy space on the eastern-most side of Whitehead Hall.

The eastern-most part of Whitehead Hall. There’s plenty of space for rain water collection/storage and a rain garden or set of planter boxes.

OUR GROUP’S PLAN:

Our group plans to have some kind of drainage pipe that will lead the water flow into the barrels. It is definitely an upgrade over water coming down roofs because it would be very hard for the water to go into the barrel for every speck of water falling off the roof. To do that, a gutter might be needed to collect the water on the rooftop. Although our group has not explored the roof of Whitehead yet, we can make adjustments accordingly. For example, if the roof is flat, we can add some cement on material that will help slope the roof towards one or a couple areas. This method would be downspout disconnection. We can always build the roof, if needed, with recycle materials. The barrels we will be using is a method known as rainwater harvesting. Although we decided to have 3 barrels near Whitehead behind the planks, we are tailoring our plan to strategically put the barrels to better use. We could make a box tank, but it might need to be further out from the building wall. But we are putting a box/tank on the cement outside of Whitehead, along Campus road, where it is surrounded by grass. Why this spot? Well it is much roomier, and there are grass, and ivy right next to it, which would make for an easier and more efficient use of the stored water. Also, we can connect the water to a hose and have it spray the grass according to a electronically set and manually controlled device. At the same time, the water will be used to help generate electricity for golf carts used on campus ground. How exactly? Well, the water coming down can knock down a series of windmill water bottles that, like normal windmills, spin and generate electricity by charging a battery of some sort.

The eastern-most side of Whitehead Hall has a rain spout that’s readily available to use for a green infrastructure program.

Our group are also going to build the rain gardens, possibly with the idea of planter boxes outside Whitehead, along Campus Road. The streets are so wide, and the outer section, towards the street, is not really in use. So, the group can take away the cement, and put recycled soil and build grass for a healthier community. This would also help, in terms of, re-using rainwater and not letting it just fall onto the cement and street. This can be somewhat called bioswales, and definitely Green Streets and Alleys. Our group is also in discussion about making a green roof. We will need to check the roof and see if it can accommodate a green roof. We are still in the draft/designing phase of this experiment/project, so there will be a lot more changes and improvements to come.

PROJECT SKETCHES/DIAGRAMS:

An early draft of what our group plans to do to the eastern wall of Whitehead Hall.

In this first diagram, we see the eastern-most side of Whitehead Hall depicted with a series of gutters and pinwheels attached to it. The gutters and pinwheels will direct the flow of water from an already-existing spout on the side of the roof to the area where our group plans to install a series of rainwater holding tanks.

Depending on exactly how much water flows through the already-existing spout, it may need to be altered to allow a greater flow of water through it. Most of the water will still be entering into Whitehead Hall’s internal rain collection system, however we can direct a certain section of the roof to flow through this one external spout. Also, the roof of Whitehead Hall looks to be separated by already-existing concrete walkways or metal pipes. Our group plans to visit the roof of Whitehead Hall and see if there is already some form of separation for the rooftop areas. In that case, we would be able to redirect rainwater flow from specific sections on the eastern side.

The pinwheels that the water will be hitting on the way down will be windmills made out of recycled plastic bottles. As the water fills each bottle, the pinwheel spins. Besides being a form of beautification on the Brooklyn College campus, these pinwheels can also be attached to chains that can spin small motors to charge batteries. Our group may even add on a small area designated for charging the batteries of the small golf carts that are used to transport staff and equipment around the campus. However our main priority is designing a system of tanks that will collect rainwater for future use.

An early sketch depicting the kind of rainwater storage tanks our group would like to design and install outside of Whitehead Hall.

In this second diagram, we see a side view of the three rainwater tanks our group plans to install. These three tanks will be built so that when the first one fills to a certain level, a pipe redirects the water flow to the second tank, and when that fills up to a certain level, the water is redirected again to the third tank. If there’s an unusually heavy level of rainfall, the third tank will be built to have a spout that will direct water out of the tank and onto the grass below.

These tanks will be designed to sit on top of the small concrete slab that’s in this are (it’s visible in the first picture above). The slab is approximately eight feet by ten feet, which would provide optimal space to have a small series of tanks that can store water. Depending on how much the concrete can hold and how much water can flow through the downspout connection, these tanks could be anywhere from three feet tall to six feet tall.

Going back to the “beautification aspect” of this project, these tanks can also be painted with scenes of the Brooklyn College campus (for example, a scene of the library clock tower at sunset). This point is addressed more in the “Other Benefits” section of this post.

RAINWATER COVERAGE STATISTICS:

-Grass space outside of Whitehead Hall (eastern side):

1/2 x 80 ft x70 ft = 2800 ft. sq total space in the triangle

2800 sq ft – 112 sq ft = 2688 sq ft grassy space

2688 sq ft x 1/12 ft = 224 cubic ft (volume of rain when one inch collects on surface)

-Concrete slab outside of Whitehead Hall (to be measured more accurately on Tuesday when I have a larger measuring tool)-

8 ft x 14 ft. =112 sq ft. (accurate to about 10 square feet)

112 sq ft x 1/12 ft = 9.33 cubic ft (volume of rain when one inch collects on surface)

OTHER BENEFITS:

     In addition to rainwater conservation, energy harvesting, and redirection of water to more efficient locations, our project will provide many interesting benefits after implementation. For one, we will be using recycled soil for the building of the rain garden, thus using up recycled materials as a more eco-friendly solution rather than basic soil. In the process of cleaning up the wall used in the water wheel portion of our project, we will have to do a bit of landscaping on the vines growing along the bricks. While we do not want to remove to many vines, as they help cool the building, we will remove enough that it will be possible to see the Whitehead Building name, which be useful to visitors trying to identify the building as the view is currently obscured.

The grassy space outside Whitehead Hall is ready for a makeover. Our group plans to plant a new rain garden with eco-friendly soil.

In terms of aesthetics, any rain garden work we do will definitely be an improvement over the current state of the lawn. As of now, it contains some lawn grass, tree stumps, and a slab of concrete. As Daniel stated, we can really put an artsy spin on the rain barrels/boxes, and spinning water wheels will definitely be a fascinating addition to the campus. We can discuss the exact foliage used in the rain garden we are planning, but it will bring texture and color to a mostly bare landscape and add some character. If possible, we can even research certain plant species that could be beneficial to the animals local to our campus. It will be very nice to beautify this particular area, since it is right in front of a children’s playground. It would be amazing if the children could enjoy, and even participate in the care of the garden.