Greenbelts are proven to be highly effective windscreens and have a great capacity to sequester carbon, produce oxygen and remove Particulate Matter. Greenbelts can also mitigate noise pollution and provide visual relief from highways and industrial areas.
City-scale urban forestry projects like those envisioned by Urban Biofilter can remove SO2, NOx, CO, CO2, Ozone, PAH & other VOCs, as well as Particulate Matter and metals from contaminated air-sheds and have been shown to capture at least 15 kilograms per day per square kilometer of PM10. Strong rhizomatic root systems can be utilized for erosion control and planters can filter and treat stormwater. It’s the fastest-growing plant you can use to reforest an area, and it produces 35% more oxygen than an equally-sized batch of trees and can sequester 5 times the amount carbon dioxide. Unlike most trees which need to be cut down, bamboo can be harvested without damaging the original plant, and it then regenerates in three to five years. Unlike most trees which take 25 years or longer to achieve maximum pollution filtration, in only a few years the Urban Biofilter can effectively improve air quality, reduce storm water runoff, and provide quantifiable ecosystem benefits.
While the Port of Oakland and the California Air Resources Board (CARB) are working to improve emissions standards and mitigation requirements, these reductions and alternative vehicle plans are long-term and costly, and the impact on West Oakland residents’ health won’t be felt for at least 20-30 years.
Our masterplanning for West Oakland and the former Army Base Redevelopment proposes Low Impact Development solutions, which would control against flooding in our highly floodprone area. The plan will analyze and propose various ecological buffers, wetland and ocean setbacks, and ecological bank stabilization designs for the former Army Base Redevelopment, affecting 300 acres along the bay waterfront. These mitigation measures will be more effective than mechanical stormwater management systems as they work synergistically with as well as support already existing wetlands and ecosystems in the area which will be facing destruction by flooding and saltwater intrusion from climate change. Our plan also will analyze and recommend species lists which will be compared against temperature, rainfall and other climate predictions.
We serve on a Rainwater and Greywater Taskforce with the East Bay Municipal Utility District. We are pursuing more extensive collaboration with East Bay MUD regarding green infrastructure strategies for utilizing city reclaimed water, also known as purple pipe, for irrigation and integration into our Urban Forestry projects. We have been very well received in our presentation of Urban Biofilter concepts to a group of 50 EBMUD engineers and are eager to further engage EBMUD staff to integrate reclaimed water standards into the Urban Biofilter’s irrigation requirements as well as pursue and assess pilot projects for wastewater reuse.
