Free Building Industry Seminar Focuses on Low Impact Development and Storm Water Management Practices, as Bioswales are Completed at Oak Terrace Preserve
North Charleston, SC (October 21, 2008) – A free, one day seminar for building industry professionals on Low Impact Development and Storm Water Management Practices will be held in North Charleston, October 28, 29 and 30, from 10 AM to 3 PM. The seminar is designed to provide regional developers, engineers, architects, contractors and urban planners the opportunity to learn about Low Impact Development (LID) strategies for managing storm water, with an emphasis on bio-retention swales and pervious surfaces. These systems represent an eco-friendly method of preventing contamination of Lowcountry wetlands and ground water. The seminars are being held when the innovative storm water management system of bioswales at Oak Terrace Preserve are being completed, thus giving seminar participants a chance to view this LID project on site.
The seminars will begin at the Noisette Company, LLC offices, at 1360 Truxtun Avenue at the Navy Yard, with an after lunch session on site at Oak Terrace Preserve. Lunch will be provided free of charge, as well as transportation between the classroom seminars and the Oak Terrace Preserve site.
“The seminars will demonstrate the unique storm water management system at Oak Terrace Preserve, and how the lessons learned from this project can enhance sustainable building throughout this region,” says Elias Deeb, project manager for Oak Terrace Preserve. “This system is unique in South Carolina, and was featured in the magazine Coastal Heritage, this past spring. The bioswales provide additional advantages, like low key maintenance, only having to cut or trim plants once a year. Other advantages are aesthetics, as new gardens grow in a natural setting, enhancing the neighborhood’s beauty.”
The Oak Terrace Preserve bioswales serve as sustainable rain gardens, which filter pollutants from storm water, thus helping prevent flooding during intense storms. OTP’s innovative LID design fully integrates the neighborhood’s pocket parks into the storm water management system. Each bioswale is planted with 100 percent native plant species, including flowers and trees that easily absorb heavy rainfall, filtering it before it reaches nearby Filbin Creek. “This is a quantum leap in improving water quality over traditional storm water management,” adds Deeb.
Deeb and Davis & Floyd’s Mike Horton, an engineer who designed the bioswale system, will conduct the seminars. The event is sponsored by the City of North Charleston, Coastal Training Program, SC Department of Health and Environmental Control, Davis & Floyd, SC Department of Natural Resources, SC Sea Grant
Consortium, Ashley Cooper Stormwater Education Consortium, University of South Carolina, ACE Basin, and The Noisette Company, LLC. More information on the seminars can be obtained by contacting Nicole Saladin, Nicole@belle.baruch.sc.edu, 843-546-6219, x 241, or Rebekah Szivak, SzivakR@dnr.sc.gov, 843-953-9024.
Oak Terrace Preserve is a 55-acre, wholly green built neighborhood located in North Charleston’s Historic Park Circle. The neighborhood development is owned by the City of North Charleston, and managed by The Noisette Company, LLC. The development is projected to have 374 homes and town homes upon completion, and all homes must meet EarthCraft® certification standards of the Southface Energy Institute of Atlanta, GA.
OTP was named one of the nation’s top green neighborhoods in Jerry Yudelson’s book, Choosing Green: The Homebuyers Guide to Good Green Homes (New Society Publishers, www.newsociety.com, 2008). The neighborhood is also part of North Charleston’s Noisette Community, named by Cottage Living Magazine as one of nation “Top 10” communities for revitalization and sustainable development in 2008.
