Contact: Dr. Amir Hass (304) 720-1025 amirhass@wvstateu.edu INSTITUTE, W.Va.West Virginia State University students are going green for the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) “Campus RainWorks Challenge” by creating an environmentally friendly storm water management system on campus. The national competition demonstrates how green design elements benefit schools, communities and the environment, and comes with a cash prize for the winning project.
“The Challenge provides a great opportunity to promote awareness about constrains and possibilities associated with storm water in urbanized landscapes,” said Dr. Amir Hass, a WVSU research scientist and the group’s faculty advisor. “Developing such green infrastructure will serve as a unique demonstration and education project to further promote awareness and innovative solutions for storm water management on WVSU’s campus and beyond.” Two large terraces, to be constructed on campus, will feature a wetland area at the base, with a walking trail for visitors and students to enjoy. A variety of native plants will be grown around the area, such as holly, rhododendron, cattails and a variety of ferns. The water collected from the area will be captured to infiltrate back into the groundwater on campus. “We’re greatly reducing the amount of pollution runoff that’s coming off two parking lots and going directly to a waterway leading straight to the river,” said WVSU Biology major Lora Funfstuck, one of four students working on the project. “In essence, we’re taking water that would otherwise be highly polluted and reutilizing it.” The group is using existing green space between the Wilson University Union and the Drain-Jordan Library parking lots.
The EPA’s “Campus RainWorks Challenge” is for undergraduate and graduate students nationwide. Students form teams with the ultimate goal of creating an innovative green infrastructure design on their campus. The winning team will receive a cash prize, in addition to funding for their faculty advisor to use for green infrastructure research purposes. Winners will be announced on April 22, 2013.