Christtian Life e Centerr for City y Union Mission n Location n: Kansas City, C MO Client: City C Union Mission Design Firm(s): F BNIM Landsca ape architec ct/Project co ontact: Jim Schuessler, ASLA Email: js schuessler@ @bnim.com ASLA Ch hapter: Kan nsas City

Projectt Specifica ations Project Description D n: City Union n Mission is a not-for--profit organization serviing the base e level nee eds of those whose lives s have been disrupted d in the Kans sas City com mmunity. BNIM wa as hired to analyze the existing e Men’s Sh helter Buildin ng and to ad ddress how the organ nization could meet an overwhelmin o ng increase in need. It quickly q beca ame clear that the facility f was in nadequate to meet rising g demands s, and the de evelopment of a separatte structure e housing the e Christian Life L Program m was crea ated. This prrogram nurtu ures the reentry pro ocess for one e-hundred off the most promising g men who will w live and attend class ses in the faccility during their one-ye ear curriculum m. The resu ulting design supports the believe tha at students o of the progra am deserve experiencing the best during their course and afte erward where ever their ne ew life leads. T Project Type: Institution nal/educatio on Part of a new develo opment

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Design features: f Inffiltration bas sins, designe ed similar to typical syste ems with two o major differences. At City Union U Missio on, the inlet is subsurfacce and the o outlet drain iss elevated to o create ho olding capac city. A level spreader s dis ssipates the energy. This pro oject was de esigned to meet m the folllowing spe ecific requirrements or mandates: Local ord dinance, to meet m funding g criteria Impervio ous area ma anaged: 5,0 000 sq/ft to 1 acre Amount of existing green spac ce/open spa ace conserv ved or pres served for m managing stormwa ater on site:: 5,000 sq/ft to 1 acre The regu ulatory enviironment an nd regulator was suppo ortive of the project. Did the client c reque est that othe er factors be b considere ed, such as s energy sav vings, usab ble green sp pace, or pro operty value e enhancem ments? This project wass not designe ed as a LEE ED project but was desig gned to be highly h sustain nable. Enerrgy efficiencyy fixtures, sh hower waterr reclamation for toliets s, low mainttenance flooring and wa ll systems, w were all emb bodied within n the project. In addition, the t following g sustainable e features w were incorporated:     

Building B orien ntation with courtyard c co onfiguration m maximizes n natural daylig ght into the fa acility. Every y room has access a to daylight. Custom C insulated window ws for high th hermal capa acity were insstalled. A geo-therma al heat pump p system wa as installed. Passive P solarr techniques s were utilize ed, including the thermall floor mass in the south hfa acing multi-p purpose room m. Fritted glass in the south curtain wall helps to ma anage heat g gain.

alysis Cost & Jobs Ana Estimate ed Cost of Stormwater S r Project: $5 50,000-$100 0,000 (Publicc funding: Federal, priva ate most funding came from local private dollars s; individualss, businesse es, churches, foundations. eceive $500 0,000 from th he Federal Home H Loan B Bank of DessMoines.) We did re Related Information n: The cost of o the three infiltration ba asins at this site was $7 72,000. Was a green vs. gre ey cost analysis perforrmed? Yes , a typical de etention pon nd to manage stormwatter runoff fro om a 15,000 sq/ft buildin ng may cost approximate ely $40,000 to $50,000. In many reg gions, water quality BMP Ps are requirred in additio on to detention ponds. T The cost of the three infiltration basin ns at this site was $72,0 000. Monitorring at this ssite indicatess that infiltrattion basins ha ave the pote ential to redu uce runoff vo olumes in ad ddition to filte ering pollutants, which ccould help to re educe the siz ze, and hence cost, of re equired dete ention pondss.

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The basins are creattively incorpo orated into the courtyard d and surrou unding landsscape adjace ent to building entries e show wcasing the on-site o storm mwater mana agement strrategies. Inttegrating stormwatter controls into site land dscaping pro ovides additiional opportunities to red duce overalll site costs. overall costs of the sitte pact of cons serving gre een/open sp pace to the o Cost imp design/d developmen nt project: Open O areas were w preserrved and planted with wiildflower/native grasses to t restore arrea between n the street and a parking llot as well ass south of th he building in n the lot used for f constructtion staging.. Cost imp pact of cons serving gre een/open sp pace for sto ormwater ma anagementt over tradition nal site design/site dev velopment approaches a (grey infrastructure)? ? Significanttly reduced costs (10% or greater savings). Number of jobs cre eated: 5 Job hours devoted to project: Planning P and Design: 9,4 400 Construction: C : (Requesting information from contrractor) Annual A Mainttenance: 3,0 000

mance Me easures Perform Stormwa ater reduction perform mance analy ysis: Soil/Infiltration - The installed engineered soil and plantss provide a g good rate of infiltration w while ant growth. All three of the basins d drain well. B Basins 1 and d 2 never ho old promoting healthy pla 2 hours. Th he infiltration n rate is faste er than expe ected in Bassin #1 and #3 3 water forr more than 24 probably due to existting porous soils s adjacent to the bassin. These ssoils allow w water to move e o of the ba asin, which helps h the bas sins perform m better. laterally out Vegetatio on - Spartina a pectinata (prairie ( cordrrass) and Sp porobolus he eterolepis (p prairie dropseed) have proved to be grreat performers. Plant ro oots have esstablished 3 30” deep in le ess than two o years. Cordgrass C is well adapted to the wet zone of the basins. Dro opseed doess better in drrier condition ns and is gro owing well on n the edges.. Lobelia carrdinalis (card dinal flower) is slow to establish h, which mak kes it easy fo or weeds to spread. If lo ow maintenance is a prio ority, the card dinal flower sh hould not be considered for this appllication. Water Qu uanity - The infiltration basins b are prroperly sized d to successsfully manage 1.37”-storrm events (the local watter quality, or 90th perce entile). Basin n #1 has storrage area off 368 sq/ft (o or about 5% % sizing facto or) and 872 cu/ft of stora age capacityy.

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Water Qu uality - Only one outflow w from Basin #1 was reco orded during g 2009 and 2 2010. Thus all of the conta aminants from rain events of less tha an 2.44 inch hes of rain w were containe ed within the e basin. On O large rain events, it ap ppears that runoff was p probably pickking up and exporting pollutants s such as TN N, TP, S, an nd TSS. How wever, the o utflow data is insufficien nt to verify th his hypothes sis. It appearrs that heavy y metals suc ch as Zn we re maintaine ed within the e basin. Lessons Learned - Site S characte erization is an a importantt part of BMP P design. The bricks an nd porous fill material att Basin #1 co ould have be een a proble em if the building had a basement, b by providing o the buildin g a preferenttial pathway for water movement into ng. It was no ot an issue h here because of the buildiing design, but b provides s a good rem minder for oth her sites.   

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Organic O mate erial added to o the soil miix helped ma aintain soil m moisture durring dry perio ods. Plant P selectio on is importa ant. Each BM MP is differe ent, so plantss should be matched to the so oil and wate er conditions created at each e site. Some S plants grow very deep root sys stems which h helps BMP performancce as plants mature. m Infiltration rates into soils are e expected tto improve o over time as the roots grrow la arger and de eeper. The T planters were built with w simple materials m for low cost, ye et they look q quite nice an nd fit th he surroundings. All BM MPs do not have to be exxpensive. The T greatest benefit of th he BMPs at this t site is re educing the a amount of sttormwater ru unoff th hat leaves th he site. The site is locate ed in an urb ban neighborrhood of Kan nsas City, an nd th he BMPs help reduce flo ows to the local sewer syystem. In th his location, tthe water quantity bene efits of BMPs s are more im mportant tha an the waterr quality benefits. Desig gn nt at every site, and the B BMP design ns can be customized to the objectives willl be differen o site-specific objectives.

nity & economic beneffits that hav ve resulted from the prroject: Community bene efits Commun include: Impact I in the e lives people in our com mmunity - pe eople are givven the oppo ortunity to ta ake a new direc ction in life in a beautiful, efficient en nvironment. The neighb borhood enjo oys the additiona al economic growth with low impact on utilities a and city infrastructure. W While we’ve not specifically studied th he impact off the Christia an Life Cente er project on n property va alues we do believe th hey have inc creased as a result of it’s s constructio on.

Projectt Recognittion 2010 AIA A Kansas Citty - Merit Aw ward; 2009 AIA A Kansas - Honor Awa ard; 2009 Ka ansas City Business s Journal - Capstone C Aw ward | Comm munity Impacct; 2008 AIA Central States Region Merit Aw ward

Additio onal Inform mation Links to images: Ph hoto from BN NIM, http://w www.bnim.co om/work/chriistian-life-ce enter

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Located in a neglecte ed neighborhood near th he urban corre, the creattion of a safe e and health hy environm ment was parramount. To o address th his goal, the facility was d developed a around a seccure courtyard d that conne ects the interrior and exte erior througho out. Programmatic spaces include a d administra dormitory y, living area a, classroom ms, recreation n rooms, and ative offices. A large- multipurpose space is use ed for dining g, recreation and worship p. Exterior m materials incclude a rain ardwood com mbined with brick and b urnished blo ock masonryy. screen of recycled ha ariety of sus stainable fea atures and iss a showcase e for urban The site design incorrporates a va ment. The sm mall site inclludes three b bioretention cells that acccept all of the stormwatter managem roof run-o off and there e is no storm mwater connection to the e City’s sewe er system. In ndigenous p plant material that require low-mainten nance have been integra ated through hout the site. Hidden fro om view are the geo-thermal wells and a the recyc cled water sttorage tankss, which hold d filtered water from the showers forr use in toilett flushing. SUSTAIN NABLE FEA ATURES 

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Storm S runoff from the parrking lots dra ain into two bioswales w which collect sediment, cclean heavy metals s and encourrage infiltratiion into the ssoils. The bioswales are e planted witth co ordgrass and swichgras ss to absorb a high perce entage of rainwater. The T central courtyard is planted p with buffalo grasss and requires no chem micals and on nly a co ouple of law wn mowings per p year. Shortgrass S prrairie grasse es are plante ed on side lo ots to improvve the enviro onmental qua ality off the area. Pervious P lime estone scree ening walk co onnects the building to a adjacent stre eets. Steep S slopes west of the building are e stabilized w with a geo-w web stabilizattion product to re esist the pote ential erosio on of the hills side into parrking lot.