Bowdoin College
IN-49: Innovation C

The Roux Center for the Environment opened its doors in 2018, made possible by the generous gift of David and Barbara Roux, who wished to foster a home for interdisciplinary environmentalism at Bowdoin. The Roux Center is a LEED platinum–certified building. A key factor of its development was the management of storm water.

The landscaping around the Roux center uses a combination of native and/or resilient plants to aid in water retention on the site. The landscaping is designed with bioswales to store stormwater and funnel what isn't used by the plants into a 2,000-gallon tank in the Roux basement. That water is then filtered and pumped to the restrooms for flushing, and further up to irrigate the green roof. All the water used in the restrooms' flush fixtures is rainwater collected on the Roux's footprint. The dual-flush toilets within the Roux restrooms allow users to save a half gallon of water, depending whether they are flushing liquid or solid waste. The Roux urinals use a mere 1/8 gallon of recycled rainwater per flush. 

To reduce stormwater runoff to the local sewer system, the Roux center also uses storm water collection techniques on the roof of the building to divert stormwater from the local sewer system for non-potable use within the building. The use of permeable paving around the building increases rainwater absorbance to the ground. These innovative water management practices use a combination of water uptake, reuse, and flow management strategies to mitigate water waste and decrease stormwater runoff to the local sewer system.