Virginia Commonwealth University
OP-22: Rainwater Management

Virginia Commonwealth University has installed several projects to control stormwater runoff including several cisterns, rain gardens, porous pavement installations, green roofs, bioretention areas, and bayscaping projects and seeks to continue installing these stormwater management strategies wherever is feasible on campus.

 The Grace E. Harris Hall Rain Garden is the first of its kind at VCU. Promoted by the student organization, Green Unity for VCU, the planting of the garden was an opportunity for students to come together and help to “green” the VCU campus. The rain garden contains flowering species native to Virginia and serves as a small oasis of natural beauty in the middle of campus for students to gather and enjoy. The rain garden reduces the pollution flowing into the James River by reducing stormwater runoff. As rainwater flows across roads, sidewalks and other impervious surfaces, the runoff collects chemicals, fertilizers and other pollutants. The rain garden captures the runoff from impervious or paved surfaces that would normally drain into the James River and Chesapeake Bay. The plants absorb the runoff, where toxins and sediments are filtered and retained in the soil, therefore reducing the amount of runoff making its way downstream. Rain gardens help to manage the amount and more importantly, the quality of stormwater runoff. 

The Bayscape Landscaping (bayscaping) at the Trani Center for Life Sciences is conservation landscaping that benefits wildlife, the James River and, ultimately, the Chesapeake Bay. This type of landscaping uses native plants to reduce the quantity of stormwater runoff, filter pollutants and reduce landscape maintenance costs at VCU. Bayscaping reduces the amount of time needed to care for a landscape since all of the plants are locally adapted. It also reduces the amount of water used for irrigation and the use of chemical fertilizers. By installing bayscapes in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, we are helping to improve the water quality of local streams, the James River, the Chesapeake Bay and the habitat that the area provides for its wildlife. 

Virginia Commonwealth University has installed green roofs, vegetation planted on top of a waterproofing system installed on a roof, on various buildings across campus. More extensive green roofs are installed on both the VCU Rice Rivers Center and the Pollak Building. Other buildings on campus with green roofs include the Academic Learning Commons, the Honors College Building and the Institute for Contemporary Art. Pollak Building green roof A vegetated roof, completed in fall 2011, was installed on the southeast-facing roof of the Pollak Building on the Monroe Park Campus. This green roof serves as an educational asset and has a variety of sustainable features. Most materials were sourced locally, within 500 miles of VCU, including a terrace paved in Pennsylvania Bluestone, a built-in wood bench crafted of Black Locust (a local, native and rot-resistant substitute for Teak), and salvaged steel planters – cut from various diameters of salvaged steel pipe found at S.B. Cox in the east end of Richmond. The roof illustrates three different types of green roof planting strategies: conventional, meadow and native. The area of conventional green roof, the center portion of the roof, features a variety of low-growing sedum species, planted in three to four inches of growth media (sedum species, like cacti, are succulent plants, which can store water within their plant structures). Sedums in this area are non-native species, selected for their hardiness and ornamental characteristics. A second type of roof, a green roof meadow, occupies the outer, long edge of the roof. This section features somewhat taller plants, bedded in approximately six inches of growth media. Plants in this area are a mix of native and non-native species. The largest portion of the roofscape, closest to the building, features only plants native to Virginia – the first such green roof in the Commonwealth. Growth media in this section of the roof is approximately 12 inches deep, and can therefore retain more moisture than the other two sections of the roof.

The Virginia Commonwealth University Higher Education Capital Outlay Manual (2022) includes the following specifications for University projects:

6.15 Chesapeake Bay Program: The University will ensure that its projects are located, designed and constructed to protect the water quality and living resources of the Chesapeake Bay. Adherence to the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Development Policies and Guidelines will be required in the development of all project sitings and designs. This publication is available from the Chesapeake Bay Local Assistance group within the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ).  

6.16 Erosion and Sediment Control Plans and Specifications: Refer to the DEQ for current requirements. DEQ requires submittals for Erosion and Sediment Control, Stormwater Management and a Virginia General Discharge Permit. Compliance with the erosion, sediment control and stormwater management requirements is mandatory for all state projects. Requirements shall be included in the specifications to assign to the contractor (as part of the contract) the responsibility of erosion and sediment control and stormwater management at all sites (on or off the owner’s property) of borrowing, wasting or stockpiling of soil products. A statement similar to the following shall be used: The Contractor shall be responsible for satisfying any and all erosion control (EC) and stormwater management (SWM) requirements for any land disturbing activities, including but not limited to, onsite or offsite borrow, on-site or offsite stockpiling or disposal of waste materials. Before undertaking any land disturbing activity for which the plans do not specifically address erosion control and stormwater management, the Contractor shall contact the Regional Office of the Division of Soil and Water Conservation to determine what EC and SWM measures are necessary. The Contractor shall completely satisfy all requirements of the Division of Soil and Water Conservation including providing a designated, certified “Responsible Land Disturber” as defined in 9VAC25-850-10 before continuing with the concerned activity. Note: This instruction may be added to one appropriate specification section, such as Erosion and Sediment Control or Earthwork, with a reference made to that section each time borrow, waste or stockpiling is mentioned in other sections. 

URL: https://fmd.vcu.edu/media/fmd/documents/construction-planning-and-design/VCUHECOManual_3rdEdition_09192022.pdf

From the 2023 VCU Design and Construction Standards: 

2.9.5 Rain Gardens Rain gardens are designed to capture and infiltrate rainwater in the landscape. These gardens are also called bio retention or bio filtration. Rainwater is routed to the garden and filtered naturally by the plants and soils in the garden. This filtration process removes nutrients and pollutants. In its simplest form, a rain garden is a relatively small area of plantings near the drain spout of a building or paved area. However, large highly engineered gardens employing engineered soils and under-drains of varying designs may be required for gardens that receive runoff from a larger impervious area. The use of rain gardens is encouraged and should be implemented when they will eliminate the need for underground storm water retention. The design of rain gardens should include a variety of plant materials that are suited to wet soils as they may be inundated for a period of several hours to a day or more. Selection of species should consider year round interest and include a mix of deciduous and evergreen shrubs and ground covers, small trees and perennial flowers. Consult with the state Department of Conservation and Recreation guidelines for bio retention.  

URL: https://fmd.vcu.edu/media/fmd/documents/construction-planning-and-design/DesignConstructionStandards-2023-07-25.pdf