Green Action Fund Proposal – December 2013 (12 Dec. 2013 submission)
Seaton Hall Lower Green Roof Rainwater Harvesting Cistern Project
Student Project Leader – K-State Student Chapter of Engineers Without Borders (contact: K. Douglass, Biological & Agricultural Engineering)
Project Advisors – Lee R. Skabelund & Dede Brokesh (Landscape Architecture/Regional & Community Planning),
Edwin Brokesh (Biological & Agricultural Engineering), and Anil Pahwa (Electrical & Computer Engineering)
* Fund needed projects that improve K-State's sustainability performance
Of the thousands of square feet of rooftops on campus, there are few opportunities to collect and reuse rain water that falls on those
impervious surfaces. This project serves as a catalyst to invigorate the effort of capturing and reusing rainwater on campus. The Seaton Hall
Lower Green Roof Cistern will provide an urban stormwater collection device that will reduce the university’s stormwater runoff while allowing
re-use of the water for green roof irrigation. It will also provide an enhanced student learning laboratory, with public outreach components.
* Enhances student interaction with sustainability by making the K-State campus a living classroom.
Students associated with Engineers-Without-Borders (EWB) will lead this effort. The Department of Landscape Architecture/Regional &
Community Planning will administer the project funds and oversee purchasing.
Students in the College of Engineering (CoE) and College of Architecture, Planning & Design (APDesign) will work with K-State faculty and staff to
finalize plans for a cistern system that harvest rainfall for the adjacent green roof. Student responsibilities will include final material selection,
product sourcing, and material pricing and purchasing.
This project provides an interdisciplinary opportunity for project collaboration as students in a variety of fields (as engineering, agriculture,
horticulture, parks & recreation, planning, architecture, and landscape architecture students will potentially be involved).
Students associated with four student chapters at K-State: EWB, SCASLA (Student Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects),
SPA (Student Planning Association), and AIAS (American Institute of Architects Student Chapter) will have the opportunity to participate.
CoE and APDesign students will collaborate to complete the cistern and water distribution design—and determine required construction,
fabrication, and installation procedures for the downspout lever, cistern, and cistern stand. EWB/BAE students will build the downspout lever
and cistern stand. Students in APDesign and Engineering will install the cistern, pump, connections, and associated components.
* Empowers students through student-driven sustainability project, involving hands-on experience & networking.
Students in APDesign and Engineering will be provided a source of funding, faculty/staff guidance, hands-on experience, and interdisciplinary
collaboration opportunities (so that they can plan, manage, build components, procure materials, and install a complete design package for this
functioning rainwater collection and distribution system for the Lower Seaton Hall Green Roof). Students will collaboratively determine their
roles in accomplishing a built product on campus. Student roles will encompass multiple aspects of construction (namely design, project
management, cost estimating, material procurement, labor management, construction component manufacturing, implementation, and public
outreach). This work affords students hands-on experience, preparing them for professional work they will engage in when they graduate.
* Supports the K-State 2025 strategic plan by interweaving sustainability into Kansas State University infrastructure.
This project supports the 2025 strategic plan by providing students with an opportunity to design and build a project that reuses rainwater to
maintain an existing green roof. Both water reuse and green roof technologies embody sustainability concepts vital to public health that include
water resource planning, energy efficiency, stormwater management, and social well-being. The project offers applied studies that are integral
to the K-State 2025 strategic plan, supporting both undergraduate and graduate students in various disciplines.
Prepares the site for ongoing research (including cistern management and monitoring of soil moisture conditions on the lower green roof).
Faculty/staff and students will organize and provide two public outreach presentations that describe the project process and results.
Faculty/staff will contribute in-kind time to guide the students in design, project management, and project implementation.
Timeline of Activities
Spring to Fall 2013:
Cistern and rainwater harvesting design collaboration between K-State APDesign and Engineering students/faculty/staff
(D. Turpin & E. Brokesh [BAE], A. Bangerter, L. Skabelund & D. Brokesh [LARCP]) and
K-State Facilities staff (M. Loberg & K. Minihan [Roofing], J. Toburen & J. Myers [Grounds], and M. Taussig [Planning])
Discussions with K-State student groups about project plans and proposal preparation.
January-February 2013:
Determine project team players and their roles. Meet to discuss project goals and work accomplished by students, faculty, and staff.
Order cistern (by LARCP faculty/staff). Order electrical outlet installation by K-State Facilities personnel (by LARCP faculty/staff).
Final detailed design collaboration between APDesign and Engineering students with faculty/staff input.
Review of final design work by Facilities staff and APDesign & Engineering faculty/staff.
Faculty/staff to correspond with Facilities for final approvals (preliminary approvals provided by Facilities).
(Note that design documents may need to be submitted to the State architect’s office for review.)
February-March 2014: Finalize construction documents by APDesign and Engineering students with faculty/staff input.
March-April 2014:
Obtain costs for purchased components (by LARCP students). BAE students to build stand and lever.
Order and receive products. Begin installation of product components (by students with faculty/staff oversight).
Provide public outreach presentation at K-State Open House (to display cistern design and give tour of green roof).
Install the cistern and supporting components by Eco-Fest (scheduled for April 25-26, 2014).
May 2014: Prepare promotional materials for public outreach & complete report on use of project funding.
September 2014: Provide public outreach component at University Family Day and/or APDesign Colloquium, involving faculty/staff/students.
(See next page for more details.)
Budget (more details available upon request)
1. Galvanized steel cistern, metal stand, and fittings at cistern (with nominal labor charge)
2. Incoming roof water: roof downspout connections, filter, and bi-pass lever (with nominal labor charge)
3. Outgoing water lines: sump pump, pipe, valves, and fittings (with nominal labor charge)
4. Power source for sump pump (with labor charge)
Total requested funds from the Green Action Fund
$2,360
$1,090
$1,490
$ 860
$5,800
In-kind donated services for project management (including promote & provide two public outreach tours)
$10,000
Campus- and Community-Wide Student and Public Outreach:
It is our hope that this project will be a stepping stone for capturing and re-using rainwater on other parts of campus. We see this project being
an important stepping-stone for water conservation across the campus in the years to come.
In order to share this message we plan to hold at least one public forum in September 2014, where we will invite the K-State Campus and
Manhattan communities to come and learn about the project.
Landscape architecture and engineering students and faculty will share information via the KSU Sustainability Website to communicate the
estimated amount of water captured in the cistern, the amount of water used to irrigate the Lower Seaton Hall Green Roof, and the estimated
value of the water saved in relation to the final rainwater harvesting installation costs.
This public outreach component will likely be held during the University’s “Family Day” or as a part of an “APDesign Colloquium” targeted to
engage the entire campus community. Preparations will involve K-State faculty, staff, and students—and will include monitoring the cistern over
the summer of 2014 and watering the green roof as needed during that same period).