The "Trico Lot" at the southern end of the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus (BNMC) is going green. A bio-retention facility is being constructed at the three-acre lot, along with landscaping and new lighting. It is one of several projects by the BNMC to increase sustainability as well as improve access and increase public safety.
Construction started last week on a rain garden at the south end of the Trico parking lot along Goodell Street between N. Oak and Ellicott streets. The rain garden, or bio-retention facility, is designed to address sanitary sewer infiltration of sediment and surface pollutants prevalent in surface water leaving the asphalt parking lot. This bio-retention facility will be one of the largest in WNY and will mitigate the impact of the significant amounts of rainwater discharging off the nearly 3 acres of impervious surface.
"We are impounding and infiltrating the storm water runoff from this large 3.5 acre parking lot," says Dave Majewski, owner of Sustainable Resources Group of Buffalo, hired to construct the improvements. "Rather than simply letting the water infiltrate and then releasing the runoff, we are retaining it with the additional objective of putting this valuable resource back in to the water table."
The complex biological filtration processes, cell design and engineering, combined with the initial filtering system, will purify the runoff before it gets to the water table. It has been designed to handle a 1.2 inch rain event.
"[BNMC project manager] Mark McGovern and the BNMC should be commended here for taking the necessary steps in improving our environment and watersheds," adds Majewski. "They are a genuine leader. This project will meet or exceed the new upcoming Green Code standards relative to storm water runoff management in parking lots. More developments need to follow what the BNMC is doing here."
Parking lot lighting is also being upgraded by CIR Electrical Construction Corp. Existing wooden poles and lights are being removed and will be replaced with a galvanized steel pole mounted on a concrete foundation. The new lot lighting will not be connected to the electric grid and luminaires will be powered by a 220 watt solar panel and 5 foot tall 1,000 watt generator vertical wind turbine. Foundations for the lighting project are scheduled this week. Lumisolaire is the licensee of the technology in the lighting system. OSC of Buffalo is manufacturing the solar bed.
The parking lot project will also have the added benefit of aesthetic appeal via the planting of hundreds of site specific perennials and dozens of trees.
The lot improvements follow the six Electric Vehicle charging stations that were installed there last November, currently the most used of the 21 BNMC installed across the campus. In addition, phase one of Ellicott Park is now complete and phase two has been awarded by the City.
Construction on the lot is expected to be finished next spring.
Nearby, a bike storage facility (above) is under construction on the corner of Ellicott and North Oak Streets. Approximately 20 bicycle commuters will be able to securely access and lock their bikes inside the new facility without having to worry about theft, vandalism or inclement weather.
The bike facility will be completed by the end of the year and will open early next year. The BNMC has partnered with GO Bike Buffalo on the construction and management of this bike commuter amenity, funded through the Federal Transit Authority.
What an exciting series of projects!! Can't wait to see the finished products, very leading edge!