Cloud Hosting

Water Reclamation and Reuse

The SECs water management system was designed and engineered to manage runoff during severe rainfalls and alleviate the impact of stormwater events up to, and including, a 100-year storm. This is accomplished by conservation and stormwater reuse within the facility and site boundaries, feeding various building water demands such as 71% of lab water, and 73% of toilet flushing water, landscape irrigation, and humidification, as well as minimizing the demand on municipal water infrastructure. Through a combination of landscape elements, bioretention basins, and stormwater tanks, the site is capable of handling 100% of stormwater on-site.

The multiple vegetated terraces across the complex attenuate the stormwater flow as it cascades down and reduce discharge on an annual basis through evapo-transpiration. Runoff from roof and landscape areas flows into three at-grade bioretention basins and constructed wetlands before draining into the six basement storage tanks. Basement detention has the capacity for 78,000 gallons of rainwater as well as condensate from cooling coils across three tanks which can be monitored and balanced as needed, as well as drawn from for building use. The stored water is then treated and used to satisfy building requirements

The stored water is then treated and used to satisfy building requirements with excess water getting pumped back to the central heating and cooling plant for reuse. Only under exceptionally high rainfall is there overflow from the bioretention basins/tanks to below-grade infiltration galleries and then to the city stormwater system. This stormwater is treated prior to discharge to reduce phosphorus concentrations and remove the majority of remaining suspended solids not captured by the sites green infrastructure.

The extensively landscaped grounds on the south side of the building function as an outdoor study space, social and recreational gathering area, and event space. The site has been transformed from its previous post industrial character with no part of the site area being vegetated pre-development, to now 82% of the site being vegetated, with 61% of vegetated areas planted with native species.

The landscape was designed to enhance local biodiversity markers and support plant health while reducing the need for potable water use for irrigation. The landscape is constructed such that wet meadow plant communities cleanse stormwater collected from the landscape and building roofs. Plant species were selected to improve the health of the site and the surrounding community. Locally sourced trees were chosen to help filter the air and increase the carbon sequestered on-site. The landscape fosters cohabitation between humans and pollinating species.

The site extends the greenway, joining residential neighborhoods and public parks with university spaces and commercial development. Aspects of the sites east entrance also link to a contiguous greenway planned to extend to the Charles River, connecting multiple ecosystems through green infrastructure, and supporting a variety of flora and fauna, where previously there was none.

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The Harvard University Science and Engineering Complex ... - Living Architecture Monitor magazine