ASK THE EXPERTS
Pete Mulvaney
Advisor, Greenleaf Advisors LLC
Pete Mulvaney started his career at the Museum of Southwest Biology, where he was exposed to the environmental and economic impacts associated with hydrologic diversions through various studies along the Rio Grande and other southwestern river systems. Pete then spent four years with the National Institutes of Health (NIH), developing experiments and publishing findings about the triggers that stimulate a tumor cell to become invasive. Pete left NIH with the feeling that preventing environmental insults was the path toward a healthy future. This principle led Pete to environmental engineering. As the Kappe Lab Scholar at Pennsylvania State University, he studied the engineering of water treatment technologies and parlayed this into consulting for HARZA Engineering (now MWH). As a team leader, Pete either led or participated in the engineering of environmental solutions to major infrastructure investments, including hydropower reservoirs in South America, major floodplain restorations along the Danube River, and the restoration of wetlands in Illinois. In 2005, Pete accepted a position as director of sustainability for the Chicago Department of Water Management, where he integrated solutions to complex issues such as stormwater policy, water conservation, and sewer operations. Since 2011, as an advisor with Greenleaf Advisors, Pete has been able to leverage his broad experience to solve complex problems with financial, environmental, and engineering acumen. Pete holds an MBA from Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University; an MS in environmental pollution control from Pennsylvania State University; and a BA in psychology from the University of Colorado.
Q: Please tell us a bit about the watershed where you have worked (geographical location).
A: The Chicago River Watershed is quite unique. In 1900, it was “reversed” by connecting it to the Des Plaines River, which flows into the Mississippi watershed, as opposed to the Great Lakes watershed, which is its natural discharge point. This was, and remains, one of the great hydraulic engineering feats of its time, as it enabled Chicago to have clean drinking water from Lake Michigan. Over the last 100 years, this highly engineered drainage system has produced tremendous value. Today, however, the context of the river is changing, and people question what role the river has in addressing tomorrow’s concerns.
Q: How does your organization define green infrastructure?
A: In our organization at Greenleaf Advisors LLC, green infrastructure (GI) is either inflow reductions using landscape changes or the addition of distributed intelligence (like a restrictor or a smart valve) to existing infrastructure. If we include potable water in GI, this adds water reuse, resource management, etc. to the definition.
Q: What is your experience with GI, and what reasons or decision-making processes were behind the adoption of this approach to address combined sewer overflows, whether throughout the region/area or for a specific project?
A: The City of Chicago was originally engaged in GI to be a global leader by adopting and adapting best practices from other global cities. Mayor Richard Daley wanted Chicago to be a better leader and steward of water resources, and this was a major GI driver. Chicago’s “greening” efforts were less focused on solving a problem than an expression of what the City wanted to be—a world-class city with the highest quality of life to retain and attract world-class people. Chicago’s green roof programs, rain garden initiatives, and Streetscape projects were all modified versions of work in other cities. Over time, we realized that GI can be implemented to solve problems, such as combined sewer overflows (CSOs) and basement flooding.
At Greenleaf, we are engaged on several fronts to improve the management of our water resources. We are involved in exciting new technologies that can improve the performance of existing stormwater storage. We are also investigating how stormwater responsibilities and costs can be distributed more broadly, and thereby stimulate market-based solutions. However, what I am most proud of is the ability to create stimulating environments where collaboration between agencies is accelerated. I feel strongly that enhancing utility management is the fastest way to improve our water resources.
Q: Does the adoption of a GI approach to address CSOs result in regulatory issues that differ from those associated with more conventional or traditional engineering solutions to address CSOs?
A: Historically, there was a struggle to get regulatory agencies to keep up with practitioners. In Chicago, we do not have a consent decree as a regulatory driver. In our experience, most GI policy barriers were internal rather than external. For example, we found code conflicts, policy conflicts, or traditions as major GI obstacles. Chicago addressed many of these internal obstacles through an intensive code audit that resulted in the award winning Adding Green to Urban Design plan, which presents a rationale, a vision, and a detailed implementation strategy for economically sound and environmentally sustainable urban design. The plan is intended to provide direction to the Chicago City Council to regulate urban design and to the Chicago Plan Commission to review individual development projects. It is also expected to guide the Chicago City Council and City departments to make decisions about public investment and improve Chicago’s built environment.
Q: Can you identify a few key challenges that you have encountered in implementing GI?
A: Key challenges in the City of Chicago were to address our internal policies that were GI obstacles. We lacked an overall strategic framework to coalesce multiple agency efforts. Also, climate change ultimately became our umbrella issue under which to organize our efforts. More recently, the City evolved its framework into the Sustainable Chicago 2015 plan. We also found that there is a huge need to manage expectations. Different stakeholders have very different notions of what GI is and what it is capable of achieving. For example, most engineers like to have a problem to solve, and their expectations of GI were measured against traditional costs and benefits, where many homeowners expected to see a difference with a single rain barrel. It seems to me that the industry of GI has matured a lot in the past few years, with more moderate expectations for green and gray solutions.
Q: Beyond the goal of using GI to address pollutant loadings in receiving waters, in your experience, what other community/social or economic benefits resulted from using GI?
A: In the City of Chicago, we used education successfully to increase awareness. This education led to conversations about behavior change, rate raises, infrastructure value, and shared responsibility for stormwater management. Engaging people and communities was important to them and for us.
Q: What programs or assistance are available to advance the use of GI, and what criteria are used to determine what type of solution is most appropriate?
A: I think we need to be explicit about what GI means to the different professionals involved in its implementation. In Chicago, “new development” is actually redevelopment since there is very little greenfield construction. Private sector implementation is driven by regulation. Municipal employees who manage our growth (redevelopment) are generally zoning-, planning-, and buildings-oriented staff who pass ordinances with City Council approval. This is in stark contrast to the right-of-way (ROW) management, where transportation agencies follow their own standards. GI in the ROW has a completely separate group of people and processes. The private sector can be regulated, but ROW change is through leadership and responsibility.
Q: Can you share a “success story”? If so, who was involved (e.g., organizations, volunteers, or researchers)?
A: One of the successes of the City of Chicago was passing the Chicago stormwater ordinance, which provides a framework and broad exposure to the principles of stormwater best management practices. It is a framework design based on performance metrics, which can be adjusted over time as needed. Our second success was the development of a world-class sewer model that built on tremendous city-wide GIS data sets, allowing us a very granular detail at a city-wide scale. The power of this model is the integration of the best science available to inform policy planning and design.
On the other side of the coin, we learned a lesson the hard way. Although we tried to be comprehensive in our approach with a holistic look at the process, we did not account for the different material types that would be proposed with additional GI. As a result, some early projects were burdened with higher costs due to delays in projects that sought exemptions or the selection of higher-cost products. Essentially, we did not keep our sewer material codes up to date with the market. This highlights the need to embrace a very broad/holistic perspective when stimulating new approaches.
Q: Based on your experience with GI, what research or other work (e.g., coordination or programs) is still needed for its effective watershed management application?
A: I think we need to understand the “secondary” GI values, such as community benefits and water resource benefits after the water exits our GI network. We also need to develop more diverse investment opportunities that create incentives for stakeholders to support GI solutions, such as behavior changes and/or maintenance.
Suggested resources
Please read the companion “Ask the Expert” on Aaron Koch
Adding Green to Urban Design http://www.cityofchicago.org/content/dam/city/depts/zlup/Sustainable_Development/Publications/Green_Urban_Design/GUD_booklet.pdf
Chicago Center for Green Technology http://www.chicagogreentech.org/
City of Chicago Department of Water Management http://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/depts/water.html
City of Chicago Stormwater Management Ordinance Manual http://www.cityofchicago.org/content/dam/city/depts/water/general/Engineering/SewerConstStormReq/2012StormManual.pdf
Greenleaf Advisors LLC http://greenleafadvisors.net/
Sustainable Chicago 2015 http://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/progs/env/sustainable_chicago2015.html