Home
Projects
Services
Publications
News + Events
Resources

Home
Green Futures Lab
Research

Posts

Search for:

Sweetgrass Living Shorelines Project

Project Background The Sweetgrass Living Shorelines project examined the benefit of constructed floating wetlands to provide missing habitat on urbanized shorelines for outmigrating juvenile salmon in the freshwater Lake Washington Basin. This project built on the lessons learned from the Duwamish Floating Wetlands, testing new living shoreline prototypes. The GFL convened an expert Urban Shores...

Taxonomy terms

Design Floating Wetland green infrastructure Habitat research Research seattle stormwater Water water quality watersheds wetland

Marine Floating Wetlands

Project Background To test the viability of floating wetlands in marine waters, the GFL and EarthCorps have installed customized BioMatrix eco-islands along a dock at Shilshole Bay Marina. The living shoreline units are again aimed at providing missing habitat for fish and to begin to restore wetland functions along urbanized shorelines where traditional restoration is...

Taxonomy terms

Design Floating Wetland green infrastructure Habitat research Research seattle stormwater washington Water water quality waterfront wetland

Duwamish Floating Wetlands

Project Background The lower Duwamish River and transition zone (River miles 1-10) is critical to salmon population survival and return because this is where juvenile salmon forage, shelter and physiologically transition from living in freshwater to saltwater (Ostergaard, 2014). In order for out-migrating juveniles to achieve this transition they require low gradient intertidal mudflats lined...

Taxonomy terms

Design Floating Wetland Habitat public space research Research seattle stormwater washington Water water quality waterfront watersheds wetland

Capitol Hill: Public Spaces + Public Life

Lauren Wong, MLA ’19 + Peter Samuels, MLA ’20 Capitol Hill is a neighborhood whose varied urban character in the built environment speaks to its multi-narrative history. Its dense residential and commercial corridors were largely formed by the showrooms and repair shops of “Auto Row,” which have been split into a diverse collection of small...

Taxonomy terms

cap hill pspl Community Design Landscape + Community Planning Research

Waterfront Stormwater Solutions

The impact of land use, impervious surfaces, stormwater pollutants and climate change are critical threats to the livability of our urban areas. Considering that a majority of the population is concentrated along waterfronts, developing solutions to these issues becomes all the more pressing. The intent of the Waterfront Stormwater Solutions is to develop and inspire...

Taxonomy terms

Design Research stormwater Water water quality waterfront waterfront stormwater solutions

Stormwater Web Portal Feasibility

It is well documented that the leading cause of degradation to Puget Sound arises from stormwater pollution. The Puget Sound region’s current and projected urbanization, growing coverage of impervious surfaces and antiquated stormwater infrastructure increases stormwater pollution that poses significant ecological and human health risks. There have been substantial breakthroughs in landscape solutions that remediate...

Taxonomy terms

Research stormwater stormwater web portal feasibility Water water quality

Green Roof Database and Evaluation

Green Roof Survey: The 2010 Seattle Green Roof Survey provided a snapshot of green roofs for the City of Seattle creating a baseline understanding from which to build a more comprehensive inventory and tracking tool for the city’s green roof built stock, green roof benefits and challenges, and the emerging green roof industry. Information about...

Taxonomy terms

green roof database and evaluation green walls and roofs Habitat Research seattle Water

Floating Wetlands Research & Education

In 2013 and again in 2017 and 2018, the Green Futures Lab conducted seminars on floating wetlands. Students surveyed floating wetlands literature and precedents, investigated their benefits for habitat, stormwater cleansing and water temperature regulation, and then developed new design concepts for several freshwater locations. Each site’s biological parameters drove the designs. Carrying the momentum...

Taxonomy terms

Design Education Floating Wetland floating wetlands green infrastructure Habitat Research seattle stormwater washington Water water quality wetland

Biodiversity Green Wall System

Spearheaded and designed by the Green Futures Lab, the UW Biodiversity Green Wall, Edible Green Screen, and Water Harvesting System was completed in the fall of 2012, transforming two blank concrete walls into lush urban habitat. Located in the southeast corner of Gould Hall on 15th Avenue and NE 40th Street, the award-winning project has...

Taxonomy terms

biodiversity green wall system Design green walls and roofs Habitat Metabolism Research seattle urban agriculture Water water harvesting

Manchester Stormwater Park

The Green Futures Lab has monitored the effectiveness of Kitsap County’s Manchester Stormwater Park in treating pollutants from the upstream contributing basin, collecting and analyzing samples over the course of one year. Results indicate that both the system of level perimeter wetland cells filled with proprietary soil media, and the vertical spiral rain gardens with...

Taxonomy terms

Community manchester stormwater park research Research stormwater urban play Water water quality

Porous Public Space: People + Rainwater + Cities

How can design help us to regard stormwater as a resource rather than waste? How can the celebration of water bring people together in public space? How might a heightened awareness of water– positioned in its unique geophysical context–promote an urban life culture with an authentic sense of place? Interns Roxanne Lee and James Wohlers...

Taxonomy terms

Community Design Education green infrastructure greenways human health Landscape + Community Planning life space building porous public space public space Research stormwater streetscapes sustainability urban play Water water quality

Urban Play Handbook

Play brings people together, stimulates creativity, alleviates stress, and cultivates delight to both the participant and the viewer. Play can also break down social barriers that often prevent diverse groups from interacting and equitably sharing public space. Therefore, providing opportunities for play in the urban public realm is an essential tactic for creating lively, just...

Taxonomy terms

Community Design Landscape + Community Planning parklets Research seattle streetscapes urban play urban play handbook Water

Shifting Gears

The benefits, utility, and joys of traveling by bicycle are countless, and the relative costs affordable. Yet it has been challenging for US cities to develop the kinds of infrastructural facilities that would make cycling available and attractive to large portions of their populations. Copenhagen, Denmark provides an inspiring example of municipal commitment to cycling...

Taxonomy terms

Active Transportation bicycling Community copenhagen Metabolism public space Research seattle shifting gears social interaction streetscapes

Seattle’s Neighborhood Greenways

The City of Seattle is working to enhance transportation options in the city and Neighborhood Greenways are becoming an integral part of the process. Reducing vehicle speeds and traffic volume is necessary for Neighborhood Greenways, but by creating inviting space for non-motorized users, Neighborhood Greenways can also bring about larger scale neighborhood and environmental improvements....

Taxonomy terms

Active Transportation Design greenways Landscape + Community Planning Metabolism Research seattle seattles neighborhood greenways streetscapes

Open Space Seattle 2100

This collaborative project asked leaders from civic, environmental, business and community groups to create a comprehensive open space vision to guide Seattle’s urban development over the next 100 years. The urban watershed-based process included a city-wide design charrette with 23 teams led by local professionals and UW students. The 200-page final report documented visions and...

Taxonomy terms

Active Transportation Community Design Education green infrastructure greenways Habitat Landscape + Community Planning open space open space seattle 2100 Research seattle

Adaptive Streets: Strategies for Transforming the Urban Right-of-Way

Adaptive Streets: Strategies for Transforming the Urban Right-of-Way is an illustrated handbook to inspire and guide citizens, planners and officials to re-imagine how our streets can be adapted to increase utility and delight as well as enhance human and environmental health. The book presents a collection of strategies, demonstrating how they can be implemented in...

Taxonomy terms

Active Transportation adaptive streets Community Design Metabolism parklet Research seattle streetscapes

Regional Open Space Strategy (ROSS)

The Puget Sound basin is facing significant ecological and economic pressures, which are predicted to be further exacerbated by our rapid population growth and increasing intensity of climate change impacts. These stresses affect water quality and supply, fish, farm and forest production, flood and other environmental hazard vulnerability, economic opportunities and quality of life, and...

Taxonomy terms

Active Transportation biodiversity climate change economic development Habitat human health Landscape + Community Planning open space puget sound Research ross social equity sustainability Water watersheds