On August 4, Houston officials announced the formal creation of two green stormwater infrastructure (GSI) programs: the GSI Awards and Recognition program, and the GSI Expedited Permitting Pilot program. The creation of these is the latest step in the Houston Incentives for Green Development, part of the larger Resilient Houston city-wide strategy.
GSI Awards and Recognition
The GSI Awards & Recognition Program, led by the Mayor’s Office and the Green Building Resource Center, recognizes new green development and redevelopment projects and promote their successes.
The Program is intended to recognize some of the most effective and exemplary of “green” building in Houston and encourage more development projects to adopt resilient measures. It sets a format for evaluating projects through an evaluation committee comprised of partners in the resilience and conservation space and includes specific criteria on which the developments are to be judged, including but not limited to “location and impact to adjacent communities”, “proposed maintenance plans” and “efforts for conservation, preservation or incorporation of native flora.”
GSI Expedited Permitting Pilot Program
The GSI Expedited Permitting Pilot Program, led by the Mayor’s Office and the Houston Permitting Center, aims to assist a minimum of 10 projects by August 2022, through consolidating and expediting the permitting process for these projects.
Through this pilot program, Houston will work with developers to test, evaluate and formalize the process steps necessary for an expedited review of projects that include GSI. The city plants to implement an integrated set of rules and regulations for GSI soon.
Through funding from Houston Endowment, the City’s Chief Recovery Office commissioned a one-year study to identify and recommend incentives to encourage the use of green stormwater infrastructure (GSI) in private land development, leading to economic, social, and environmental benefits as well as resilience. The Incentives for Green Development Report and Recommendations were released in August 2019.
Green infrastructure strives to mimic how rain falls on undeveloped, green landscape while minimizing the impact of development. Typical design elements include green roofs, rain garden bio-retention systems, permeable pavements, rainwater harvesting, urban forests, constructed wetlands and other strategies to manage rainwater. Green stormwater infrastructure improves the performance of drainage systems and can make real estate projects safer and more attractive to buyers, while providing a wide array of benefits including heat reduction, air and water quality improvement, conservation of native habitats, and improvement of quality of life among others.
More information and downloadable program details can be found on Houston’s website.
