NYC's Queensborough Community College Gets Grant to Make Parking Area More Eco-Friendly

Queensborough Community College has been selected to receive up to $1 million in funding through New York State’s Green Innovation Grant Program to reconstruct its largest parking lot on campus, replacing hard asphalt with porous asphalt and creating two planted areas (called bioswales) to retain rain water and filter pollutants.  

Queensborough Community College. Photo courtesy of top-schools.tk.

The bioswales will also give the campus a beautiful green appearance by creating a new tree-lined pedestrian entrance – linking the main gate and the main quadrangle.

The grant program’s purpose is to develop green infrastructure with the goal of managing rainwater where it falls, reducing runoff, and treating it.

If left unmanaged, researchers with the grant program says that, “Stormwater runoff can overwhelm sewer systems and other clean-water infrastructures, leading to pollution of our waterways,” adding that, “Working in parallel with traditional grey, clean-water infrastructure, green infrastructure is a cost-effective and efficient tool for meeting the goals of the Clean Water Act.”

Queensborough College says its new bioswales are expected cause a reduction of up to 4 million gallons of storm water runoff per year, which currently flows through the storm sewer directly into the Alley Creek wetlands and Little Neck Bay – part of Long Island Sound.

Before this new grant, the college also received one from Coulomb Technologies, Inc. that was used to install two electric charging stations on campus that now power the campus’ fleet of electric and hybrid vehicles.

“The electric energy used to charge the vehicles is offset by photovoltaic solar panels installed on the roof of the technology building,” said the college.

In another separate grant project, the college retrofitted almost 60 light fixtures from outdated 458 watt lamps to 25 watt LEDs located in the underpass which connects the medical arts and science buildings.

This green initiative was funded by a $18,354 grant from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority and it was completed in the fall of 2011. The college says this project is expected to save it up to “save up to $20,000 per year in electricity costs.”

Author’s Note: The next deadline for applying for New York State’s Green Innovation Grant Program is on July 16, 2012. Grant recipients will receive a grant for up to 90 percent of their construction costs (including eligible planning and design costs).  All recipients will be responsible for providing a minimum local match of 10 percent from local or state funds.

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