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Green from the Ground Up

Planning and conservation  ›  Urban development and revitalization  ›  Nature-friendly development  ›  Green from the Ground Up

Discover seminars for land-savvy building professionals.

It's a fact of nature. Preserving natural features can benefit both the developer and the development. Nature-friendly development practices can add value to your property, protect natural resources and help your bottom line grow. Metro's Green from the Ground Up seminars can show you how.

Seminar features

Metro's Green from the Ground Up seminars on nature-friendly development practices bring together builders, developers, designers, stormwater engineers, practitioners and jurisdictional staff from around the region. This seminar series features: 

• leading regional experts and practitioners in the fields of building, site planning and marketing
• local case studies, real-life experiences and lessons learned
• educational materials
• product information
• technical guidance
• networking opportunities.

Learn how to: 

• add value through green development practices
• market green development to gain competitive advantage
• save money with smart site planning
• use landscape features that double as stormwater management systems
• keep native vegetation and trees to increase property values

• get the latest information on regional permits and code

On line seminar videos

Did you miss a recent seminar? Watch videos of every Green from the Ground Up presentation on line. More

2009 Seminars

Swales, rain gardens and the new Low Impact Development Approaches handbook

The Homebuilders Association Green Building Council, Clean Water Services (CWS) and Metro have brought together Carrie Pak, engineering division manger from CWS, Paul Dedym, PE, KPFF Engineering, Mike Faha, Landscape Architect, Green Works and Alan Hipolito, Executive Director and business manager, Verde, to introduce Clean Water Services' new Low Impact Development Approaches (LIDA) Handbook for the Tualatin Basin and share experience-based insights and lessons learned about swale and rain garden design, installation - from sizing to plant selection - and operations, maintenance, project examples and case studies. Presentations available below.

Swales and rain gardens

Metro brought together an engineer, landscape architect and contractor to present a comprehensive spectrum of information on swales and rain gardens. Presenters Paul Dedyo, PE, KPFF Engineering, Kevin Robert Perry, landscape architect, Nevue Ngan Landscape Architecture, and Alan Hipolito, Executive Director and business manager, Verde, shared experience-based insights and lessons learned about swale and rain garden design, installation - from sizing to plant selection - and operations, maintenance, costs, project examples and case studies.

Video: Swales and rain gardens seminar

Seminar materials and presentations are also available below. Borrow a full length seminar DVD by e-mailing your request to nature@oregonmetro.gov.

2008 Seminars

Low impact development with Larry Coffman
Larry Coffman, nationally recognized expert on low impact development technology for water resources and ecosystem restoration, answered tough questions from builders, developers, engineers and jurisdictional staff during two fall seminars.  

Watch videos of Larry's presentation and Q & A session. Go

Pervious Surfaces
These technical seminars focused on how pervious surfaces work, site considerations and preparation and types of available products. Optional site tours were offered. Topics included site considerations and preparation, pervious concrete, pervious asphalt, permeable interlocking concrete pavement, and vegetated plastic grids. Presentations, maps and materials available below.

Green from the Ground Up seminars are offered throughout the year.

Seminar presentations and case studies

To download seminar presentations and case studies made by regional experts, learn more about nature-friendly development projects in your area or print a set of fact sheets, check out the seminar materials listed below.

Green from the Ground Up seminars are brought to you by Metro's Nature in Neighborhoods program in partnership with the Home Builders Association of Metropolitan Portland, Earth Advantage, Energy Trust, Energy Star, City of Beaverton, City of Gresham, East Multnomah Soil & Water Conservation District, Clackamas River Basin Council, Clackamas Soil & Water Conservation District and OSU Sea Grant Extension. These seminars are partly funded by a Section 319 grant from the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality.

Related Documents

• Nature-friendly design: Nature in Neighborhoods factsheet 362K Adobe Acrobat PDF | Published May 18, 2010
• Low impact site design: Nature in Neighborhoods factsheet 409K Adobe Acrobat PDF | Published May 18, 2010
• Porous surfaces: Nature in Neighborhoods factsheet 349K Adobe Acrobat PDF | Published May 18, 2010
• Porous surfaces: 2010 EcoVative Conference and Tradeshow presentation 27.2M Adobe Acrobat PDF | Published May 18, 2010
• Swales, rain gardens and LIDA handbook presentation (Carrie Pak, Clean Water Services) 8.8M Adobe Acrobat PDF | Published November 13, 2009
• Swales, rain gardens and LIDA handbook presentations (Mike Faha, Paul Dedyo, Alan Hipolito) 16.9M Adobe Acrobat PDF | Published November 13, 2009
• Rain gardens and swales seminar presentation (contains presentations from Kevin Perry, Paul Dedyo and Alan Hipolito) 9.3M Adobe Acrobat PDF | Published February 10, 2009
• Low impact development presentation by Gail Shaloum (presented to the Oregon Facilities and Sustainable Buildings Conference) 2.4M Adobe Acrobat PDF | Published February 10, 2009
• Larry Coffman: Low impact development overview 18.2M Adobe Acrobat PDF | Published November 3, 2008
• Larry Coffman: Navy yard low impact development retrofit case study 10.9M Adobe Acrobat PDF | Published November 7, 2008
• Larry Coffman: Overview-Low Impact Development (LID), A Sensible Approach to Land Development and Stormwater Management 467K Adobe Acrobat PDF | Published November 7, 2008
• Larry Coffman, Low Impact Development Design: A New Paradigm for Stormwater Management Mimicking and Restoring the Natural Hydrologic Regime, An Alternative Stormwater Management Technology 462K MS Word | Published November 7, 2008
• Green from the Ground Up factsheet: Rain gardens and swales 1.1M Adobe Acrobat PDF | Published October 23, 2008
• Green from the Ground Up factsheet: Tree planting and retaining vegetation 1.1M Adobe Acrobat PDF | Published October 23, 2008
• Sustainable project check off list example 28K MS Word | Published November 7, 2008
• Examples Of Habitat Friendly Development Practices from Title 13 15K Adobe Acrobat PDF | Published November 7, 2008
• Builder's guide to low impact development 34.9M Adobe Acrobat PDF | Published November 7, 2008
• Municipal guide to low impact development 36.7M Adobe Acrobat PDF | Published November 7, 2008
• Native plant list 74K MS Excel | Published August 25, 2008
• Map: pervious surface project site locations 1.4M Adobe Acrobat PDF | Published March 21, 2008