Cal State University at San Bernardino Breaks Ground on the Demonstration Garden

On June 4th California State University San Bernardino broke ground on a demonstration garden designed by David Neault Associates, Inc. (DNA)

DNA worked closely with San Bernardino Municipal Water District (also the largest donor), Water Resource Institute, Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Gardens, and the CSUSB Landscape Maintenance department to design a demonstration garden that displays California Friendly Plant Material, California Native Plants, viable lawn substitutes, and low water use irrigation equipment. Additionally the garden is designed to illustrate best practices for storm water treatment, water basin recharge and water filtration. The garden has a meandering porous pavement path that follows a bio-swale from one end of the garden to the other; dropping a total of 11’ in elevation while traveling through the 7 different themed gardens. The path begins and ends with large outdoor “Classrooms” designed to provide places of learning for student and public groups. The garden features a variety of plant material arranged in themed gardens that include Desert Plants, Mediterranean, grasses, California Natives, and Fragrant plants; all of which are drought tolerant and California Friendly. There are study nodes scattered throughout the garden which include lap top and Wi-Fi connections for students to be able to study in a friendly outdoor environment.

Plan view of Garden and photo real sketch of Upper Watershed Learning Center

Demonstration Garden Design Team

Shane Preston DNA, Inc. ......Project Lead Designer, Construction Documents
Bryan Love DNA, Inc. .....Project Manager, Construction Documents
Bart O'Brien Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden ....Native Plant Consulting (donation in kind)

Paul Haaland Fuscoe Engineering ......Grading and Drainage
Yasser Salem Total Engineering Services .....Structural Engineer
Kenny Perez Nate Mullins Visual Concepts LLC ....Lighting Engineer

Murrieta Unveils the 1st Phase of the Veteran's Memorial on Memorial Day 2010

Four years of planning and design culminated on Memorial Day 2010, when The City of Murrieta unveiled the first phase of the Veteran's Memorial in Murrieta Town Square Park. The event was attended by over 800 Murrieta citizens. The first phase of the Veterans Memorial (shown in a blue glow below)

includes a 25' high black granite pentagonal obelisk with bronze medallions of each branch of the service with a granite flag draped reverently over the top and the WWII Veteran's Memorial Wall also made of black granite etched with photos of Veteran's from that conflict. On hand for the unveiling ceremony were many dignitaries including Congresswoman Mary Bono Mack, State Senator Dennis Hollingsworth, and Riverside County Supervisor Jeff Stone.

Congresswoman Mary Bono Mack (middle) with Veteran's, and designers David Neault, asla and Suzanne Palmer, rla of David Neault Associates, Inc. (DNA, Inc.)

Project Team:

• Suzanne Palmer,rla DNA, Inc. ....Lead Memorial Designer
• Shane Preston DNA, Inc. ....Memorial Design Development, Graphics
• Bryan Love DNA, Inc. ....Construction Documents
• Peggy Newman DNA, Inc. ....Photo Administration
• Rich Valdez,re VSL Engineering ....Civil Engineering
• Yasser Salem Total Engineering Services ....Structural Engineering
• Kenny Perez Nate Mullins Visual Concepts LLC ....Lighting Engineers
• Dan Schneider Cold Strings Granite ....Granite Fabrication
• Elias Ghattas Cleveland Marble ....Granite Installation
• Jerry Neely Topline Construction, Inc. ....General Contractors
• Jose Alfaro Excel Landscape ....Landscape Construction
  

Special Thanks to the Murrieta City Council, Murrieta Veteran's Committee, Councilman Rick Gibbs, Assistant City Manager Jim Holston, Administration Assistant Lea Kolek, and the entire Murrieta City Staff. We appreciate their inspiration, leadership and support that made this project possible.

LA Unified School District Files Complaint Against Artificial Turf Installer

Follow the link below to an article regarding the LAUSD filing a complaint against an artificial turf company because they were not told that the crumb rubber, with known carcinogens, would come in contact with the children. In earlier blogs I have talked about the 65 known carcinogens in the crumb rubber infill...and how our children are ingesting, inhaling and absorbing these chemicals into their bodies. It seems that the School District was not informed...and I find that most schools, municipalities and government agencies are not informed. The artificial turf companies do not willing give information regarding the biological and environmental hazards of their product...and the consumers "think" they are doing the right thing by reducing water consumption and increasing playable sport surfaces for the public.

http://www.courthousenews.com/2010/01/29/24191.htm

Artificial Turf is DYING!!!

Below is a quote from an AP article written by Ronald Blum that appeared in the San Francisco Examiner on September 26th, 2009. These days with the drought in California, water regulations and restrictions; more false information is being presented about Artificial Turf being the solution. This couldn't be farther from the truth! I love when I read articles and quotes like these. The AT companies don't share these statements with you. They just pay Athletes big advertisement dollars to extol their products' "virtues". Money is...the root of all evil! What do the professional athletes (who aren't paid the advertising bucks) say about Artificial Turf?

Gold Glove first baseman Keith Hernandez says grounders "bounced like a SuperBall." But that wasn't the biggest problem: His ankles aren't good to this day because of the (artificial) turf at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, his home field from 1974-83. He would soak his feet in buckets of water while the Cardinals batted. "On day games the thermometer would read 148 off the turf," he recalled. "I remember Reggie Smith, when we got him from Boston, was out in right field in a day game in St. Louis in August, July, it's 100 degrees, and he had rubber cleats, and he had to call time out. They had melted."If I wore the metal spikes, it would have me branded under the soles on my feet on a real hot day, from the metal, it would sunburn my heel and the balls of my feet. I remember and I would go, 'Why are my feet on fire?'"

Artificial Turf is not the answer to saving water. What is the solution?

• Underground irrigation methods that save 70% on water, develop healthier root zones and more resilient grass.
• Weather based irrigation control systems that only deliver water when necessary
• Reducing ornamental, unusable grass areas in favor of providing more natural turf areas for sports and recreation.

That is the answer!!
...and it will save the feet and ankles of our kids (not to mention their overall health!)...the professional ball players of tomorrow!

To read the entire article...http://www.sfexaminer.com/sports/Artificial-turf-goes-way-of-the-dead-ball-61580537.html#

Making Every Drop Count...

This is an article that appeared in the August 2009 Newsletter for SAWPA (Santa Ana Watershed Project Authority) written for them by Bryan Love, a project manager of DNA,Inc. Bryan is a graduate of Cal Poly Pomona in Landscape Architecture. He and his lovely wife Catarina live and work in Temecula while raising their two young boys Kaden and Grayson...


A standard practice for automatic irrigation systems for the past 30 years was to use rotor and spray head irrigation systems. When water was easily accessible and relatively inexpensive, the concern for wasting water didn’t play as large of a factor when designing the irrigation system. All that has changed with increasing water demand due to population increase and decreasing water supply due to consecutive years of drought. Water is a precious resource that cannot be wasted and regulatory agencies are introducing policies, restrictions and increasing rates to conserve our dwindling water supply. Counties across Southern California are implementing punitive and incentive programs to regulate the amount of water its residents can use to irrigate their yards.

Overhead spray and rotor irrigation systems play a large role in water waste. A typical spray head system is estimated to only be 70% efficient; meaning 30% of the water used is wasted due to wind, runoff and overspray on to impervious surfaces. For example, a 100 square foot area that has a typical spray head system, will waste 1.5 gallons of water per minute. If you water that area 6 days a week for 5 minutes, you would end up wasting 45 gallons of water per week and that is just 100 square feet. A typical single-family home has about 1,500 s.f. of lawn; so the amount of water wasted on a weekly basis is 675 gallons! So you can see that the inefficiency of the spray and rotor systems played a large role in water waste.


Fortunately, the irrigation manufactures and design professionals have been busy researching more efficient products and methods to water our landscapes. The Demonstration Garden at the Santa Ana Watershed Authority, (SAWPA) displays 3 different types of efficient irrigation systems.

Three of the landscaped areas in the garden use the Toro – DL2000 Drip line. This is a system that is generally installed on grade, under the mulch layer. The drip line comes with water emitters installed in the lines at either 12” or 18” on center. The drip lines are laid in a lineal pattern at 12”-18” on center, depending on the density of your plant material. When watering, the emitters on the drip line leak water which goes straight to the plants root ball and eliminates water runoff and overspray. The efficiency of the drip line is estimated by Toro to be 90-95% accurate. This method of irrigation is good for shrub planting areas that have a medium to high density of plant material.

Rain Bird Corporation’s– Xeri-Bug Emitters on Poly-Flex Risers is used to irrigate the Desert area in the demonstration garden. This system uses standard PVC pipe, installed underground, with two emitters installed on flexible risers going to each plant root ball. The Xeri-Bug Emitters slowly drip or “leak” water which eliminates runoff and overspray. The efficiency for this method of irrigation is estimated by Rainbird to be 90-95% accurate. A landscape design that has a low to medium density of plant material would benefit from this type of irrigation. Many of the landscapes in the desert area use this method of watering.

The vegetable garden is irrigated with Rain Bird Corporation – XPCN Micro Spray. This system uses either standard PVC pipe, or poly line tubing installed underground, with micro spray pop-up heads connected at 2’-4’ on center, depending on the radius of the spray nozzle used. This method of irrigation is good for small areas that have plant material that prefer overhead water. The water efficiency is estimated by Rainbird to be 85-90% accurate and would be a good application for vegetable gardens or small shade gardens.

Water is an important resource that cannot be wasted and fortunately there are irrigation products and designers that can not only help our cause in saving water, but also make our gardens grow beautifully and with vigor.

DNA Designs Demonstration Garden for SAWPA

In May DNA was contacted by Santa Ana Water Project Authority to design a Demonstration Garden for an existing turf area next to their office in Riverside. With the current water crisis, they thought replacing that water thirsty turf with a garden that demonstrated California native low water use plantings and various irrigation methods would be more in keeping with their philosophy on conservation of our precious resource. Below is a link to the information regarding the garden. Patti Bonawitz from SAWPA, who is a Master Gardener herself, had a very clear, fun vision for the garden themes. She worked with our design team; Shane Preston (see sketch above), Bryan Love and myself to implement her vision. Many thanks to John Crossley at Toro, Anita Matlock at Rainbird and Brian Nattall at Green Meadows Landscape...it has truly been a collaborative effort on everyone's part and we are very proud to be part of the team.

The link to the SAWPA web site and news about the garden is http://www.sawpa.org/Demogarden.html

What Does AB 32 and SB 375 Mean For Development?

David Neault, President, DNA, Inc.

Many in the development community, whether private or public sector, have lots of questions and some even fears about what changes AB 32 and SB 375 will bring to the industry. Others scoff and dismiss the bills as toothless, having loopholes and only as strong as the agencies that are required to act on it. With all the attention these two bills are getting, I decided to do some research on the subject and share my findings. Here’s what I discovered about these two bills:

Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (AB 32) mandates that carbon emissions be reduced to 2000 levels by 2010, 1990 levels by 2020 and 80% lower than 1990 levels by 2050. California Air Resource Board (CARB) is the responsible agency and they are charged with developing and implementing a plan to reduce greenhouse gases (GHG) that is cost effective, real and quantifiable. There are timelines for CARB to achieve certain results through 2020. Recently, a Scoping Plan prepared by CARB was adopted that identifies a complete range of measures and means to make the required carbon reductions.

SB 375 crafted by Senator Darrell Steinberg is one of the measures that helps achieve the goals of AB 32. The law targets the largest producer of GHG; light trucks and cars. Transportation is responsible for 40% of the States GHG emissions with 30% coming from light trucks and cars. So this bill seeks to reduce vehicle miles traveled (VMT) by tying regional transportation plans with land use and housing. At the heart of this bill is the desire to curb sprawl, encourage infill development, require local governments to look at land use policies that are regionally based; in short, design community plans that take Californians out of their cars and improve our quality of life. On a fact sheet from the Governor’s office it is stated that, “SB 375 will be responsible for reshaping the face of California’s communities into more sustainable, walkable communities, with alternative transportation options and increase quality of life.”

As with AB 32, CARB is the agency responsible for implementing the goals of this bill. Their first task is to determine regional targets for GHG reductions in order to meet AB 32 levels in 2020. Each of the 18 Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPO) will be given these targets by September 30, 2010. In January of this year 21 persons from various planning, governmental, environmental and development backgrounds were appointed positions on a Regional Targets Advisory Committee (RTAC). This high powered committee will work with CARB in determining what these GHG reductions targets will be in order to meet the September 30, 2010 deadline. Once these levels are delivered to the MPO’s they will work on creating a “Sustainable Community Strategy” to show how these targets will be reached. This plan will then need to be coordinated with the Regional Transportation Plan.

Another key component of this plan is that it connects Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA) to the Regional Transportation Plan (RTP). Both the RTP and the RHNA need to be coordinated and together they will be updated every eight years. Additionally, the RHNA needs to comply with the Sustainable Community Strategy so local governments will work with the MPO’s to receive their fair share of the regional growth. The adherence to the plans by the counties and cities will ensure transportation funding from the State.

SB 375 rewards heavily those transportation oriented developments and higher density infill projects with CEQA exemptions and streamlining. Plans that are aimed at providing 50% residential use, minimum densities of 20/du, FAR for the commercial portions of the project at 0.75 and located with a half mile of transit are eligible for a full CEQA exemption. This encourages mixed use projects, low income housing and is biased towards providing housing in the areas that are already rich in transportation elements.

You can see that there are a lot of moving parts to the process. Many think that the bill has gaps and lack specificity requiring other bills and legislation to accomplish its intended goal. The bill gives some wiggle room for local governments to create alternative plans if they are not able to meet the Sustainable Community Strategy.

Finally, AB 32 and SB 375 represent a significant change in the way that we plan our communities. The push to reduce GHG emissions will force public and private sectors in the housing industry to work together creatively within the structure of the law. “If necessity is the mother of invention”, then the years ahead promise many inventive and innovative ways to look at development. If the goal is reduction of GHG and a cleaner environment, resulting in communities that are healthier, more walkable, less fossil fuel dependant and foster better socialization: than the efforts and change will have been well worth it.

What does this mean for the Development Community? We will be well advised to begin dialogues between private developers, consultants, Cities and Counties relative to taking a regional approach to land planning and development. Although we don’t know specifically what the Sustainable Community Strategies created for each of the Cities and Counties will be, we do know a lot about what kinds of regional and community design elements will reduce carbon output. By working collaboratively together we can share our ideas, experience and vision and begin devising strategies and processes that benefits all. This economic slowdown will come to an end…sooner than later I would hope; and it will be a tragic mistake if we have not prepared ourselves for this next step. If the land planning that we are presently engaged in does not proactively engage sustainable design elements we run the risk of producing plans that will be not be approvable. This is a waste of precious time and economic resources. We all know what happens when we wait for someone else to make decisions for us. Being collaborative in a proactive search of finding solutions to reducing our carbon footprint has the promise of a much more successful outcome. We as a company have dedicated ourselves to the research of creating sustainable communities. Please feel free to give us a call. We would be happy to review your current plans and offer suggestions on how to make changes that will fit the emerging sustainable development model.

Please call Peggy Newman at 951.296.3430, ext. 200 to set an appointment.