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January 10, 2011
Steve Moddemeyer, principal of sustainable development at CollinsWoerman, says it's time for a revolution in infrastructure and one place that could start locally is Yesler Terrace.
A number of groups in the city are looking at district energy and water systems, but Yesler Terrace is the furthest along. Seattle Housing Authority wants to redevelop the 28-acre Yesler Terrace site, and is considering systems that would provide energy and water more efficiently and sustainably. CollinsWoerman did a water study for SHA.
Though nothing has been decided, Moddemeyer said the study suggests a district water system could cut water use by half and reduce wastewater flows by 70 percent for the same or less cost as a traditional system.
Water that falls on the Yesler Terrace site could be used for drinking after being treated by membrane bioreactors. Treated wastewater could be used for nonpotable uses like toilet flushing.
The scale of the project could make district water and energy feasible while helping to reduce wastewater flows.
“The early indications are this is really interesting and we should be following it more,” Moddemeyer said.
Moddemeyer is project director for the International Water Association's program called Cities of the Future. He advocates for developing infrastructure by looking at the bigger picture. For example, instead of just picking what to pave a street with, a roadway engineer would look at whether a street needs to be paved at all or whether the community might be better off with a wider sidewalk or turning the space into a farmer's market.
Moddemeyer said today's approach to infrastructure wastes money and resources, and is not sustainable on a large scale because the focus is too narrow.
King County's Brightwater Treatment Plant, for example, is a $1.8 billion investment that Moddemeyer said puts all the county's eggs in one basket, making a bet that water will continued to be treated the way it is today. He argues that having a number of different overlapping systems would allow the region to nimbly respond to problems, and changes in population and environmental conditions.
He said using many techniques, including district systems, makes cities resilient.
With energy prices rising, energy sources uncertain and growing competition for resources, he said, something needs to change. Moddemeyer said the biggest obstacle to progress is faith in outdated infrastructure systems.
Moddemeyer said Seattle is an international leader when it comes to seeing the big picture, beginning with recycling in the 1980s. The city has continued to create cutting-edge programs such as SEA Streets and Green Factor, and the private sector here has embraced green building and done extensive work with asset management.
“When Seattle keeps churning out those kind of things we kind of keep at the head of the pack,” Moddemeyer said. “When I go to almost anywhere else they go ‘Well of course you can do that in Seattle,'” because Seattle has a reputation of (being) a place that's always doing all that really leading-edge stuff.”
AEI, Cowi study
Seattle recently chose a team led by AEI of Madison, Wis., and Denmark's Cowi to do a pre-feasibility study for city district energy systems.
Joshua Curtis, project manager for the Seattle Office of Sustainability and Environment, said the team will work with the city to find up to 10 places where district systems might work. Curtis said developer and community groups have been approaching the city about district systems. The study allows Seattle to identify the highest value areas.
Yesler Terrace might not be the first project to pursue a district-wide system. Moddemeyer said he is seeing interest in district systems from private developers but they are unsure about how to start. If private developers move forward, he said district systems could be the norm within five years.
“You need demonstrations but the mindset is right already,” he said. “It's possible that, in a way, we're setting the table for a trend to district systems that could happen all around the city at various scales and sizes that start delivering the kind of resilience at a cost that's affordable and reasonable within the market.”
Europe, Asia
Europe and Asia are ahead of the U.S. and Canada in these systems, but Moddemeyer said the U.S. could bring about international change because it is such an influential player.
Through his work with the International Water Association, Moddemeyer travels around the world seeking out best practices and technological improvements to share them with regulators and consultants at events and even test projects.
On a smaller scale, Moddemeyer recalled a situation when he worked for Seattle DPD on an area in Phinney Ridge where the water pressure for 30 houses was too low. The city was planning to build a $1 million pumping station to fix the problem when someone suggested buying booster pumps for each house and maintaining them over time. The team crunched the numbers for lifecycle costs and discovered the solution saved about $800,000.
District energy and water is one way to expand this kind of thinking city-wide. Changing the way we design neighborhoods can substantially reduce water use, but it requires an integrated approach from the beginning.
“Look at how you invest in resources and then look more broadly than you typically do,” Moddemeyer said. “... What is the most resilient system that makes us adaptable and provides good cost effectiveness and meets our multiple needs?”
Moddemeyer said such an approach is safer because a number of smaller systems would have a better chance of surviving in an earthquake.
Moddemeyer said Seattle is the perfect size for such innovation, small enough that a change can make a difference but big enough to have the expertise to design new systems.
Change won't happen quickly. Moddemeyer expects a generational shift, taking about 20 years. “It's not a slam dunk and it's not overnight. It's an incremental thing, but Seattle is definitely making progress.”
For more information, visit www.iwahq.org/Home/.
Katie Zemtseff can be
reached by email or by phone
at (206) 622-8272.