Coastal Carolina University
OP-22: Rainwater Management

CCU’s Master plan and LID policies and practices are connected through the SC state requirement that all new major construction meet at least LEED Silver or two Green Globes. LEED Silver calls for LID with respect to “sustainable sites” including the way a building location and design “avoid[s] development of inappropriate sites and reduce[s] the environmental impact from the location of a building on a site.”

Since 2007, CCU has built 10 new LEED certified buildings, representing 791,000 square feet, or 25% percent of buildings on campus. Facilities Planning and Management follows all South Carolina State construction guidelines concerning stormwater and erosion control when constructing new buildings on campus. For example, project managers prepare erosion and sediment control plans for each new project in accordance with state and county regulations, and construction projects on campus are surrounded by erosion-control fences.

New construction incorporates stormwater management solutions for each major project. U.S. Green Building LEED scorecards show that 10 of the 10 newly constructed buildings were awarded “sustainable sites” points for maximizing open space where the building design “[provided] a high ratio of open space to development footprint to promote biodiversity.” Additionally, seven (7) of the 10 buildings were awarded a full point for stormwater design quantity control, meaning the building design “limit[s] disruption of natural water hydrology by reducing impervious cover, increasing on-site infiltration, reducing or eliminating pollution from stormwater runoff, and eliminating contaminants. Seven (7) buildings were also awarded a full point for stormwater design quantity control for “limit[ing] disruption and pollution of natural water flows by managing stormwater runoff.”

Another example of CCU following LID policies and practices is the stormwater management solution for what is now the GG parking lot - the largest commuter lot on main campus. The GG lot includes grading the impervious pavement areas of the parking bay to drain to internal rain gardens within the parking areas. The rain gardens are designed to pond/pool to a specific depth of water before spilling to overflow basins. The overflow basins are connected to underground storage systems of perforated corrugated polyethylene pipe infiltrated in stone infiltration bed. The infiltration and detention through this system reduces post-development runoff peaks to pre-development flows. As part of the design process, a pre-and post-analysis for the property was modeled and analysis was performed for various storm events. This design follows best management practices for stormwater quality as there is no direct discharge from impervious surfaces to the outfall. Additionally, the rain garden vegetation serves to filter runoff pollutants prior to entering the underground storage system.

CCU minimizes the use of potable water as much as possible in irrigation by instead utilizing water from stormwater ponds for irrigation. Wetlands are protected through guidelines by the OCRM through SCDHEC.

CCU also has a Campus Volunteer Water Quality Monitoring Program that is co-administered by Coastal Carolina University's Waccamaw Watershed Academy and the Waccamaw RIVERKEEPER® Program of Winyah Rivers Foundation. The Waccamaw RIVERKEEPER is the field leader for this project and ensures that the data are relayed to CCU’s Building and Grounds staff for follow up on potential illicit discharges. The Environmental Quality Lab under the Waccamaw Watershed Academy provides technical support including provision of equipment, maintenance, supplies and training.

The goal of CCU’s Campus Monitoring Program is to provide an assessment of water quality conditions in the stormwater ditches and retention ponds on campus, all of which eventually send waters off campus towards the Waccamaw River. Sampling is conducted every other week during the academic semesters. The data is being used to evaluate whether water quality is improving or degrading over time at some or all of the sites using a watershed approach.

CCU’s Master plan and LID policies and practices are connected through the SC state requirement that all new major construction meet at least LEED Silver or two Green Globes. LEED Silver calls for LID with respect to “sustainable sites” including the way a building location and design “avoid[s] development of inappropriate sites and reduce[s] the environmental impact from the location of a building on a site.”

CCU Master Plan -- https://www.coastal.edu/masterplan/
CCU LEED Webpage - https://www.coastal.edu/facilities/designandengineering/sustainability/
CCU Campus Volunteer Water Quality Monitoring -- https://www.coastal.edu/wwa/vm/campus/

USGBC LEED Sources – Sustainable Sites
https://www.usgbc.org/credits/new-construction/v22/ssc1?return=/credits/New%20Construction/v2.2
https://www.usgbc.org/credits/new-construction/v22/ssc52?return=/credits/New%20Construction/v2.2
https://www.usgbc.org/credits/new-construction/v22/ssc62?return=/credits/New%20Construction/v2.2
https://www.usgbc.org/credits/new-construction/v22/ssc61?return=/credits/New%20Construction/v2.2

USGBC LEED Certification Scorecards
https://www.usgbc.org/projects/coastal-carolina-univ-athletic-training
https://www.usgbc.org/projects/student-recreation-convocation-center
https://www.usgbc.org/projects/clay-d-brittain-jr-hall
https://www.coastal.edu/media/2015ccuwebsite/contentassets/documents/facilitiesplanningandmanagement/ScienceAnnexIIprojectinfo.pdf
https://www.usgbc.org/projects/student-center-annex
https://www.usgbc.org/projects/ccu-academic-officeclassroom-building-2
https://www.usgbc.org/projects/kimbel-library-information-commons
https://www.usgbc.org/projects/ccu-science-lab-office-annex
https://www.usgbc.org/projects/ccu-student-housing-phase-1-0
https://www.usgbc.org/projects/ccu-student-housing-phase-2