For more than 10 years, the Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks has been implementing conservation practices in our journey toward safeguarding the environment. By changing our operation techniques and integrating different efforts at existing parks and in the design of new locations, we have made the transformation to being a conservation-driven park agency. Every new project and practice has helped bring us closer to our conservation goals while positively impacting the communities we serve. We’ve kept our park patrons informed of our efforts along the way, and it has helped us strengthen our department while enhancing our parks and communities. We are proud of our efforts and our ability to continue to create new parkland while still maintaining our conservation goals. Our first step in this transformation began with water.
Water
When people think of parks, they envision green space. It is not surprising, then, that recreation and parks is the largest water user of any city of Los Angeles department. With more than 16,000-acres of parkland to look after, water usage is and will always be a critical component of daily maintenance and operations. Like so many park agencies, a majority of our water consumption is used to keep our parks green. Ninety-two percent of our water usage is for irrigation and reducing that number called for a new way of thinking, designing and maintaining our parkland.
The old ways of managing water were no longer applicable or appropriate for our drought conditions, and short-term relief measures were not options for true success. To be responsible stewards, park water use should be based on the climate of the city or town, rather than on traditional impractical, wasteful models. Our semi-arid environment was not considered in our old methods, but, now, our practices revolve around it. This new way of thinking called for a combination of practices and efforts. The department needed to replace, install and implement techniques, equipment and designs to maximize our conservation efforts, and those efforts have paid off. We have reduced our potable water usage by more than 30 percent from the mid-2000s and for the most recent fiscal year, a total of 769,656,000 gallons (30 percent) were saved over the prior fiscal year. This reduction in water usage was achieved even though the number of parks and park acreage increased.
Smart Irrigation Systems
The first step in reducing water consumption was the most obvious: install new irrigation systems. In 2008, the department began its Smart Irrigation Retrofit Program, whose goal was to maximize water savings by upgrading outdated irrigation systems to newer, more efficient ones, repairing existing systems and reducing the amount of irrigated turf areas. Smart Irrigation Systems are climate- and soil-based equipment that measure temperature, wind and rainfall while also accounting for differing soil types, topography and other site conditions. The smart systems can save an average of 325,000 gallons per acre annually.
Taking the program a step further, we created the Smart Irrigation Youth Training Program that provides an intensive, hands-on training opportunity for at-risk adults, ages 18-24. Participants gain skills for entry-level jobs in irrigation, maintenance and green technology while helping to improve their parkland. Departmental staff provides skills in basic landscaping irrigation construction, including the replacement of sprinkler systems and re-piping. The 51-week program includes two 8-hour field work days and one 4-hour in-class workforce training day a week. After 1,020 hours, participants receive a certificate of completion. More than 103 smart irrigation participants have been hired for landscaping positions after completing the program. In the past three years, our maintenance division has hired more than 12 Smart Irrigation graduates.
Recycled Water
The second step in our water-reduction efforts was to maximize the number of the city’s large parks, lakes and golf courses that are converted to recycled water. This requires close work with the Department of Water and Power (DWP) that installs all of the needed recycled water pipelines (which typically are routed through existing city streets). Through our DWP partnership, several golf courses and large-scale parks have been converted to recycled water. As of fiscal year 2014-2015, recycled water usage has increased to one-third of total water consumption and more recycled facilities will be completed in the near future. The department’s goal is to develop a plan to convert 85 percent of public golf course acreage to recycled water by 2017, and to also determine the feasibility of converting all golf courses to 100 percent non-potable water.
Synthetic Fields and Turf Replacement
The Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks has also incorporated the replacement of turf as a successful strategy for conserving water. Turf removal strategies include replacement with organic and hardscape materials, such as drought-tolerant plants, mulch, decomposed granite, gravel and permeable pavers. The DWP estimates that each square foot of turf removed will save up to 32.4 gallons each year. While there will always be cases where turf continues to be incorporated in our parks (such as picnic areas and active recreation areas), in general the department continues to evaluate our parks for potential areas of turf removal. In fiscal year 2014-2015, an estimated 23 million gallons of water were saved because of turf replacement.
For the past 10 years, the department has been installing synthetic fields as a replacement for natural turf fields. Synthetic fields offer several advantages over natural turf fields: they require far less maintenance, are much more durable, require no chemicals or fertilizers and, perhaps most importantly, greatly reduce the need for water. Los Angeles Recreation and Parks has developed our own synthetic performance specification turf which includes a higher quality (thicker) turf with a shock pad included in the design. Our current design specifications call for Zeolite, a natural volcanic material, rather than crumb rubber infill, and also require that (to the greatest extent possible) water drained from the field is kept on-site. Eleven of our 38 synthetic fields have our Los Angeles Synthetic Turf Specification. We currently save an estimated 62.8 million gallons of water annually thanks to our synthetic fields. As more fields are completed, additional savings will accrue.
Energy Actions
To help us meet our energy conservation goals, we began installing LEDs and replacing High Intensity Discharge (HID) technology at all existing and new parks. To further optimize the energy savings and efficiency, we utilize motion sensors, photocells and dimming controls to reduce light output to 30 percent or 50 percent during times when the areas are not occupied. LED retrofitting projects and new LED lighting installations are core components of our long-term park planning, construction and maintenance program. These plans involve the eventual replacement of most HID lamps being used for our outdoor sports fields and indoor gyms, as well as the replacement of indoor florescent lighting at all buildings and recreation facilities. The motivation for selecting LED or Solid State Technology in our energy savings and efficiency goals is that the payback for LED is relatively short — 3–5 years — and LED is maintenance-free. Some manufacturers confidently provide 10 years or more on warranty for their products. Additionally, the energy savings on LED is immediate, from 30 percent to 45 percent and 70 percent, depending on the applications.
In 2011, the department dedicated and opened the city of Los Angeles’ first Leadership and Excellence in Environmental Design (LEED) certified building at Lafayette Park. Since then, the department has adopted new “green” design techniques. All of our new facilities are “green” buildings and LEED compliant, and improvement/renovations to existing buildings are designed to meet LEED guidelines as well. LEED, the Green Building Council’s rating system, measures sustainability, green design and building performance. LEED certification is a point rating system that credits or applies points for implementing LEED aspects in several categories such as sustainable sites, water efficiency, indoor environmental quality, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources, and innovation and design process. There are four levels of LEED certification, and a building requires at least 40 points for LEED certification. Los Angeles has adopted a policy requiring all new buildings larger than 7,500 square feet to meet the minimum certification level.
By 2035, 75 percent of the built environment in the United States will have been constructed new or renovated since 2005. With buildings accounting for 39 percent of carbon dioxide emissions, there is an opportunity to significantly contribute to carbon reduction when designing and constructing new structures. Right now is the perfect time to implement green building standards and techniques in your park agencies.
Every step and new effort has strengthened our knowledge of what works and what does not in our park designs. Our 50 Park Initiative has put a focus in the past couple of years on the development of small neighborhood parks. Community meetings are held and residents are provided with information on the park’s basic design elements and included in the design discussions. They are also educated on why sustainable and conservation elements are needed and their benefits. This collaborative-driven process allows for unique elements in each park and keeps the community informed about our conservation efforts. Each new park also includes sustainable design practices, as well as water and energy conservation elements such as native landscaping, LED lighting and smart irrigation systems.
The increasing population, scarcity of water, growing waste levels and escalation of global warming are intensifying the demands on limited resources around the world. Energy- and water-efficient practices are needed on every level. From water reduction to LED technology, park agencies have multiple opportunities for implementing conservation techniques and practices and sharing them with their park patrons to help their communities become environmentally conscious. Providing knowledge and examples of conservation efforts can have a strong impact on the communities we serve. We have helped build strong communities through recreation, and we can help encourage them to be stewards of the environment. This most likely will require changes to our operations and park-design process.
Amy A. Garcia is a Public Relations Assistant at the city of Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks.