What you going to do when the well runs dry?
Designs that work When thinking about your landscape designs are you taking into account the irrigation design and how it may impact the future of our water supplies? Consider the impact Water keeps our planet alive. Where there’s water, there’s life. Our water is our life. Every drop that we live in, on or around must sustain a clean pure consistency for all life on earth to survive. If this water is contaminated, then we all cease to exist. The power that water has over us is immense. We as humans take it for granted until sometimes it is too late. Seventy-five percent of our earth is covered with water and the magnitude of these massive bodies is profound. We are able to send men to the moon and rockets to Mars and beyond and yet we find it difficult to explore ocean depths below two miles down. The incredible density of it makes it almost impossible. Recently science has invented specialized machinery to explore the depths of the ocean floor and have discovered incredible unexplainable life in these depths. The fact that any life can survive in such a compressed atmosphere is in such a diverse contrast to life above water. Even though we know so very little of how it thrives, we do know of one certain fact; “Life above and below water is in a fragile balance by virtue of personal and corporate responsibility”. Design responsibly Every landscape or irrigation professional carries a moral and ethical responsibility to protect not only the quality of water, but to design and install systems that are as efficient as possible with today’s product offerings. If you are not aware of the many water saving technologies currently available in the market then I encourage you to contact the team at Landtech Design and work with them to develop a design to incorporate water conservation utilizing water efficient sprayheads, weather based controllers, weather stations and many other water saving features. Beyond the design I believe also we are charged with the responsibility of educating our customers as to the most efficient way to us these systems we install. If the customer is not comfortable with it, then offer a service that takes this responsibility and worry off their shoulders. Manufactures engineer and build great products that have little chance of succeeding without the help of a professional irrigation designer and contractor who has a vision well into the future. Don’t be the one to “Let your well run dry”. That’s the View From Here…. David...
Read MoreRecap of 2017 Projects…A year of successes
Busy year at Landtech Design As we look back over the past year we realize that there have been a variety of projects that we’ve been involved in and wanted to share to you the many successes. If you are looking to explore irrigation design consultants for 2018 we encourage to see what relevant projects you can compare to for your consideration going forward. We look forward to working with many of you this year! Projects that stood out The key to working with our team is the ability to work across all levels or disciplines from architects to civil engineers and develop a comprehensive design incorporating the best in technology and water conservation. Here are a few examples that stood out as ones we completed and designed in 2017. Cummins Distribution Headquarters (Indianapolis, Indiana) Design Team: Deborah Berke Partners; Land Collective; CEC Engineers PepsiCo Research & Development Campus (Valhalla, New York) Design Team: Flad Architects; WSP Engineering; JMC Site Development Central Fields Rugby & Soccer Complex at Forest Park (St. Louis, Missouri) Design Team: SWT Design; Ross & Baruzzini City-Arch-River / Jefferson National Expansion Museum (St. Louis, Missouri) Design Team: MVVA, Dave Mason Associates, KJWW, Olsson Associates Landtech Design’s Role Since opening our doors in 1994, Landtech Design has prepared irrigation design documents on over 3,000 projects throughout the world. Nearly 98% of our projects are performed with Landtech Design serving as a Subconsultant to a landscape architectural office, or an architectural firm with an LA section. Specifically with the Cummins Distribution Headquarters their design team brought in our team to be involved with the water-harvesting aspects of the project and design of the pump-station and filtration. There were expansive irrigation needs on several plazas, two greenroofs, streetscape, native grass establishment and the incorporation of a weather-based controller for ongoing operations. This design was developed and approved as a LEED Gold project. Landtech Design has vast experience with LEED projects and we pride ourselves in knowing the latest technology advancements in irrigation. For a further listing of projects that we’ve been involved with we encourage you to request a downloadable file that will not only describe the many projects, but also provide scope details and cost estimates for the irrigation on that specific project. Learn more…...
Read MoreFrom past to future in Toronto
Future of this City… Landtech part of this exciting redevelopment in Toronto Landtech Design is excited to be a part of a major redevelopment project in conjunction with the City of Toronto. As the architects and landscape architects work to take these ideas from concept to reality our team will be involved in the irrigation design to ensure the latest in technology and water efficiency is incorporated for the successful greening of these discarded industrial sites. It’s the next great frontier of development, yet instead of cowboys and tumbleweed, you will likely only find brownfield sites and industrial complexes in Toronto’s sprawling Port Lands. As developable land is becoming harder to assemble, the City is working toward unlocking the potential of the waterfront industrial district, seen as ideal given its proximity to natural landscapes and the Downtown Core. Recently, a set of new plans and images, presented in March to the Waterfront Toronto Board, has revealed details of the ongoing evolution of the Port Lands Precinct Plan, which offers some intriguing insight into the future of the area. Read...
Read Morethe Landscape Architect’s Irrigation Consultant
True to our tag line Often times we refer to ourselves as “the Landscape Architect’s Irrigation Consultant” and one of our recent projects certainly lives up to that tag line. We were pleased to work with the world renowned firms of Oehme van Sweden Landscape Architects and Gensler Architects to complete a project for the ASLA Headquarters in Washington D.C. area as part of their ongoing energy star initiatives. As the consultant to Landscape Architects we designed the irrigation to compliment the designs for their new rooftop garden and corresponding courtyard. Irrigation Design Components Key components to the design involved the incorporation of a complete water harvesting system to collect stormwater from the roofs for complete recycling of the water into the irrigation and weather monitoring to provide optimum water use for the landscape materials. The water harvesting system has multiple flow meters and sensors to monitor not only the stormwater collection volume but also collect data to show the amount of water demanded by the irrigation and any additional make-up water needed. To maximize the water consumption and only use what is needed for the plant material the design incorporates an onsite weather station to measure temperature, humidity, solar radiation, wind and rainfall to calculate the daily ET (evapotranspiration rate). Additionally soil moisture sensors are installed to track soil conditions in key areas within the landscape. The majority of the rooftop irrigation and courtyard utilizes drip irrigation to also reduce overspray, evaporation and deliver water to the roots of the plants. All of the irrigation is then controlled with the Toro Sentinel Control System that provides complete monitoring and control incorporating weather driven updating, moisture sensors and monitoring for all flow conditions. Sentinel Water Management Software (WMS) is a Microsoft® Windows-based program that allows users to control daily irrigation operations and scheduling from a powerful yet easy-to-use platform. With the ability to control up to 999 field satellites from one location, users have a water management tool that provides ultimate customizability and reliability. ASLA Efforts to Green Communities The headquarters of the American Society of Landscape Architects helped Washington, D.C., rank second on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) 2014 list of the top U.S. cities with the most ENERGY STAR certified buildings. ASLA has participated in EPA’s ENERGY STAR certification since 2008, and its headquarters building was ENERGY STAR-certified again in 2013. Among buildings the same size, ASLA’s energy performance is in the top 11 percent. ASLA’s headquarters employs energy-efficient systems and practices-including a green roof that reduces energy usage by 10 percent in winter months. Sustainability is part of the organization’s leadership and staff culture. Your Irrigation Consultant If you are looking to design a water efficient irrigation system or looking to update an existing area to incorporate new technology we invite you to contact us at Landtech Design. No project is too small or large for our team to tackle. Working with your ideas and designs we can develop a plan to fit your budget and concept requirements. Name(required) Email(required) Company Comment(required)...
Read MoreOtterbine – One of our valued partners
Creating beautiful waterways The Otterbine name is synonymous with quality and performance and we wanted to take the time today to share with you the words of their CEO, Charlie Barebo as we feel their words are very similar to those of Landtech Design and the Kenney Corporation. It is by partnering with these folks that we can offer the services and designs to our customers in a WIN/WIN fashion. Words to share from Otterbine Dear Colleagues, 2016 was a year of solid accomplishment and growth for Otterbine. In the last three years, we have grown revenues a solid 36% in total. We simply get fantastic support from all our stakeholders – our consultants, vendors, distributors, and the fine people we get to work with every day, our employees. Together, our founders called us the Folks at Otterbine. A little bit more about that. There is more to a business than just making money. Chuck and Terry Barebo made that clear right up front when they bought the business in 1980. How we treat people is a big part of our culture and one of the reasons WHY we are in business. Chuck Barebo, one of our two founders, says it best, “We wanted to create a fun, fulfilling environment that enriched our employees’ lives and treated them like partners. We shared critical operating information with them, we put an annual review and performance bonus in place, we share our profits with them, and we put a health insurance plan in place that included the entire family. Frankly it surprises me whenever anyone leaves us, be it a customer, distributor or employee.” In 2016 our average length of employee tenure was 14 years. We celebrated 5, 10, 15 and 35-year employment anniversaries at our annual supper on Feb. 3rd. Herb Kelleher, legendary CEO of Southwest Airlines likes to say, “If you take good care of your employees, they’ll take good care of your customers.” We are going to treat people – customers, distributors, vendors, and employees like people; valuable, creative, inspiring and loyal. This value was re-enforced at a strategic planning meeting about seven years ago when the second generation led team decided that the best way for us to compete is to be the easiest aerator and floating fountain company to work with. That covers a lot of territory and gives each one of us something to work on every day. This is part of valuing people, one of the reasons WHY we are in business, the core of our culture and value system. Read more…. New products for 2017 The Air Flo 3 diffused aeration system compliments Otterbine’s line of aeration systems with a sub-surface option to water quality management. Engineered to offer increased energy efficiency and quieter operation, this “bubbler” type system system is available with 1-disc or 2-disc manifold assemblies. Key features include: Lake Management: The Air Flo 3 system is extremely effective in all ponds with a depth of at least 6ft (2m), and all the way up to of 40+ feet (12m) depths. It breaks down thermal stratification and stimulates bottom aquatic life which feeds on algae and organic nutrients. The Air Flo 3 system is ideal for managing water quality of effluent ponds and lakes without releasing harmful particulates into the air, and is excellent in breaking up thermal stratification in ponds and lakes. Invisible: No parts of the system or a spray pattern are visible from the lake’s surface. Those concerned with evaporation favor the Air Flo 3 system since no water is released into the air. Safety: No electricity or...
Read MoreProducts to advance your thinking
Exploring Green Roofs and Green Walls as ways to expand your design thinking City planners continue to evaluate the impact on global warming and our environment as buildings are constructed, parking lots are paved and the growth in downtown areas continues to swell. With that said, landscape architects have played an important role in designing ways to bring GREEN into an otherwise concrete and steel world. Green Roof and Green Wall designs have expanded over the past years from simple “green plantings” of sedum or grasses and wire walls to site specific designs incorporating recycled materials, improved growing mediums, and water collection systems for recycling of rain water for a total package of environmentally friendly project. Today we offer several products for you to consider with your next design project. GeoEdge …Aluminum Green Building Edging GeoEdge is a flexible aluminum edge restraint system that works great for green roof systems because of it’s multi-height and component system design. With the L-Shaped profile and options for solid wall, or slotted wall you can design to allow for water runoff or containment depending upon the roof application. Used in conjunction with permeable pavers you can design a complete roof system for soil containment, plantings, and pathways or patios for pedestrian use. Benefits to GeoEdge Engineered for use in greenroof applications, GeoEdge can be used to retain green roof planting material, as well as stones, pavers and tiles for rooftop walkways. GeoEdge has been proven successful bor both intensive and extensive greenroofs, and qualifies for LEED points. GeoEdge is a lightweight, flexible restraint that provides a finished look and assures an easy installation, making it a great alternative to poured concrete in permeable pavement applications. GeoEdge is manufactured from recycled aluminum material and is 100% recyclable. To learn more about GeoEdge and to see the sizes available and CAD detail files for easy download Click here Green wall and wire trellis With new product availability the design applications for green facades and trellises is growing rapidly and offering the additional benefits of noise reduction, improved air quality and a totally new look and excitement to otherwise cold stark walls or buildings. One added benefit not normally considered is the protection provided to the exterior building especially those exposed to direct sunlight or extreme temperature changes. These systems can be constructed of wires, mesh, cables and various anchoring systems providing ample flexibility to design applications. Here are a few of the products available through Jakob Rope Systems Stainless Steel Netting – WEBNET. Special flexible stainless steel nets, known as WEBNET can be attached to stairs, railings and multiple structures to allow for growth and training of vines for a lush green wall effect. Within a short time period the cables generally become non-visible making for a living wall to blend with any architecture. Catenary Cable with Vertical Cables Hanging – This trellis type system is new and unique in that it does not require any wall or permanent structure behind it for attachment. The Catenary cable is larger in diameter and installed as the primary “structure” from which then smaller cables can be attached vertically or horizontally to create the design. Traditional Volume or 3D Trellis Systems – These systems consist of panels that are generally attached to the outside building wall. The shading that these green walls create for the building keeps the inside of the building cooler during summer heat and warmer during the winter months resulting in reduced utility costs for the building owners. Look to Landtech Design for irrigation support Have an upcoming project that you think...
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