Main Speaker: John Blount
The ASCE Houston Branch is proud to host Mr. John Blount, P.E., LEED AP of Harris County as the keynote speaker for our March meeting. Mr. Blount will discuss Harris County’s decision to participate in the recent Low Impact Development (LID) design competition and what the County sees moving forward for incorporating sustainable solutions into infrastructure projects.
John R. Blount is a 1984 graduate of the University of Houston. He has worked in the Civil Engineering Field for twenty-five years and is a Registered Professional Engineer (WI) (TX) as well as a LEED accredited professional. He has worked at the Harris County Engineer's Office for the last twenty-two years holding positions as an Inspector, Compliance Manager and Manager of Permits. He currently holds a position as Director of Architecture and Engineering for the Harris County Public Infrastructure Department. He serves on the National Sanitation Foundations’ (NSF) Joint Wastewater Committee and was previously chairman of the Texas Onsite Wastewater Research Council appointed by Governor Perry.
Technical Session #1: Green Roadways
This technical session will focus on Low Impact Development (LID), a storm water management strategy designed to mimic predevelopment hydrology using design techniques that filter, store, infiltrate, and detain runoff close to its source. LID is a growing design trend that looks to significantly alter the way we design infrastructure and manage storm water in the Houston area. This presentation will review the fundamentals of LID, walk through AECOM’s award winning LID Green Roadway project, and discuss the applicability of LID to projects across the Houston area. AECOM will also give its 7-minute presentation during dinner.
Technical Session #2: EHRA
In the Low Impact Development Design Competition held by the Houston Land and Water Sustainability Forum, the team of Edminster, Hinshaw, Russ and Associations, Inc., Davidson Landscape Architecture and Legend Homes was the competition winner in the Suburban Design Category. The design project consisted of developing a 640-acre tract for single family residential development using only Low Impact Development techniques to handle the increased storm water generated by the development while ensuring the developer could market and sell in the competitive Houston market. The EHRA team, led by Justin R. Ring, P.E. and Christopher D. Browne, LEED AP, came up with a unique design solution that met all of the developer’s requirements and still matched the Low Impact Development guidelines. EHRA participated in all three design categories and, along with team member Davidson Landscape Architecture, were the only firms to be finalists in all three categories.
Full Technical Session 2 Description
Technical Session #3: Houston Land/Water Sustainability Forum Winners
The winners of the recent Houston Land/Water Sustainability Forum´s Low Impact Development Design Competition in Urban Design will present their challenges and discuss how their project can be had at a lower cost to developers, which bodes well for their rapid adoption and implementation.
The entry "EaDo Promenade" will show how LID technologies can be used to have far reaching impact and be an educational resource for communities. In the entry, team members paired localized hydrological strategies that capture and use rain water with pedestrian oriented design, urban ecology and integrated architectural design guidelines that could leverage a neighborhood redevelopment and create new environments.
Full Technical Session 3 Description 
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