Tracking Your Green Infrastructure

Tracking Your Green InfrastructureNovember 11, 2015

About Us

Deborah BoyerOpenTreeMap Project [email protected]

Karissa JusticeOpenTreeMap Business [email protected]

Philip SilvaTreeKIT [email protected]

Agenda

• Overview of OpenTreeMap

• Tracking Green Infrastructure

• Bioswales and the Gowanus Canal Conservancy

• Encouraging Community Interest in Green Infrastructure

• Future Updates to OpenTreeMap

• Questions

A collaborative platform for crowdsourced tree inventory, ecosystem services calculations, urban forestry analysis, and

community engagement

OpenTreeMap History

• Urban Forest Map

• USDA Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Grant Phase 1

• Launch of PhillyTreeMap, GreenprintMaps, Treezilla, and more

• Released as open source project

• USDA Phase 2 Grant

• Launch of OpenTreeMap Cloud - TreeMapLA, yegTreeMap, and more

• Customized pricing with green infrastructure and other options

About Azavea

• Founded in 2000• 50+ people• Based in Philadelphia• B Corporation• Geospatial + web + mobile

– Software development– Spatial analysis services– User experience

Partners and Funders

Key Features of OpenTreeMap

• Map and explore tree data• Add and edit trees online• Track stewardship activities• Add photos and leave

comments• View eco benefits calculated

using i-Tree Streets• Mobile apps for iPhone and

Android devices• Export data as csv• Customize data fields and

other options• Upload existing inventories

and update species list

Green Infrastructure

Goals

• Enable organizations to track green infrastructure resources such as bioswales and rain barrels

• Include administrative options to customize green infrastructure tracking to meet the needs of individual organizations

• Integrate with existing tree data and search options

• Support including custom ecosystem benefit calculations if available

Why green infrastructure?

• Organizations increasingly focused on supporting green infrastructure installation in residential areas

• Water conservation is crucial as climates change and drought becomes more frequent

• Stormwater management is essential in areas with a large amount of impervious surface

• Trees are part of green infrastructure but don’t tell the whole story

TreeMapLA and Watershed Solutions

• Rain gardens, rain barrels/cisterns/tanks, turf/concrete reductions

• Include ecosystem service calculations

• Draw attention to the importance of water conservation

What to track?

• Bioswales, rain gardens, and rain barrels

• Point and polygon based resources

• Support customization options

Customization

• Select which resources to track

• Change the terminology for a resource type or green infrastructure overall

• Add custom fields and stewardship options

• Set which user roles can view and edit data

Demo

But what about?

• Green infrastructure on mobile

• Ecobenefit calculations

• Other types of green infrastructure resources

Gowanus Canal Conservancy

Tracking Bioswales

Community Engagement

Why Track Green Infrastructure?

• Make your map the central repository for data related to all elements of green infrastructure

• Capture information on green infrastructure installation, programs, and resources

• Look for patterns in where rain barrels, bioswales, and other green infrastructure resources are installed

• Demonstrate the potential for and importance of installing new green infrastructure resources

• Track ecosystem benefits to show the economic and environmental value of green infrastructure

How Do I Get People Involved?

• Ask rain barrel recipients to add barrels to the map

• Coordinate with other groups to combine lists of green infrastructure resources

• Provide information during yard tree giveaways

• Develop educational materials around how to identify ideal locations for green infrastructure

• Look into incentive programs for installing green infrastructure and require mapping of the results

Upcoming Features

Recently Added

• Set custom fields and field order on mobile apps

• Choose number of trees

• Suspend your map

• Management page notification bubbles

• Green infrastructure and customization modules

Future Features

• Set advanced search filters

• Export ecosystem benefit numbers

• Urban forest modeling and prioritization

• Create and customize information pages

• Custom cartography

Summary

• Tracking green infrastructure gives a more complete picture of sustainability in your community

• Customization options support adapting the software to meet the needs of your group

• Encourage your volunteers and community to explore the benefits of green infrastructure

• Build a tree map that meets your needs and that can grow with you

Questions?

Contact Us

Deborah BoyerOpenTreeMap Project [email protected]

Karissa JusticeOpenTreeMap Business [email protected]

Philip SilvaTreeKIT [email protected]

Exploring Collaborative Tree Inventory with OpenTreeMap

Tracking Your Green InfrastructureNovember 11, 2015