Portico Community Church Parking Lot Retrofit
The Portico Community Church is located in the Streetsville neighbourhood of the City of Mississauga, adjacent to the Credit River. In 2009, Portico expanded their Mississauga campus by adding more than 200 paved parking spaces to serve their growing and diversifying congregation. To maximize their positive community and environmental impact, the church worked with Credit Valley Conservation to incorporate LID measures on site. The goal of the project was to reduce erosion and pollutants flowing into the river by slowing, filtering, and absorbing rainwater running off their parking lot.
These goals were achieved through introducing permeable pavement, a bioretention cell and a bioswale that worked together as a system. The excess rainfall not captured by the permeable pavement was absorbed by the bioswale and bioretention cell/rain garden that filters water into the earth.
CVC’s monitoring was focused on the bioretention area. In the subsequent 2 years after implementation, monitoring found that any ponding of water that occurred on the surface was absorbed by the bioswale/retention features within 24 hours.
Some of the lessons learned were that rigorous testing of bioretention soils were necessary to ensure they performed properly, and soil replacements could be avoided. To reduce labour costs and foster a sense of stewardship over the site, CVC and Portico brought in volunteers from the local community to assist with planting and maintenance. It is also advised to use some mature plants to ensure the site looks full and healthy and to increase survival chances.
To learn more about the CVC Portico Church Case Study, check out the links below:
Credit Valley Conservation monitoring factsheet: https://cvc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Portico-Monitoring-Factsheet.pdf
Credit Valley Conservation general factsheet: https://cvc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Factsheet_Portico_Final.pdf
Credit Valley Conservation case study: http://www.creditvalleyca.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Portico-Case-Study-Final-May-5.pdf
Partners in Project Green’s Building a Climate Resilient Business Resource Kit provides a foundation in the basics of current climate science, the impacts of climate change on businesses, and mitigation and adaptation strategies. Please explore these resources and connect with us to advance your organization’s climate resiliency.
Resource Kit Contents
Primers
- Climate Change is a Business Risk
- An Overview of Global Climate Change
- How do Scientists Project Climate Futures?
- Changes in Temperature in the Toronto Region over the 21st Century
- Changes in Precipitation in Toronto Region over the 21st Century
- Growing Season and Agriculture
- ESG Reporting Structures
Impacts
- Human Health
- Buildings and Infrastructure
- Agriculture and Food Security
- Supply Chain Impacts
- Financial and Regulatory Impacts
Mitigation
- Energy Efficiency and Conservation
- Fuel Switching
- Heat Recovery
- Carbon Capture, Utilization and Sequestration/Storage
- Low Carbon Transportation
- Behaviour Change
Adaptation
- Risk Identification
- Risk Analysis
- Risk Evaluation and Prioritization
- Implementation of Risk Interventions
- Monitoring and Review
Case Studies
- Algood Caster Innovations – Fuel Switching for the Environment and Employee Well-Being
- Toronto Pearson – “A Small City” – Scale Stormwater Management and Energy Storage
- Handi Foods – Expanding and Diversifying Supply Chain, Storage and Packaging
- Enviro-Stewards – Affordable Smart Blue Roof at Head Office
- Calstone Inc. – Stormwater Source Control Practices
- Metrolinx – Mainstreaming Climate Risk Assessment
- IMAX & Credit Valley Conservation – Stormwater Management Innovation