With its focus on LEED and
sustainable design, DesignColumbus has always promoted responsible building
practices and sensitivity to the natural environment. Now we’re taking our
commitment one step further and donating 20 percent of our excess receipts to Friends of the Lower
Olentangy Watershed (FLOW).
Attendees of DesignColumbus are
familiar with the many ways we encourage professionals involved in the building
industry to “grow’ our cities and neighborhoods in ways that are integrated
with the environment. By linking the show’s success to efforts that improve
central Ohio’s watershed, restore greenspace, and protect wildlife, we are
getting into the “flow” of how the built environment and nature can coexist.
About FLOW
FLOW was formed in August 1997
with a mission of keeping the Olentangy River and its tributaries clean and
safe for all to enjoy, through public education, volunteer activities, and
coordination with local decision-makers. The non-profit celebrates its 25th
anniversary this year, with recent milestones including hosting an AmeriCorps
volunteer group and building a bridge over Slyh Run at Cranbrook Elementary
School. Each year, FLOW offers tree planting events, invasive removals, trash
pickups, educational opportunities, and social functions.
DesignColumbus Proceeds Support
Sustainable Greenspace
The co-hosts of DesignColumbus,
the Columbus Chapter of the Construction Specifications
Institute (CSI) and the Central
Ohio Region of the U.S. Green Building Council, were aligned in their
desire to collaborate with FLOW. The new partnership follows a past precedent
in which USGBC member companies provided design services for projects while
FLOW provided trees for planting—and both organizations contributed their
environmental expertise.
With the new partnership comes the
launch of a new project: work on the grounds of the Northwest Church of the
Nazarene. The church is situated in a riparian corridor and the project ties
into FLOW’s stream restoration on Kempton Run. Work will include removing
invasive plants and replacing them with native trees and shrubs, but the church
also plans to construct an amphitheater on an existing floodplain. The earth-moving
that is required to build an amphitheater poses erosion risks, so the team would
benefit from the involvement of design professionals and environmental experts.
USGBC and CSI members are perfectly positioned to offer the required design
services as well as financial support in the form of our donation of 20 percent
of our excess receipts—for which we have you, our DesignColumbus Education Day
and Trade Show attendees, to thank!
So, let us say “thank you,” and we
hope you have a chance to get out this summer and enjoy the Olentangy
River and all the trails, facilities and other points of interest it has to
offer. And, of course, we hope to see you at DesignColumbus 2022!
Join
us for DesignColumbus 2022:
Monday,
August 22, 2022, 7:00 am
Mitchell
Hall
Columbus
State Community College
250 Cleveland Ave, Columbus, OH, 43215