Company to Begin Construction on Rooftop Garden in
2008
Kansas City, Mo. (June 12, 2008) – Black & Veatch, a leading global
engineering,consulting and construction company, announced today plans to
construct a rooftop rain garden at its 8400 Ward Parkway office, which became
home to Kansas City’s first corporate rain garden two years ago.
The rooftop garden will be located on the ground level patio at the building
and extend over the roof of the parking garage. A special soil mixture will be
used to ensure the garden is not too heavy for the parking garage
structure.
“We are excited to be able to continue our commitment to Kansas City’s
10,000 Rain Garden’s initiative through the expansion of our corporate rain
gardens,” said Dan McCarthy, President and CEO of Black & Veatch’s water
business. “The garden is currently in the design stages, with construction
planned for this fall.”
The announcement of the expansion was made during the company’s Second
Annual “Learn-in Day” for the Kansas City Youth Conservation Corps (YCC) crew,
which included interactive sessions on rain gardens and water engineering.
During the event, Black & Veatch also awarded $250 scholarships to each of
eleven 16- to 18-year-olds participating in the “Learn-in Day” who complete the
YCC program this summer.
The funding for the scholarships came from a grant from the Building a
World of Difference® Foundation to the Missouri Conservation
Heritage Foundation, the non-profit arm of the Missouri Department of
Conservation, which is a co-sponsor of the program with the Full Employment
Council. The YCC program provides summer projects for inner-city and minority
youth that stress the importance of environmental conservation and
research.
The YCC members and their sponsors participated in four interactive water
engineering sessions:
- Water Supply – Where does our water come from and how do we protect
it?
- Stormwater – How can we beneficially reuse stormwater to help prevent
flooding and improve water quality, and what role do rain gardens play?
- Drinking Water – Why is tap water safer than bottled and so much less
expensive?
- Wastewater – What does it take to return water to the environment with
better quality than when we harvested it?
The day’s activities included taste tests, environmental puzzles, water
engineering activities, a tour of the rain garden and a community service
project titled “Rain Garden in a Bag.” For the project, participants made clay
seed balls with a special seed mixture for native plants in the Kansas City
area. The bags will then be distributed to non-profit organizations to enable
them to plant their own rain gardens throughout the city
Along with the $250 scholarship, each YCC member received educational
materials and an mp3 music player. McCarthy awarded the scholarships during a
scholarship ceremony at noon, to which guests from local government and civic
organizations were invited.
Black & Veatch has partnered with Hallmark Cards, Inc., on this youth
program for two years. On June 10, the YCC members visited Hallmark’s
headquarters in Kansas City to see an example of the recycling loop in action.
Hallmark composts cafeteria food waste through Missouri Organic, and the
resulting compost is used as fertilizer on Hallmark’s rain garden. The group
also toured the Missouri Organic facilities on June 10.
Rain gardens are sunken areas planted with native perennials that are
specially designed to collect stormwater runoff and return it to the ground
naturally and safely. According to recent research, properly designed rain
gardens can effectively trap and retain a high percentage of common pollutants
in urban storm runoff, which is designed to improve water quality.
About Black & Veatch
Black & Veatch is a leading global engineering, consulting and construction
company specializing in infrastructure development in energy, water,
telecommunications, management consulting, federal and environmental markets.
Founded in 1915, Black & Veatch develops tailored infrastructure solutions
that meet clients’ needs and provide sustainable benefits. Solutions are
provided from the broad line of service expertise available within Black &
Veatch, including conceptual and preliminary engineering services, engineering
design, procurement, construction, financial management, asset management,
program management, construction management, environmental, security design and
consulting, management consulting and infrastructure planning. With $3.2
billion in revenue, the employee-owned company has more than 100 offices
worldwide and has completed projects in more than 100 countries on six
continents. The company’s Web site address is www.bv.com.
Black & Veatch’s global water business provides innovative,
technology-based solutions to utilities, governments and industries worldwide.
Local project teams work with multinational water and wastewater treatment
process experts to address site-specific challenges through a broad range of
consulting, study, planning, design, design-build and construction management
services. The company’s Web site address is www.bv.com.
Media Contact:
George Minter
913-458-8001
minterga@bv.com
24-hour Media Line:
1-866-496-9149
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