Greening the Gray: Integrating Traditional Gray Infrastructure for Better Green Infrastructure Designs

For years the topic of “green versus gray infrastructure” has been a continuous discussion and debate throughout the stormwater industry. The resolution to this stormwater management dispute is not green or gray, but rather green with gray. Understanding the role of gray infrastructure in the function and design of green infrastructure (GI) will be presented using design and project examples from Kansas City, Omaha, New York, and Philadelphia. Each city is implementing GI differently, but all have encountered the necessity and benefits of a green and gray infrastructure alliance throughout the GI design process.