Sustainability Initiatives, Johnson County Community College

Overland Park, Kansas

JBC Landscape Architects supported Johnson County Community College (JCCC) in advancing its campus-wide sustainability master plan, an ambitious initiative focused on restorative ecological design and integrated green infrastructure. The plan seeks to reduce the environmental impact of urban development through strategies such as green roofs, enhanced water quality measures, stormwater mitigation and management, bioswales, rain gardens, erosion control, bioremediation, phytoremediation, and the reduction of impervious surfaces. By linking these strategies into a cohesive system, the campus aims to create high-performing landscapes that manage resources efficiently while enhancing the student experience.

As part of project, JBC helped identify and design a flagship green infrastructure demonstration project in the campus’s southeast quadrant. This area, dominated by large expanses of impervious parking lot, generated significant volumes of polluted, high-velocity stormwater runoff. JBC’s schematic plan addressed this challenge with a network of interconnected bioswales and rain gardens designed to capture, store, filter, and gradually release stormwater into a newly constructed wetland located south of the parking areas.

This demonstration project is expected to mitigate runoff from approximately 25% of the quadrant’s impervious parking and driving surfaces, making a measurable impact on the 234-acre campus’s overall stormwater performance. In addition to improving ecological function, the project serves as a visible, educational example of sustainable landscape practices in action, reinforcing JCCC’s leadership in campus sustainability.