The proposed South Play Yard improvements address existing issues and concerns about the play yard and also incorporate new "green ideas." The surface of the south play yard is currently asphalt, with several areas covered with a rubber pad under the existing play equipment. Currently, the impervious playground surface immediately sheds any precipitation into the city sewer system, and on hot days, the dark asphalt play surface radiates heat, making an uncomfortable environment for the students and adding to Center City Philadelphia's urban heat island.

The "Greening Greenfield" project will remove the existing rubber surface and asphalt and replace it with a poured rubber surface made from recycled material. The new surface will be poured over a pervious base material, facilitating drainage and infiltration of storm water. This will allow the water runoff to percolate into the ground, both reducing the impact on the city water system and keeping the surface free from ice during the winter months. A pattern on the rubber play surface will give students a visual lesson on how water flows across the topographic contour lines of the site.

The play yard slopes away from the school building towards the school's southern property line along Sansom Street. A "rain-garden" bio-retention system will be planted with various native plant types to capture any run-off that does not percolate through the surface.

Greening Greenfield will also re-direct runoff from the school roof to a rock garden that will be located along the face of the building on the north side of the play yard to give Greenfield students a first hand demonstration of storm water management. The garden will use local rock material and native plantings.

Planters with built-in seating surrounding new, additional shade trees will be incorporated to form a physical threshold between the east play yard where the younger children gather and the west play yard where the older children play. These also will help shade the yard in the hot summer months.

In the future, a mural on environmental stewardship practices is planned for the large expanse of brick wall of the stair tower, a prominent location that overlooks the entire play yard.

Additional seating and chess tables are proposed for the rain garden's edges. Removable bollards will be installed at the Sansom Street entrance and permanent bollards at the 22nd Street entrance to protect the children from traffic.

Greenfield School will maintain its existing play equipment in the east side of the play yard, relocating one climbing structure out of the proposed rain-garden area to form a central play area for the children.

On the west side of the play yard, the Greening Greenfield project will regrade the ground plane around the perimeter to produce undulating "hills" for children to run up and down - an idea generated after watching the fun the children had running up and down snow piles on a winter day.