Ecological and economic impacts of green roofs and permeable pavements at the city level: the case of Corvallis, Oregon

2017 ◽  
Vol 61 (3) ◽  
pp. 430-450 ◽  
Author(s):  
Long Zhou ◽  
Guoqiang Shen ◽  
Thomas Woodfin ◽  
Tian Chen ◽  
Kun Song
Author(s):  
Grazia Sveva Ascione ◽  
Federico Cuomo ◽  
Nicole Mariotti ◽  
Laura Corazza

AbstractIn the attempt to foster circular economy (CE), cities are increasingly adopting urban living labs (ULLs) as sites of co-production aimed at testing alternative solutions based on the reuse of products, reduction of consumption and recycling of materials. Taking this perspective, our study adopts an exploratory research design to discover the pragmatic implications emerging from a case study. The City of Turin joined proGIreg, a European project that entails the regeneration of former industrial districts by means of nature-based solutions (NBS). Ranging from aquaponics to green roofs, seven NBS have been experimented in Turin, which rely on the use of natural systems to tackle social, economic and environmental challenges efficiently and sustainably. Among them, the most promising is related to the production and test of the ‘new soil’, a blend obtained by mixing earth materials coming from construction sites with compost, zeolites and mycorrhizae. The case herein presented is interesting to analyse for the multi-stakeholder management setting used, where public institutions, private companies, research institutions, citizens and associations collaborated in the co-creation and testing phase of the NBS. Consequently, the data collected through participant observation and direct interviews allow researchers to describe multi-stakeholders’ dynamics and how they work. Thus, this paper narrates a micro-contextual experience while providing a critique. Results include an analysis of the unique combination of different stakeholders, which strongly impacted on the management and the effectiveness of the entire project. By consequence, the paper offers both theoretical contributions to the relational branch of stakeholder theory and practical evidence in demonstrating the importance of the relational branch of the theory over a more traditional transactional view.


2018 ◽  
Vol 33 ◽  
pp. 01004 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alla Kopeva ◽  
Olga Ivanova ◽  
Olga Khrapko

The purpose of this study is to identify the facilities of green infrastructure that are able to improve living conditions in an urban environment in high-rise residential apartments buildings on steep slopes in the city of Vladivostok. Based on the analysis of theoretical sources and practices that can be observed in the world, green infrastructure facilities have been identified. These facilities meet the criteria of the sustainable development concept, and can be used in the city of Vladivostok. They include green roofs, green walls, and greening of disturbed slopes. All the existing high-rise apartments buildings situated on steep slopes in the city of Vladivostok, have been studied. It is concluded that green infrastructure is necessary to be used in new projects connected with designing and constructing of residential apartments buildings on steep slopes, as well as when upgrading the projects that have already been implemented. That will help to regulate the ecological characteristics of the sites. The results of the research can become a basis for increasing the sustainability of the habitat, and will facilitate the adoption of decisions in the field of urban design and planning.


Atmosphere ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 123 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guglielmina Mutani ◽  
Valeria Todeschi

There is growing attention to the use of greenery in urban areas, in various forms and functions, as an instrument to reduce the impact of human activities on the urban environment. The aim of this study has been to investigate the use of green roofs as a strategy to reduce the urban heat island effect and to improve the thermal comfort of indoor and outdoor environments. The effects of the built-up environment, the presence of vegetation and green roofs, and the urban morphology of the city of Turin (Italy) have been assessed considering the land surface temperature distribution. This analysis has considered all the information recorded by the local weather stations and satellite images, and compares it with the geometrical and typological characteristics of the city in order to find correlations that confirm that greenery and vegetation improve the livability of an urban context. The results demonstrate that the land-surface temperature, and therefore the air temperature, tend to decrease as the green areas increase. This trend depends on the type of urban context. Based on the results of a green-roofs investigation of Turin, the existing and potential green roofs are respectively almost 300 (257,380 m2) and 15,450 (6,787,929 m2). Based on potential assessment, a strategy of priority was established according to the characteristics of building, to the presence of empty spaces, and to the identification of critical areas, in which the thermal comfort conditions are poor with low vegetation. This approach can be useful to help stakeholders, urban planners, and policy makers to effectively mitigate the urban heat island (UHI), improve the livability of the city, reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and gain thermal comfort conditions, and to identify policies and incentives to promote green roofs.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (21) ◽  
pp. 5898 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mendoza ◽  
Schwarze

Disaster damages and losses have been increasing in recent decades, highlighting the need to learn from past events. Only a better understanding of the fundamental causes of disasters and their impacts on society can lead to effective prevention and reduction of disaster risk. In this context, disaster forensics focuses on the analysis and interaction of risk factors (i.e., hazard, exposure and vulnerability) and the identification of underlying causes, in order to tackle them through dedicated action. In this work, we explore the results of disaster forensics through a case study of subsequent floods in 2002 and 2013 in the city of Grimma, Saxony, in Germany. Risk factors are investigated to identify their contribution in increasing or reducing disaster damage, in conjunction with socio-economic impacts in the mostly affected inner city of Grimma. In particular, we analyze (i) what data is needed to conduct a disaster forensic analysis and (ii) how much the sequential application of disaster forensics contributes to a better understanding of risk and the identification of the causes of disasters impacts. The analysis shows that the sequential approach for disaster forensics is key for understanding cause–effect relationships regarding socio-economic impacts.


2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 739-746 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peng Li ◽  
Jun Liu ◽  
Rui Fu ◽  
Xin Liu ◽  
Yanyan Zhou ◽  
...  

Urbanization has strongly changed the condition of the land surface and therefore rainfall runoff varies greatly. Peak flood flow and flood volumes increase with runoff volume. Low Impact Development (LID) is a sustainable concept that minimizes the effects of urbanization to maintain natural hydrological function in urban cities and has therefore gained increasing attention. This paper studies the effects of low impact development measures on the reduction of runoff generation and peak runoff at different locations in Longyan, China. The study was conducted using the SWMM model (5.1.006) with a newly developed LID module. In this study, the LID module, which includes rain gardens, green roofs, permeable pavements, and rain barrels, was used to simulate different layout scenarios and different rainfall patterns. The results show that the performance of a certain LID is similar at different locations but the reduction effect on runoff and peak flow varies. Rain gardens and permeable pavements perform a similar degree of reduction under different durations, but the peak flow reduction by rain barrels and green roofs varies greatly. Further research should focus on composite LID applications in other locations, combination with the local pipe network layout, which will ensure that the implemented system will be aesthetically pleasing, economically viable, and effective for reducing runoff and peak flow.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xinxin Sui ◽  
Frans van de Ven

Abstract. Low impact development (LID) was promoted as an alternative to conventional urban drainage methods. The effects of LID at site or urban scales have been widely evaluated. This project aims to investigate the impact of LID implementation on basin runoff at regional scale in a half urbanized catchment; especially the overlap of urban and rural sub-flows at peak times is concerned. A SUPERFLEX conceptual model framework was adapted as a semi-distributed model to simulate the rainfall-runoff relationship in the catchment for San Antonio, Texas as a case study. Scenario analyses of both urban development and LID implementation were conducted. Results show that (1) the infill urban development strategy benefits more from runoff control than the sprawl urban development strategy; (2) in non-flood season permeable pavements, bioretention cells, and vegetated swales decrease peak runoff forcefully and permeable pavements, bioretention cells, and green roofs are good at runoff volume retention; (3) contrary to the general opinion about the peak reduction effect of LID, for partly urbanized, partly rural basins and extremely wet conditions, the implementation of LID practices delays urban peak runoff and may cause stacking of rural and urban sub-flows, leading to larger basin peaks.


2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Víctor Manuel Sánchez Trujillo ◽  

En la búsqueda de asumir métodos que brinden un mejor confort en el sistema de vivienda, éstos requieren de mejores prestaciones estructurales en las edificaciones actuales. Las prácticas constructivas en la región se han ido desprestigiando con el paso del tiempo, concibiendo edificaciones vulnerables, que dejan expuesto a quienes las habitan. El objetivo de esta investigación fue analizar de forma integral las características técnicas, constructivas y de diseño de losas de concreto armado, en su implementación como estructura de soporte para techos verdes en la ciudad de Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas, México. Para realizar el análisis se consideraron las propiedades intrínsecas del miembro de soporte (losas), el estado actual en las que estas se encuentran y su diseño bajo regímenes de durabilidad. Tras realizar la investigación se encontró que los espesores de la losa y las cuantías de acero son menores para claros promedio, según lo estipulado por las normas técnicas correspondientes. Los daños por corrosión del acero son esperados y se encuentran bajo un régimen de diseño inadecuado, aunado a la deficiencia durante el proceso constructivo. Las construcciones analizadas y desarrolladas por procesos de construcción formal o de autoconstrucción evidencian patologías similares. La falta de centros de capacitación para los propietarios y los obreros que adopten los métodos de autoconstrucción, así como el poco rigor de las autoridades en el cumplimiento de los reglamentos de construcción se han convertido en una brecha del conocimiento clave. Finalmente, es poco probable la implementación de techos verdes en estas estructuras sin antes realizar cambios significativos en toda la construcción.


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