scholarly journals Rainwater Harvesting in Large Residential Buildings in Australia

10.5772/35274 ◽  
2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ataur Rahman ◽  
Joseph Dbais ◽  
Sk Mazharul ◽  
Erhan Eroksuz ◽  
Khaled H
2021 ◽  
Vol 1200 (1) ◽  
pp. 012029
Author(s):  
Amirul Hakim Hasan ◽  
Sushilawati Ismail

Abstract Sustainable construction has been the main priority in the global construction industry. For that reason, Malaysia is moving towards green building approach to promote built environment sustainability. Therefore, it is essential to raise awareness about the environmental-responsible practice among construction players particularly on the implementation of green engineering-based technology. This study aims to explore the existing green engineering-based technology and to investigate the preferred green engineering-based technology to upgrade the sustainability of existing residential buildings. The study focuses on the existing technology to be incorporated in the operation of buildings. A comprehensive literature review was carried out and 384 feedback was collected from questionnaire survey distribution among respondents in Johor Bahru. Various green engineering-based technology includes solar energy, wastewater treatment, rainwater harvesting, window shading, housing landscape, natural ventilation, smart PDLC film glasses, roof thermal insulation, and smart home control panel are discussed in this paper. From this study, it was found that that the housing landscape is the most preferred with the highest mean index value followed by daylighting system and solar panel. The results indicate the preferred green engineering-based technology is because of low cost and familiarity among users. The future study should consider relating the awareness of individuals on sustainability with their preferred green technology. Perhaps, the coverage of this study should be extended by involving respondents from all over Malaysia.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (22) ◽  
pp. 12583
Author(s):  
Ahsen Maqsoom ◽  
Bilal Aslam ◽  
Sharjeel Ismail ◽  
Muhammad Jamaluddin Thaheem ◽  
Fahim Ullah ◽  
...  

Water scarcity has become a major problem for many countries, resulting in declining water supply and creating a need to find alternative solutions. One potential solution is rainwater harvesting (RwH), which allows rainwater to be stored for human needs. This study develops an RwH assessment system through building information modeling (BIM). For this purpose, a hydrological study of Cfa-type climate cities is conducted with the example of Islamabad, Pakistan. The monthly rainfall data of three sites were assessed to determine the volume of the accumulated rainwater and its potential to meet human needs. The average number of people living in a house is taken as the household number. Household number or of the number of employees working at a small enterprise, roofing material, and rooftop area are used as the key parameters for pertinent assessment in the BIM. The data simulated by BIM highlight the RwH potential using five people per house as the occupancy and a 90 m2 rooftop area for residential buildings or small enterprises as parameters. The results show that the selected sites can collect as much as 8,190 L/yr of rainwater (48 L/person/day) to 103,300 L/yr of rainwater (56 L/person/day). This much water is enough to fulfill the daily demands of up to five people. Therefore, it is established that the study area has an RwH potential that is able to meet the expected demands. This study presents a baseline approach for RwH to address water scarcity issues for residential buildings and factories of the future.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarva Mangala Praveena ◽  
Sri Themudu

Abstract Malaysia is a tropical country that gets high rainfall throughout the year that can be utilized for various activities including water conservation. Water conservation initiatives in Malaysia are mainly concentrated in commercial and residential buildings but public buildings such as schools have been underutilized. Thus, this study aims to conduct a water conservation initiative in a primary school in Malacca (Malaysia). Water audit were conducted to identify the highest water usage location and the most suitable water conservation method in a school setting. Lastly, the sustainability performance of the rainwater harvesting system was evaluated via the Sustainable Development Analytical Grid (SDAG) assessment tool. Water footprint findings demonstrated that approximately 60% of total water use was due to toilet use. The rainwater harvesting system was selected as this method enables the use of a renewable source (rainwater) and it conveniently fit with the existing building rooftop and plumbing system to engender high sustainability potential and collaboration opportunities. After several months of operation, environmental, social, and economic benefits were observed. Sustainable assessment has indicated that all the six dimensions were well balanced with scores greater than 50% and continued improvements will increase the project’s sustainability in the future. This study approach is generalizable to any school worldwide with a similar water footprint as a water restoration at both local and global contexts to achieve United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals.


Water ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 2074 ◽  
Author(s):  
Custódio ◽  
Ghisi

The objective of this study is to evaluate the potential for potable water savings by using rainwater in the residential sector of Joinville, a city located in southern Brazil. Data on roof areas of residential buildings were obtained from the Joinville city council. By considering the roof areas and typologies of residential buildings, representative models were created. The following parameters were used to determine the rainwater tank capacity: the number of dwellers; the total daily water demand per capita; and the rainwater demand. To carry out the simulations for determining the optimal rainwater tank sizes and potential for potable water savings, the computer program Netuno was used to run 33,720 different scenarios. By considering the occurrence percentage for each representative building model (weighted average), the average potential for potable water savings by using rainwater was calculated. The average potential in the central region of Joinville was 18.5% when there is rainwater use only in toilets, and 40.8% when there is rainwater use in toilets and washing machines. The rainwater harvesting system showed a better performance for a rainwater demand equal to 20% of the total daily water demand. The results indicate the necessity to properly size rainwater tank capacities to meet water demands, thereby encouraging more people to adopt rainwater harvesting as an alternative source for non-potable water in buildings. The demand for rainwater should be carefully evaluated, especially in multi-story residential buildings, due to the low availability of roof areas.


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