Contributions of Water-Related Building Installations to Urban Strategies for Mitigation and Adaptation to Face Climate Change

Abstract

In addition to the possible contributions of buildings to mitigating CO 2 emissions, increased attention is being paid to the potential impacts of climate change on urban environments. According to the United Nations, about 54% of the planet's population currently lives in cities, but this percentage is expected to rise to 66% in 2050, which reveals the scale of this issue. This paper develops a reflection on the possible contributions of water-related building installations to mitigate emissions and increase urban area adaptation to the effects of climate change. One of the most promising solutions to facing climate change, which is analysed in detail in this paper, is combining rainwater harvesting systems with green roofs. However, in view of developing the necessary engineering projects, there are insufficient existing studies to estimate the parameters to be used in each location given their climate characteristics, particularly the monthly runoff coefficients, which constitute the key parameter for designing these installations in some regions. Some recent standards present generic theoretical values for designing these combined installations, but they are far from reality in some regions, such as the Mediterranean basin. Therefore, based on the data available in Portugal, this paper reports some of the results obtained from research on the values of the monthly runoff coefficients.

Influence of Green Roofs on the Design of a Public Stormwater Drainage System: A Case Study

“…The drained area will be measured in the drawing using AutoCAD ® software. The runoff coefficients adopted for each surface are shown in Table 1 and were defined according to [39][40][41]. It should be noted that in impermeable roofs, where the water loss by absorption is reduced and where the water retained or evaporated is not significant, the runoff coefficient has a value close to 1.0.…”

“…It should be noted that in impermeable roofs, where the water loss by absorption is reduced and where the water retained or evaporated is not significant, the runoff coefficient has a value close to 1.0. In the case of GR, average annual values between 0.4 and 0.6 for extensive GR are generally adopted in central Europe and the United Kingdom [41].…”

The Feasibility of Rainwater Harvesting Systems in Buildings with Green Roofs: A Case Study Based on the Köppen Climate Classification

“…The construction of GR combined with rainwater harvesting systems (RWHSs) in construction brings together the individual advantages of each of these technologies, especially with regard to rainwater retention and dampening flood peaks in urban areas [19][20][21][22][23][24][25]; therefore, their combination should be considered as a very promising solution for tackling climate change and increasing the sustainability of cities [26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36]. However, the viability of this joint solution significantly depends on local climatic conditions; thus, it is of interest to pre-analyze the regions of the planet where the combination of GR with RHWS may or may not be viable [37][38][39][40][41][42].…”

Rainwater Harvesting for Irrigation of Tennis Courts: A Case Study

“…According to the United Nations, about 54% of the population on the planet currently lives in cities, but this percentage is expected to increase to 66% by 2050. Therefore, the impact of climate change on cities will be very significant in the future and will drive measures to improve adaptation and greater resilience to more extreme weather conditions [1,18]. More frequent and intense winter rains could lead to exceptional flooding that would substantially impact urban areas [19][20][21][22][23][24][25].…”

“…of climate change on cities will be very significant in the future and will drive measures to improve adaptation and greater resilience to more extreme weather conditions [1,18].…”