New housing developments and city infrastructures have led to a predominance of impervious areas in the urban environment and rainwater can no longer percolate naturally in the soil, leading to changes in the ground-water balance. Green roofs, green streets, and vegetated walls are increasingly addressed and studied as elements that help cities to adapt and mitigate the effects of climate change, achieve environmental benefits, enrich architecture and life quality. At the same time the principle of green corridors, till nowadays an element of the suburban territory, is reaching the urban environment because of its benefits in improving the microclimate and the urban quality of life. Although many urban green technologies require availability of land space which is usually not available in densely built downtown urban areas (Berndtsson, 2010; Gambi et al., 2011), in every city, however, there is an abundance of roof area. Moreover turning the roofs green through covering them with soil and vegetation is widely believed to contribute to achieving numerous hydrological benefits: studies show that, compared to traditional hard roofs, green roofs decrease runoff peak discharge, delay peak runoff and reduce runoff volume. Furthermore, green roofs and vegetated walls are beneficial for buildings, reducing noise levels, energy consumption and providing a better indoor comfort for their inhabitants (Berghage et. al., 2010; Carter and Rasmussen, 2006; VanWoert et. al., 2005). Green roofs are therefore being more and more installed by constructors and designers, but often it is just an aesthetical matter, and their scientific performance is still not known in detail. In fact their performance is site specific, and taking other project as references is fine, but especially in different climatic areas it could lead to mistakes. This is why monitoring pilot projects is very important for an effective design and correct building codes for green roofs in a specific climatic area.
Alessandra Bonoli, Andrea Conte, Marco Maglionico, Irena Stojkov (2013). GREEN ROOFS FOR SUSTAINABLE WATER MANAGEMENT IN URBAN AREAS. ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING AND MANAGEMENT JOURNAL, 12(S11), 153-156.
GREEN ROOFS FOR SUSTAINABLE WATER MANAGEMENT IN URBAN AREAS
BONOLI, ALESSANDRA;CONTE, ANDREA;MAGLIONICO, MARCO;STOJKOV, IRENA
2013
Abstract
New housing developments and city infrastructures have led to a predominance of impervious areas in the urban environment and rainwater can no longer percolate naturally in the soil, leading to changes in the ground-water balance. Green roofs, green streets, and vegetated walls are increasingly addressed and studied as elements that help cities to adapt and mitigate the effects of climate change, achieve environmental benefits, enrich architecture and life quality. At the same time the principle of green corridors, till nowadays an element of the suburban territory, is reaching the urban environment because of its benefits in improving the microclimate and the urban quality of life. Although many urban green technologies require availability of land space which is usually not available in densely built downtown urban areas (Berndtsson, 2010; Gambi et al., 2011), in every city, however, there is an abundance of roof area. Moreover turning the roofs green through covering them with soil and vegetation is widely believed to contribute to achieving numerous hydrological benefits: studies show that, compared to traditional hard roofs, green roofs decrease runoff peak discharge, delay peak runoff and reduce runoff volume. Furthermore, green roofs and vegetated walls are beneficial for buildings, reducing noise levels, energy consumption and providing a better indoor comfort for their inhabitants (Berghage et. al., 2010; Carter and Rasmussen, 2006; VanWoert et. al., 2005). Green roofs are therefore being more and more installed by constructors and designers, but often it is just an aesthetical matter, and their scientific performance is still not known in detail. In fact their performance is site specific, and taking other project as references is fine, but especially in different climatic areas it could lead to mistakes. This is why monitoring pilot projects is very important for an effective design and correct building codes for green roofs in a specific climatic area.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
