The role of green infrastructure at the city scale Arturo Casal-Campos

Summary Water, energy and sustainability Multifunctional green infrastructure Project overview Answers?

Water, energy and sustainability Extra treatment required. Reduce CSOs. Rehabilitation of watercourses. Amenity benefit to community. Ecosystem services. Uncertain cost of solutions.

The carbon footprint of GI: A call for integration Multifunctional green infrastructure Building insulation Carbon sequestration Amenity in cities Enhanced water courses Storm water management Various budgets

Project overview Aim: Assess the role of city scale GI in the fulfillment of key environmental (water quality and carbon footprint) and socio-economic objectives (whole life cost). Objectives: Identify and select adequate methods and tools for the planning and assessment of GI. Select suitable case study areas representative of drainage conditions and systemic problems within the NWL region. Propose a variety of generic GI interventions that serve typical urban development forms of the case study areas. Optimise the selection and placement of SuDS for a number of performance objectives: receiving water quality, energy use/carbon footprint of the system, and whole life costs. Elaborate recommendations for the planning and implementation of SuDS at the city scale (e.g. potential barriers).

Project overview GI planning Other assessment tools: CO2, CAPEX, OPEX Impact of planned interventions Optimizer Objectives

Project overview Review stage: GI planning, performance criteria & assessment, IUWWS and GI models. Tools and identify data requirements. Uncertainties of model results. LITERATURE REVIEW.  ‘Benchmark’ stage: Construct SIMBA 6 model for ‘benchmark’ case study. Prepare and test all the necessary tools for the assessment and simulation of GI. TEST APPROACH TO PROBLEM AND SET STRUCTURE. Case study stage: Selection of adequate case study and collection of data, ready to construct a SIMBA 6 integrated case study and set up all the necessary tools. Collection of results. PROJECT’S CORE. Reflective work stage: Assess and compare results and identify potential barriers to the implementation of GI schemes. Reflect on the relative merits and demerits of different interventions. ANALYTICAL STAGE.

Answers? What level of investment is required to simultaneously improve the condition of urban watercourses and reduce the carbon footprint of the system? How do GI solutions compare with conventional solutions? Are there any significant trade-offs between objectives? What type of GI solutions are more effective in delivering specific objectives in the large scale? And for specific urban development forms? What barriers could potentially constrain the implementation of specific GI solutions? Are there any additional benefits to be realised in the control-side of the system?