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 CO2 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.

Keywords

• climate change
• adaptation and resilience
• water efficiency in buildings
• green roofs