Thermal Performance of Wet Swales Designed as Multifunctional Green Infrastructure Systems for Water Management and Energy Saving

Abstract

Lack of city space and conventional drainage systems failures have derived in the need to implement Green Stormwater Infrastructure (GSI) techniques which provide multifunctional areas capable of managing stormwater, treating the pollutants present in the runoff, bringing back biodiversity to the urban environment, and providing amenity whilst improving livability. In this context, swales were studied as a potential multifunctional GSI for water management and energy saving. This research successfully proposed the combination of a wet swale with a Ground Source Heat Pump (GSHP) system. The materials used within the cross section of a standard wet swale provided good isolation properties within the temperature performance ranges (20–50 °C), showing great potential for a swale to be developed together with GSHP elements, opening a new research area for water management and energy saving.

Keywords

• GSHP
• stormwater BMPs
• SUDS
• WSUD