The subject of this diploma thesis is an architectonic study, which deals with the new usage of the premises of VUT at Kravi Hora. Big part of Kravi Hora forms a park, which from the west is close to Namesti Miru and from the east side there are buildings of Faculty of Civil Engineering. This territory along with Spilberk, Luzanky and Wilsonuv Les form the green, environmental friendly, part of Brno. The Main advantage of this territory is that it brings lot of green parking places to the city and there are many places for spending free time, such as; swimming pool, baseball court and an observatory. The big disadvantage of this area is the bad transmittance of this area. There are no quality roads connecting Kravi hora and there is a slanting ground through this area. There are lots of objects which do not fit with the usage and they only bring here the traffic. There is a designed plan consisting of rather limiting regulations for this territory when the whole area is used for parking lots and sport activities and holiday objects. And in addition to that, the area is closed to public transport. The purpose of this study is to respect the territorial plans and the interests of the city as much as possible and at the same time use the property of VUT for a representation of the University, getting new students in and creating a place where all the generations can spend their free time. Despite of this study still respects The Territory Plan and interests of the City of Brno. In my study I design there the museum of VUT, the students club, ateliers for new graduates, study room, workroom the public and objects for presentation of VUT faculties set into the area of Kravi hora park in a way that it would fit into the natural character of this place.

Vad är ett ”Urban building”? Den första tanken som slog mig var en byggnad liknande ett komplex, med en mängd olika funktioner. Därför blev det ett självklart val för mig var byggnadens footprint skulle vara, när jag såg den "övergivna" landsplätten. Jag skulle vilja kalla den för en tom lucka kanske. Vidare tänkte jag vad detta komplex av byggnad skulle vara. För mig var det viktigt att skapa en mötesplats för människor, men med det sagt, inte ett kommersiellt centrum. Jag ville skapa möten genom en kulturell verksamhet. Byggnaden är menad som ett av Stockholm landsmärken, då tänkte jag att mötet mellan denna kulturella verksamhet, kontor, bostäder och kommers skulle resultera i en dynamisk megastruktur av något slag. Detta blev startskottet för projektet. Intentionen var att göra platsen trivsam, och spännande, och inbjudande, göra den tillgänglig, och öppna upp platsen för människor att nyttja. Därmed tänkt att bjuda in till spontan aktivitet. Taklandskap ville jag göra dels för att ta vara på den annars ganska oanvända ytan, men framförallt eftersom det blir en väldigt intim plats ”uppe i himlen”. På sätt och vis kan man säga att parken jag skapat symboliserar detsamma då den är avgränsad från biltrafiken och öppen för natur, och mänsklig närvaro. Eftersom platsen ligger så fint nära vattnet och hamnen ville jag gärna använda mig utav det. Därför blev det ett naturligt val för mig att placera de ”familjära” bostäderna på den axeln. Mellan bostäderna har jag infört en allé kantad av växtlighet, så som lättare träd/buskar. Allén är menad att användas av både boende men även av allmänheten som kanske vill promenera upp till takterassen, och för att kanske se en film på den öppna, självständiga utomhusbion? / What is an urban building? The first thought that struck me was a building, like a complex, with a variety of functions. Therefore, it became a natural choice for me where the building's footprint on the site would be when I saw the "abandoned" piece of land. I would call it an empty gap maybe. Furthermore, I thought what this complex of buildings could be. For me it was important to create a meeting place for people, but having said that, not a commercialized center. I wanted to create a meeting point by cultural activity. The building for me is intended as one of Stockholm's landmarks. I thought that the meeting between the cultural activities, offices, housing and commerce would result in a dynamic megastructure of any kind. This was the starting point of the project.   The intention was to make the place enjoyable, exciting, inviting, and accessible. I wanted to open up the site for people to use. This supposed to be inviting for spontaneous activity. I wanted to create a roofscape to take advantage of the otherwise unused area, but mainly because it is a very intimate place "in heaven, up I the sky". In that sense, you could say that the park I created symbolizes the same intimacy as it is separated from car traffic and open to nature, and human presence. Because the site is nicely near to the waterfront and a small harbor I just wanted to make use out of it. So it was a natural choice for me to place the larger residential housing on that particular axis. Between the homes I have introduced an avenue lined by vegetation, such as light trees / shrubs. The alley is intended for residents and also by the public who might want to walk up to the roof, and to maybe see a movie at the open, independent outdoor cinema?

Urbanization has posed great challenges for environmental sustainability, human health, and wellbeing. One of these challenges is stormwater management stemming from widespread imperviousness in urban areas. For many cities, including New York City, stormwater management issues are being exacerbated by the impacts of climate change, which is increasing the frequency and intensity of wet weather flows in multiple regions of the world. In New York City, stormwater runoff is collected with wastewater sewage in a combined sewer system (CSS) that dates back to over a century ago. At the time the system was put in place, it was designed to transport a combination of storm and wastewater to local treatment plants with a capacity of about twice the dry-weather flow. With the expansion of urbanization and population growth, this outdated system is now easily overwhelmed during wet weather flow. In some areas of the City, rainfall of less than a few millimeters can cause untreated combined storm and waste water in excess of the system’s capacity (Schlanger, 2014), to be discharged directly into a nearby surface water. The combination of storm and wastewater is referred to as combined sewerage, and overflow events are referred to as combined sewer overflows (CSOs). CSOs are a leading source of local water body pollution in NYC, as well as countless other older cities in the US and abroad that operate with combined sewer systems. To solve the CSO problem, many cities, including NYC, have adopted green infrastructure (GI) plans that aim to capture stormwater locally before it can make its way into a CSS. In New York City, right-of-way bioswales (ROWBs) are composed of about 60% of the GI that has been implemented to date (The New York City Department of Environmental Protection, 2020) for stormwater management and CSO reduction. However, despite the popularity of ROWBs as a GI intervention, few research studies have focused on quantifying their hydrological performance. This can be attributed, in part, to the greater complexity of ROWB behavior in comparison to other GI interventions, such as green roofs, which have attracted wider research interest. In addition, because ROWBs are located in the public right-of-way, monitoring and measurement of the behavior of these systems also poses additional challenges. The first study in this dissertation presents three new field methods for quantifying the stormwater retention capacity of individual ROWBs. By applying the field methods at a ROWB site located in the Bronx, NYC, the influence of rainfall characteristics and the monitored soil moisture content of the ROWB on the ROWB’s hydrological performance was explored. A definition of a so-called ‘rain peaky event’ (RPE) was introduced to divide an individual storm into several sub-events. A RPE event-based empirical model for predicting the stormwater retention behavior of the ROWB was then developed based on the monitored soil moisture content of the ROWB and the rain depth recorded every 15 minutes during a storm event. This study found that the predicted stormwater retention volume per rain depth per unit drainage area of the studied ROWB, is not significantly different from that of several NYC based extensive green roofs. However, compared to the drainage area of the green roofs, which is the same as the roof’s surface area, the drainage area of the studied ROWB was about 84 times its surface area. Thus, per unit area, the ROWB was found to have significantly higher (almost two orders of magnitude) total stormwater capacity than the extensive green roofs. The second study in this dissertation assessed the applicability of the physics-based one-dimensional finite element model HYDRUS-1D, for simulating the infiltration process of a ROWB during storm events using long-term monitored soil moisture content as an input. The simulation results from the HYDRUS-1D was validated by field measurement results taken at the ROWB site located in the Bronx, NYC, and compared with the RPE event-based empirical model presented in the first study. The HYDRUS-1D model was found capable of predicting the ROWB’s cumulative stormwater retention at intervals of one minute, as well as the total retention volume of stormwater inflows into the ROWB per rain peaky event, except for events with an average stormwater inflow intensity high than 20 cm/hr. The study revealed that HYDRUS-1D has a tendency to under-predict the retention capacity of the studied ROWB for a storm with an inflow intensity high than 20 cm/hr, thus providing a lower bound on ROWB stormwater retention. The current published version of the HYDRUS-1D was also found to be erroneous when simulating the ROWB stormwater infiltration process in cases where the ROWB’s soil moisture content was close to saturation. The third study investigated the effectiveness of increased perviousness on CSO reduction and water quality improvement in NYC, toward an aim of understanding how GI implementation can improve city-wide stormwater management issues. By using the enterococci (ENT) concentration as an indicator of water quality and the runoff coefficient to represent land perviousness over an area, a random forest classification model was developed for predicting whether a water body is swimmable or not at 50 shore sites along the main waterways of NYC. The model revealed the significant contribution of land perviousness, and hence GI interventions and green space, to CSO pollution reduction for CSO-shed areas located adjacent to slower-moving waterways. For CSO-shed areas located adjacent to faster moving waterways, the influence of land perviousness was found to be negligible. The random forest classification model developed in this third study can be used as a tool for city planners and agencies as part of plans for GI implementation that focus on the optimization of local water quality, among other objectives. Overall, the research presented in this dissertation aimed to provide a deeper insight into the factors governing the hydrological performance of the most prevalent GI in NYC – namely right-of-way bioswales. In addition, the research aimed to provide insight into linkages between land perviousness and CSO pollution levels in NYC local waterways, which can be used to inform the implementation and overall performance of the entire NYC GI system.

This research is an exploratory study on green roof adoption by medium to large private housing organizations in Malmö, Sweden. The research aims to explore the drivers and the barriers for the green roofs adoption. Also to look for what leadership effect on overcoming the barriers and promoting the drivers for green roof adoption. The theoretical contribution is the assessment of the motivations on transformational and adaptive leadership. The thesis employs a qualitative method with non-structured and semi-structured interviews. It develops an analytical framework combining systems thinking and leadership theories to look on the practice of green roof adoption. The thesis identifies the main drivers and barriers in relation to the internal and external positions of actors and rules in the system of green roof adoption in Malmö among private housing organizations. The main findings are that transformational leadership effect motives on overcoming the barriers and adaptive leadership motivation effect on promoting the drivers. It also summarizes three categories of green roof adoption, namely the transformations, adapters and green skinners. The study also has practical contribution with recommendation of policy implication to Malmö. Furthermore, models and figures for future researches on green roof adoption among housing organizations.

Recent studies suggest that integration of photovoltaic panels with green roofs may improve the performance of both. While vegetation may provide a benefit by reducing the net radiation load on the underside of the photovoltaic (PV) panels, it may also affect convective cooling of panels, and consequently, panel efficiency. Both effects likely diminish with the height of the PV panel above the roof, although placing PV panels too close to the vegetation increases the risk of the plants growing over the edges of, and shading the PV panel. There is a gap in the literature with respect to evaluating these competing effects. The present study aims to fill this gap. Experiments were conducted over a two-month period during summer using two identical PV panels within an array of rooftop-mounted panels. These experiments were performed at two heights (18 cm and 24 cm) using three roofing types: white, black and green (vegetated). Results showed that the mean power output of the system in which the PV panel was mounted above a green roof was 1.2% and 0.8% higher than that of the PV-black roof and the PV-white roof at the 18 cm height. At the 24 cm height, the benefit of the green roof was slightly diminished with power output for the PV panel above a green roof being 1.0% and 0.7% higher than the black and white roof experiments, respectively. These power output results were consistent with measured variations in mean panel surface temperatures; the green roof systems were generally cooler by 1.5˚C to 3˚C. The panel surface mean heat transfer coefficients for the PV-green roof were generally 10 to 23% higher than for the white and black roof configurations, suggesting a mixing benefit associated with the roughness of the plant canopy. As expected, the results indicate that the best PV panel performance is obtained by locating the PV panel above a green roof. However, the relative benefits of the roof energy balance diminish with distance between the PV panel and the roof. Moreover, the results of this study showed that the mean power output of the PV panel above the white roof was 0.7% and 0.44% higher than that of the PV panel above the black roof at 18 cm and 24 cm heights, respectively. The results of the power output differences in all the experiments were statistically significant at the 95% confidence interval (P < 0.01).

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yes / This paper offers a brief overview of innovative methods for road and rail traffic noise reduction between source and receiver. These include using new barrier designs, planting of trees, treatments of ground and road surfaces and greening of building façades and roofs using natural materials, like vegetation, soil and other substrates in combination with recycled materials and artificial elements. The abatements are assessed in terms of numerically predicted sound level reductions, perceptual effects and cost–benefit analysis. Useful reductions of noise from urban roads and tramways are predicted for 1-m-high urban noise barriers and these are increased by adding inter-lane barriers. A 3 m wide 0.3 m high lattice ground treatment, a carefully planted 15-m-wide tree belt and replacing 50 m of paved areas by grassland are predicted to give similar reductions. Tree belts are shown to be very cost-effective and combining tall barriers with a row of trees reduces the negative impact of wind. Green roofs may significantly reduce the noise at the quiet side of buildings.

Detta kandidatexamensarbete utforskar de ekonomiska fördelarna med installation av gröna tak i Järfälla kommun, med fokus på hur dessa kan bidra till en hållbar stadsutveckling. Studiens syfte är att utveckla en kvantitativ modell för att beräkna de ekonomiska besparingar som kan uppnås genom ett antal nyttor av gröna tak. Först analyseras de gröna taken och sedan vilka nyttor som är relevanta efter Järfällas förutsättningar. Slutligen begränsades modellen till tre nyttor, nämligen reducerad dagvattenhantering, förbättrad luftkvalitet, och koldioxidbindning. Dagvattenhantering blev ett fokusämne i rapporten. För att kvantifiera detta användes klimatologiska faktorer i vattenbalansekvationen för att uppskattade de gröna takens effekt på avrinning i Järfälla kommun, således minskar dagvattenavgifterna. De klimatologiska faktorerna består av temperatur, luftfuktighet, vindhastighet och solstrålning. Under arbetets gång visade det sig att den geografiska avgränsningen av modellen var en stor utmaning, men även en resurs. Efter framtagandet av modellen utfördes en fallstudie där modellen testades för ett grönt tak på Bas Barkarby.  Resultaten från analyserna visar att gröna tak erbjuder signifikanta fördelar genom att minska kostnader för infrastruktur samt genom att förbättra miljömässiga och sociala förhållanden i stadslandskapet. Slutsatserna pekar på att ytterligare stöd från kommunala beslutsfattare kan optimera utnyttjandet av takytor och främja en bredare acceptans och implementering av gröna taklösningar. / This bachelor's thesis explores the economic benefits of installing green roofs in Järfälla Municipality, focusing on how these can contribute to sustainable urban development. The purpose of the study is to develop a quantitative model to calculate the economic savings achievable through some benefits of green roofs in Järfälla. Firsty green roofs were analyzed to understand their benefits and which of them are relevant in Järfälla municipality, namely: Reduced stormwater runoff, reduced damage costs during 100-year rainfall, improved air quality and carbon sequestration. Stormwater management was chosen as a subject to further investigate. During the latter, climatological factors were used in a water balance model to estimate runoff reduction green roofs provided in Järfälla Municipality thus calculating the benefit they provide by decreasing stormwater fees. Climatological factors included daily temperature, humidity, wind current speed and solar radiation. During the course of the study the limitation of the model was shown to be both a challenge and an advantage. The finished model was then tested on a green roof on Bas Barkarby. The results from the analyses show that green roofs offer significant advantages by providing benefits to real estate owners and communities by enhancing environmental and social conditions in urban landscapes. The conclusions suggest that additional support from municipal policymakers can optimize the utilization of roof spaces and promote a wider acceptance and implementation of green roof solutions.

Les toitures végétalisées (TTV) existent en deux types : extensive (EGR) et intensive (IGR). Ils diffèrent principalement par le type de végétation et la profondeur du substrat. Ces travaux de recherche visent à atteindre les objectifs suivants : 1. Déterminer et comparer les impacts environnementaux d’un toit de gravier ballasté traditionnel (TGBR), d’une toiture réfléchissante (WRR), EGR, et IGR ; 2. Quantifier la performance énergétique d’un TGBR et d’une EGR ; 3. Évaluer le potentiel de gestion d’eau et la dynamique de ruissellement d’un TGBR et d’une EGR. Le 1er objectif a été atteint suite à une Analyse comparative de Cycle de Vie (ACV) d’une EGR réelle de 834 m2 et de trois toits fictifs : TGBR, WRR, et IGR. Les résultats indiquent qu’une EGR présente les impacts environnementaux les plus bas pour les 15 catégories d'impacts considérées. Les aspects thermiques et hydriques des TTV ont été testés suite à l’installation d'une maquette TGBR et de deux maquettes EGR sur le toit du département de génie chimique à l'Université de Balamand, Liban. EGR8 et EGR16 sont des maquettes EGR qui diffèrent par la pente ainsi que la profondeur et la composition du substrat. Les profils de température indiquent la réduction des fluctuations de température, l'effet de stockage de chaleur, et l'effet de refroidissement passif. L'étude économique montre que EGR pourrait économiser jusqu'à 45USD/200m2/mois par rapport à TGBR. D’autre part, les profils de la teneur en eau ont démontré que la composition du sol d’EGR8 est plus efficace que celle d’EGR16. En revanche, EGR agit comme un système filtrant surtout pour le cadmium, le fer, le calcium et l'ammonium. / Vegetative roofs (VRs) can be classified into two types : Extensive (EGR) and Intensive (IGR). The main differences between the two are the type of vegetation, the depth of the substrate. This research aims to achieve the following objectives : 1. Determine and compare the potential environmental impacts of traditional gravel ballasted roofs (TGBRs), white reflective roofs (WRRs), EGRs, and IGRs ; 2. Evaluate and compare the energy performance and the heating/cooling demand of TGBRs and EGRs ; 3. Determine and compare the water management potential and the runoff dynamics of TGBRs and EGRs. The first objective was covered by performing a comparative Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) on a real EGR of 834m2 and on three fictitious roofs of the sane area : of TGBRs, WRRs, and IGRs. Results indicated that the EGR had the least potential environmental impacts for the 15 impact categories considered. The second and third objectives were achieved by first installing one TGBR mockup and two EGR mockups on the rooftop of the Chemical Engineering Department at the University of Balamand, Lebanon. EGR8 and EGR16 are EGR mockups differed in the roof slope, the depth and the composition of their substrate. Temperature profiles at different substrate depths clearly indicated the reduction of the temperature fluctuations under the substrate layer, the heat storage effect, and the passive cooling effect. The economic study showed that EGR could save up to 45USD/200m2/month compared to TGBR. The water management performance of EGRs illustrated that the soil composition of EGR8 was more efficient than that of EGR16. In contrast, EGR acted as a sink especially for cadmium, iron, calcium, and ammonium.

Cities present many opportunities to improve socio-ecological sustainability through efficiencies of scale and access to resources and services. These benefits are often compromised by rapidly increasing urban populations demanding energy, water, resources and food that are sourced, produced and transported from rural areas in unsustainable ways. A systems level approach to understanding the complex challenges cities face is required to strategically plan for the future. Rooftop agriculture is one measure that can help address many sustainability problems cities are currently faced with. Our research aims to identify the role rooftop agriculture can play in moving society towards sustainability, the challenges it currently faces that may prevent it from being widely implemented, and how to overcome these challenges. To structure our research, we used the Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development (FSSD), a scientifically rigorous and peer reviewed model designed to manage the complexity of planning and decision-making towards sustainability. The culmination of this paper was the creation of a Sustainable Rooftop Agriculture Guide, a practical resource that can help city stakeholders determine how to best use rooftop agriculture in their movement towards sustainability.