Assessing Rainwater Harvesting Potential in Urban Areas: A Building Information Modelling (BIM) Approach

Abstract

Water scarcity has become a major problem for many countries, resulting in declining water supply and creating a need to find alternative solutions. One potential solution is rainwater harvesting (RwH), which allows rainwater to be stored for human needs. This study develops an RwH assessment system through building information modeling (BIM). For this purpose, a hydrological study of Cfa-type climate cities is conducted with the example of Islamabad, Pakistan. The monthly rainfall data of three sites were assessed to determine the volume of the accumulated rainwater and its potential to meet human needs. The average number of people living in a house is taken as the household number. Household number or of the number of employees working at a small enterprise, roofing material, and rooftop area are used as the key parameters for pertinent assessment in the BIM. The data simulated by BIM highlight the RwH potential using five people per house as the occupancy and a 90 m2 rooftop area for residential buildings or small enterprises as parameters. The results show that the selected sites can collect as much as 8,190 L/yr of rainwater (48 L/person/day) to 103,300 L/yr of rainwater (56 L/person/day). This much water is enough to fulfill the daily demands of up to five people. Therefore, it is established that the study area has an RwH potential that is able to meet the expected demands. This study presents a baseline approach for RwH to address water scarcity issues for residential buildings and factories of the future.

Unlocking the Potential of Green Infrastructure in Residential Areas: A Comprehensive Systematic Review

“…Green roofs (Fig. 2), as vegetated Sewer System Management Plans (SSMP), address impermeable areas, especially in densely urban highrise buildings (Maqsoom et al, 2021;Berland et al, 2017; Sha que and Kim, 2017). Ground areas, occupied by complex infrastructure, allow runoff storage and natural in ltration through the soil (Sha que & Kim, 2017).…”

Evaluation of the Implementation of Sustainable Stormwater Management Practices for Landed Residential Areas: A Case Study in Malaysia

“…The questionnaire was designed as a checklist that was divided into sections including Strength (S), Weakness (W), Opportunity (O), and Threat (T), or (SWOT) categories, as variables. There are five (5) factors for each category. The SWOT factors listed were applied to every practice: grass swales, rain gardens or bioretention systems, and porous pavements, in which the respondents were required to provide their scores based on the Likert scale.…”

“…As cities developed, roads, buildings, housing developments, parking lots, and other concrete structures replaced the natural landscapes or pervious surfaces with impervious surfaces, which eventually altered the overall hydrology of the areas [3]. In addition, other than affecting commercial and industrial areas, residential areas have also suffered the same consequences of flash floods in terms of casualties and property loss [4,5]. As development grows, together with the increase in impervious surfaces, the demand for effective stormwater management systems also increases [6,7].…”

“…In residential areas, especially high-rise buildings, roof areas can be used to implement stormwater management systems to overcome water-related problems, as roof areas can account for about 50% of the total area [15]. Due to the scarcity of land areas, the green roof, a vegetated SSMP, has become one of the alternatives to change impermeable areas into permeable areas, especially for high-rise residential buildings located in highly dense urban areas [5,7,15]. The ground areas need more attention and care, as these areas are occupied by many kinds of complicated infrastructure.…”

Building Information Modelling (BIM) and the impact on landscape: A systematic review of evolvements, shortfalls and future opportunities

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