Carbon Footprint of Built Features and Planting Works during Construction, Maintenance and Renewal Stages at Urban Parks in Petaling Jaya, Selangor

Abstract

Carbon emissions in Malaysia are escalating due to rapid urbanisation wherein their sources are claimed to be generated by the construction industry, including urban park development. Upon completion of the urban park project, the vegetation will supposedly function immediately as a carbon sequester. However, the processes of building, maintaining, and renewing built features and plantings can emit additional carbon dioxide (CO2) than the storage. Rigorous CO2 release across the maintenance and renewal stages may be contributed by park management activities, such as planting grooming, built feature rectification, and park maintenance works. This study investigated carbon footprint derived from built features and planting works during the construction, maintenance, and renewal stages of park management. Taman Bandaran Kelana Jaya and Taman Aman Petaling Jaya were chosen as the study sites as they were located at urban areas. Continued use of the parks resulted in a swift deterioration of its facilities, whereby this scenario would ensure recurrent maintenance and renewal works were conducted for them. As-built drawings were utilised to identify the lists of inventories and work breakdown structure for every built feature and planting work to approximate the indirect CO2 emissions, which was aided by EToolLCD software. This study revealed that the amount of CO2 sequestered by the manicured vegetation was only 28.7% out of the total CO2 emission produced since its construction stage. Hence, urban parks can be perceived as a carbon source instead of a carbon sink medium.

How Can Urban Regeneration Reduce Carbon Emissions? A Bibliometric Review

“…As for Malaysia, a tropical country rich in forest resources, many studies emphasize the preservation of the carbon storage capacity of forests, reduction in carbon-intensive manual maintenance, and expansion of urban forests as critical means to mitigate carbon emissions [92].…”

Characteristics and Reduction of Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Emissions during the Construction of Urban Parks in South Korea

“…For instance, according to Hisham et al, the reason for this is the excessive use and transportation of construction machinery [15]. Jamirsah et al substantiated the above study and concluded that urban parks are carbon sources rather than carbon sink mediums [7]. They analyzed the carbon footprint of urban parks that have been in operation for 18-24 years and reported that about 27.5-40.0% of carbon dioxide was emitted in the construction stage and 10.5-20% in the maintenance stage, whereas only about 29% of carbon dioxide was stored in the urban park.…”

“…Parks and green spaces built by the landscape architecture sector use plant materials, so researchers focus on sequestering or storing carbon dioxide that is beneficial to humans rather than carbon dioxide emissions. This leads to the recognition of the provision of urban parks and green spaces as a solution to reduce carbon emissions and air purification [7,8]. In fact, the Korean government is calling for the creation of green areas in living areas, such as urban forests and gardens, as part of the "Korea 2050 Carbon Neutrality Strategy for the Realization of a Sustainable Green Society" [9].…”