Integrated design workflow and a new tool for urban rainwater management

Abstract

For stormwater management, Low Impact Development (LID) practices provide more sustainable solutions than traditional piping and storm ponds. However, to be effective, LID practices must be integrated into planning at the beginning of the design process; yet architects and related design professionals making decisions early in the design process are not equipped to consider runoff calculations given their current tools. In response to this dilemma, we have developed an open source stormwater runoff evaluation and management tool: Rainwater+. It is seamlessly integrated into computer-aided design (CAD) software to receive instant estimate on the stormwater runoff volume of architecture and landscape designs. Designers can thereby develop appropriate rainwater management strategies for the project-based on local precipitation data, specific standards, site conditions and economic considerations. We employed Rainwater+ to conduct two case studies illustrating the importance of considering storm water runoff in the early design stage. The first case study showed the importance of integrating rainwater management into design modeling software for the reason that the specific site condition is critical for determining LID practice. The second case study demonstrated the need of visualizing runoff flow direction in assisting the placement of LID practices at proper locations when the terrain is of great complexity.

Coupling distributed stormwater collection and managed aquifer recharge: Field application and implications

“…LID collects runoff close to the source in small structures, generally in urban areas. While costs can be modest, individual LID projects infiltrate relatively little:~10 3 m 3 /yr (~1 ac-ft/yr) (Stephens et al, 2012;Grebel et al, 2013;Newcomer et al, 2014;Bhaskar et al, 2016;Chen et al, 2016). Regional spreading grounds infiltrate excess surface and/or recycled water from large regions, collecting and routing water with dams and other large infrastructure.…”

Pluvial Flood Risk Assessment Tool (PFRA) for Rainwater Management and Adaptation to Climate Change in Newly Urbanised Areas

“…The future of cities will be challenged by the growing number of inhabitants [1]; unsustainable suburbanisation and sprawl development [2][3][4][5]; and climate change and pluvial conditions, e.g., rainfall height and intensity, spatial and temporal distribution [6][7][8]. A common consequence of land development and infrastructure construction is soil sealing [9].…”

“…It was developed for the purpose of identifying potential local flood hazards and vulnerabilities, and determining and visualising flood risk levels in a four-staged risk map [31]. Chen et al [7] developed a planning support model named Rainwater+. Their solution combines rainwater management with computer-aided design (CAD) software, and offers a visualisation of the landscape and buildings, runoff flow paths, and directions analysis, as well as a friendly interface developed with architects and landscape designers in mind.…”

“…Planners have to understand the impacts of flooding on daily life, infrastructure, transport, and property damage, and there is thus a need for new innovative measures and solutions [1]. Chen et al [7] emphasised the lack of support tools for designers and policy-makers, which could benefit landscape management. Melo et al [24] argued that a decision support tool should be built into the existing disaster management framework for use by civil protection authorities.…”

Application of Stormwater Runoff Estimation Methods in the Case of Faculty of Agriculture Main Campus

“…Accurate modeling of surface runoff under extreme rainfall loads and urban flooding is possible with existing software. These are based on equations that can simulate the process of converting rainfall to runoff and predict runoff volumes and rates [23,24,25] and can be used to visualize runoff flow directions [26]. These methods rely on a hypothetical rain event known as a design storm for their rainfall input.…”