IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v15y2023i16p12430-d1218135.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Technical and Financial Feasibility Analysis of Rainwater Harvesting Using Conventional or Green Roofs in an Industrial Building

Author

Listed:
  • Flora Silva

    (ESTiG, Instituto Politécnico de Bragança, Campus de Santa Apolónia, 5300-253 Bragança, Portugal
    FibEnTech, 6201-001 Covilhã, Portugal
    GeoBioTec-UBI, 6201-001 Covilhã, Portugal)

  • Cristina Sousa Coutinho Calheiros

    (Interdisciplinary Centre of Marine and Environmental Research (CIIMAR/CIMAR), University of Porto, Novo Edifício do Terminal de Cruzeiros do Porto de Leixões, Avenida General Norton de Matos, S/N, 4450-208 Matosinhos, Portugal)

  • António Albuquerque

    (FibEnTech, 6201-001 Covilhã, Portugal
    GeoBioTec-UBI, 6201-001 Covilhã, Portugal
    Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture, University of Beira Interior, 6201-001 Covilhã, Portugal)

  • Jorge Pedro Lopes

    (ESTiG, Instituto Politécnico de Bragança, Campus de Santa Apolónia, 5300-253 Bragança, Portugal)

  • Ana Maria Antão-Geraldes

    (Centro de Investigação de Montanha (CIMO), Instituto Politécnico de Bragança, Campus de Santa Apolónia, 5300-253 Bragança, Portugal
    Laboratório Associado para a Sustentabilidade e Tecnologia em Regiões de Montanha (SusTEC), Instituto Politécnico de Bragança, Campus de Santa Apolónia, 5300-253 Bragança, Portugal)

Abstract

Given the high annual water consumption for non-potable uses (1112.08 m 3 , 65%) of an industrial building with a large roof area (4638 m 2 ) located in the Northeast of Portugal, this study aims to evaluate the technical and financial feasibility of a rainwater harvesting system for these uses, considering the existing conventional roof (scenario 1) and adapting a green roof to the existing roof (scenario 2). This evaluation was based on the impact of the two scenarios on the building’s water savings. Under scenarios 1 and 2, the expected water savings were 64.47% and 59.43%, respectively. Therefore, the expected reduction in the annual water bill was €3867.07 + VAT (scenario 1) and €3564.63 + VAT (scenario 2). For scenario 1, considering a reservoir with 70 m 3 for non-potable purposes, such as washing the building’s floor and use in industrial machines, and an initial investment of €41,109.13 + VAT, the single payback will be 11.29 years. The single payback for scenario 2 largely exceeded the lifetime of the green roof. However, as they are considered interesting solutions to reduce the negative externalities of industrial settlements, financial incentives could be proposed for the implementation of the green roof in this typology of buildings.

Suggested Citation

  • Flora Silva & Cristina Sousa Coutinho Calheiros & António Albuquerque & Jorge Pedro Lopes & Ana Maria Antão-Geraldes, 2023. "Technical and Financial Feasibility Analysis of Rainwater Harvesting Using Conventional or Green Roofs in an Industrial Building," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(16), pages 1-12, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:16:p:12430-:d:1218135
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/16/12430/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/16/12430/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Brown, Donal & Sorrell, Steve & Kivimaa, Paula, 2019. "Worth the risk? An evaluation of alternative finance mechanisms for residential retrofit," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 418-430.
    2. Santos, C. & Taveira-Pinto, F., 2013. "Analysis of different criteria to size rainwater storage tanks using detailed methods," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 1-6.
    3. Nandi, Santosh & Gonela, Vinay, 2022. "Rainwater harvesting for domestic use: A systematic review and outlook from the utility policy and management perspectives," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    4. C. J. Vörösmarty & P. B. McIntyre & M. O. Gessner & D. Dudgeon & A. Prusevich & P. Green & S. Glidden & S. E. Bunn & C. A. Sullivan & C. Reidy Liermann & P. M. Davies, 2010. "Erratum: Global threats to human water security and river biodiversity," Nature, Nature, vol. 468(7321), pages 334-334, November.
    5. Maria Luíza Santos & Cristina Matos Silva & Filipa Ferreira & José Saldanha Matos, 2023. "Hydrological Analysis of Green Roofs Performance under a Mediterranean Climate: A Case Study in Lisbon, Portugal," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-18, January.
    6. C. J. Vörösmarty & P. B. McIntyre & M. O. Gessner & D. Dudgeon & A. Prusevich & P. Green & S. Glidden & S. E. Bunn & C. A. Sullivan & C. Reidy Liermann & P. M. Davies, 2010. "Global threats to human water security and river biodiversity," Nature, Nature, vol. 467(7315), pages 555-561, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Anna Musz-Pomorska & Marcin K. Widomski & Justyna Gołębiowska, 2024. "Financial Aspects of Sustainable Rainwater Management in Small-Scale Urban Housing Communities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(2), pages 1-21, January.
    2. Carla Pimentel-Rodrigues & Armando Silva-Afonso, 2023. "The Feasibility of Rainwater Harvesting Systems in Buildings with Green Roofs: A Case Study Based on the Köppen Climate Classification," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(24), pages 1-12, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Samuel Asumadu Sarkodie & Maruf Yakubu Ahmed & Phebe Asantewaa Owusu, 2022. "Global adaptation readiness and income mitigate sectoral climate change vulnerabilities," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 9(1), pages 1-17, December.
    2. Cai, Benan & Long, Chengjun & Du, Qiaochen & Zhang, Wenchao & Hou, Yandong & Wang, Haijun & Cai, Weihua, 2023. "Analysis of a spray flash desalination system driven by low-grade waste heat with different intermittencies," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 277(C).
    3. Yang, Lin & Pang, Shujiang & Wang, Xiaoyan & Du, Yi & Huang, Jieyu & Melching, Charles S., 2021. "Optimal allocation of best management practices based on receiving water capacity constraints," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 258(C).
    4. Yiwen Chiu & Yi Yang & Cody Morse, 2022. "Quantifying carbon footprint for ecological river restoration," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 24(1), pages 952-970, January.
    5. Stella Tsani & Phoebe Koundouri & Ebun Akinsete, 2020. "Resource management and sustainable development: A review of the European water policies in accordance with the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals," DEOS Working Papers 2036, Athens University of Economics and Business.
    6. Andrew John & Avril Horne & Rory Nathan & Michael Stewardson & J. Angus Webb & Jun Wang & N. LeRoy Poff, 2021. "Climate change and freshwater ecology: Hydrological and ecological methods of comparable complexity are needed to predict risk," Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 12(2), March.
    7. Rabeya Sultana Leya & Sujit Kumar Bala & Imran Hossain Newton & Md. Arif Chowdhury & Shamim Mahabubul Haque, 2022. "Water security assessment of a peri-urban area: a study in Singair Upazila of Manikganj district of Bangladesh," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 24(12), pages 14106-14129, December.
    8. Ting Xu & Baisha Weng & Denghua Yan & Kun Wang & Xiangnan Li & Wuxia Bi & Meng Li & Xiangjun Cheng & Yinxue Liu, 2019. "Wetlands of International Importance: Status, Threats, and Future Protection," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(10), pages 1-23, May.
    9. Donna, Javier & Espin-Sanchez, Jose, 2014. "The Illiquidity of Water Markets," MPRA Paper 55078, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. Kaiser, Nina N. & Ghermandi, Andrea & Feld, Christian K. & Hershkovitz, Yaron & Palt, Martin & Stoll, Stefan, 2021. "Societal benefits of river restoration – Implications from social media analysis," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 50(C).
    11. Teng Wang & Jingjing Yan & Jinlong Ma & Fei Li & Chaoyang Liu & Ying Cai & Si Chen & Jingjing Zeng & Yu Qi, 2018. "A Fuzzy Comprehensive Assessment and Hierarchical Management System for Urban Lake Health: A Case Study on the Lakes in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-16, November.
    12. Ran He & Zhen Tang & Zengchuan Dong & Shiyun Wang, 2020. "Performance Evaluation of Regional Water Environment Integrated Governance: Case Study from Henan Province, China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(7), pages 1-13, April.
    13. Xiukang Wang, 2022. "Managing Land Carrying Capacity: Key to Achieving Sustainable Production Systems for Food Security," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-21, March.
    14. Yanting Zheng & Jing He & Wenxiang Zhang & Aifeng Lv, 2023. "Assessing Water Security and Coupling Coordination in the Lancang–Mekong River Basin for Sustainable Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(24), pages 1-20, December.
    15. Hassan Tolba Aboelnga & Lars Ribbe & Franz-Bernd Frechen & Jamal Saghir, 2019. "Urban Water Security: Definition and Assessment Framework," Resources, MDPI, vol. 8(4), pages 1-19, November.
    16. Steve Hamner & Bonnie L. Brown & Nur A. Hasan & Michael J. Franklin & John Doyle & Margaret J. Eggers & Rita R. Colwell & Timothy E. Ford, 2019. "Metagenomic Profiling of Microbial Pathogens in the Little Bighorn River, Montana," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(7), pages 1-18, March.
    17. Langhans, Kelley E. & Schmitt, Rafael J.P. & Chaplin-Kramer, Rebecca & Anderson, Christopher B. & Vargas Bolaños, Christian & Vargas Cabezas, Fermin & Dirzo, Rodolfo & Goldstein, Jesse A. & Horangic,, 2022. "Modeling multiple ecosystem services and beneficiaries of riparian reforestation in Costa Rica," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 57(C).
    18. Juliana Marcal & Blanca Antizar-Ladislao & Jan Hofman, 2021. "Addressing Water Security: An Overview," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(24), pages 1-18, December.
    19. Hossein Mikhak & Mehdi Rahimian & Saeed Gholamrezai, 2022. "Implications of changing cropping pattern to low water demand plants due to climate change: evidence from Iran," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 24(8), pages 9833-9850, August.
    20. Claudia Bita-Nicolae, 2022. "Distribution and Conservation Status of the Mountain Wetlands in the Romanian Carpathians," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(24), pages 1-10, December.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:16:p:12430-:d:1218135. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.