Building
Phytotechnologies
Building an Urban Ecosystem within the
Concrete Jungle
Christine Prins and Covey Potter
Why build green?
Using biological properties to address
concerns in urban ecosystems
–
Indoor air quality
–
Thermoregulation
–
Roof runoff
–
Parking lot pollutants/climate
–
Grey water
We are confronted with these pollutants most
every day. How can we use our knowledge of
the natural environment to combat these?
•
Used
by urban planners to organize amount of
greenspace
necessary for increased human health and
well
-
being
•
Attempting to
quantify benefits of
plants in an urban
area
–
Recreation
–
Aesthetics
–
Emotional well
-
being
•
Based on Leaf area
index
•
Allows for development in conjunction with
greenspace
•
Open for interpretation on how to implement
Green Plot Ratio
How do we integrate nature
into our building?
(Ong 2003)
Indoor Air
•
Pollutants several times greater
indoors than out (Orwell
et al.
2004)
•
Plants and microorganisms in
Rhizosphere and Phyllosphere
are critical for pollutant removal
(Wolverton and Wolverton 1993)
•
Humans indoors almost
90% of the time “Sick
building syndrome” (De
Kempener
et al.
2004)
Indoor Air
•
Plant “Biofilters” used to clean
volatile organic compounds
(VOC’s) from air.
-
Toluene removed by Azalea
enriched with bacteria
Psuedomonas putida;
-
Formaldehyde removed by
Chrysathemum.
-
Xylene removed by Date Palm
-
Ammonia removed by Lady
Palm.
(De Kempener
et al.
2004
Orwell
et al.
2004
,
Wolverton and Wolverton
1993
)
CO
2
Scrubbers
•
Development of industrial bioscrubbers to decrease
green
-
house gasses from fossil
-
fueled power plants
(Jeong
et al.
2003)
•
Hot spring Algae (pH 7
-
11) to treat CO
2
(Hsueh
et al.
2006)
Green Roofing
•
Increased runoff in urban environment due to
impervious surfaces (Kohler
et al.
2002)
•
Gravel = 51% runoff while Vegetated = 18%
runoff
•
10% cover in green roof yielded 3% decrease in
runoff
•
A 2% slope with 4 inch media decreased runoff
to 13%
(Mentens
et al.
2006, VanWoert
et al.
2005)
Green Roofing
•
Affects local microclimate
-
Increased infiltration
-
Increased evaporation
-
Decreased temperature
-
Decreased flooding
-
Dust filtration (and air pollutants)
-
Improved thermal comfort indoors
-
Increased urban wildlife habitat
-
Provides urban ecosystem services
(Kohler
et al.
2002, Mentens
et al.
2006, Pangopoulos 2008, VanWoert
et al.
2006)
Green Roofing
From Mentes
et al.
2006
Green Roofing
From VanWoert
et al.
2005
Urban Forestry
•
Trees provide shade, increased
insulation, decreased insolation,
increased infiltration, and intake
of pollutants in the urban
landscape
-
Decreased summer air
conditioning = $15.25/tree, but
Increased winter heating =
$5.25/tree (Simpson and
McPherson 1998)
-
Increased canopy cover by 40%
yields 2% reduction in vehicle
emissions (Scott
et al.
1998)
The 411 on Graywater (or Greywater)
Municipal wastewater
•
Sinks, washers, bathtub
•
50
-
80% of municipal water use
Not toilet water (that’s black water)
Typical contaminants:
•
Low levels of organics and nutrients
•
Solids (food particles, hairs and fibers)
•
Heavy metals (Mn, Fe, Cd, Al, Pb, etc)
•
Xenobiotic Organic Compounds (shampoos, detergents,
perfumes, coffee, tea, diary products, cleaners, etc)
•
Pharmaceuticals
Micro
-
organisms
•
Bacteria
•
Protozoans
•
Helminths
(Eriksson
et al
. 2002, Garland
et al.
2004)
REUSE!
Filtered and treated greywater can be reused within
the municipal, domestic, and industrial systems in
the following ways:
•
Restricted and unrestricted irrigation
•
Garden/lawn watering
•
Toilet flushing
•
Non
-
potable household use
Reusing greywater can lead to a 25
-
50% reduction in
total domestic water consumption
(Li
et al.
2009, Jokerst
et al. 2009,
Ghisi and Ferreira 2007)
Methods for Remediation
•
Hydroponics
–
Horizontal
–
Vertical
•
Constructed Wetlands
–
Free Water Flow
–
Horizontal Subsurface Flow
–
Vertical Flow
•
Greenhouse Use
•
In tandem with Physical Filtration
Methods
•
Horizontal
–
Indoor or outdoor
•
Vertical (Living Walls)
–
Pre
-
filtered
–
Indoor aesthetics
–
Downward flow through semi
-
potted plants
•
Benefits:
–
easily added amendments for improved filtration
–
Recycles otherwise wasted nutrients
–
Breaks down organic compounds
Hydroponic Systems
(Benefits, Environmental, Greywater Treatment
2009
, Garland
et al.
2004
, Garland
et al
.
2000
)
Even Useful in
Advertising…..!
Constructed Wetlands
Outdoor
use of marsh/wetland species to filter
extra nutrients, contaminants, and surfactants
associated with
greywater
•
Place inside impermeable layer to prevent
leaching
•
Sand or gravel filter layer
•
Estimated 0.8 m
2
of wetland/person
(Ghisi and Ferreira 2007, Jokerst
et al.
2009, Vymazal 2009)
Horizontal Sub
-
Surface Flow Model
(Vymazal 2009)
Free Water Surface and Subsurface Model
Vertical Flow Model
(Gross
et al.
2007)
(Jokerst
et al.
2009)
At the end of the
Constructed Wetland
treatment, there is a
significant reduction in
contaminants such as excess
nitrogen, phosphorus, etc.
(Philippi
et al.
1999)
Greenhouse Use
Greywater runoff can be
used to irrigate/water
greenhouse plants
In tandem with physical
treatment options:
•
Septic tanks
•
Sedimentation
•
Sand/gravel filtration layers
•
Disinfectants (Usually Chlorine, but can be biological:
Essential Oils!)
(Winward
et al.
2008, Garland
et al.
2004, Philippi
et al.
1999)
Phragmites
australis
Typha
lattifolia
Scirpus
acutus
Lactuca
sativa
(Jokerst
et al.
2009
, Gross
et al.
2007
,
Winward
et al
.
2008
,Garland
et al.
2004
)
Plants to Use!
Or your favorite
oranmental
….
Triticum
aestivum
Gain Ground
-
Turn your concrete jungle into an
Urban Ecosystem
References
Benefits, Environmental,
Greywater
Treatment
.
EcoWalls
. 2009. www.greenecowalls.com
De Kempeneer, L., B. Sercu, W. Vanbrabant,
H. Van
Langenhove
, W.
Verstraete
. 2004.
Bioaugmentation
of the
phyllosphere
for the removal of toluene
from indoor air.
Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology. 64: 284
–
288
Eriksson
, E, K
Auffarth
, M
Henze
, A
Ledin
. 2002. Characteristics of grey wastewater. Urban Water 4 (2002) 85
–
104
Garland, JL, LH Levine, MC
Yorio
, ME
Hummerick
. 2004. Response of
greywater
recycling system based on hydroponic plant growth to three classes of
surfactents
. Water Research 38: 1952
-
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Ghisi
, E, DF Ferreira 2007. Potential for potable water savings by using rainwater and
greywater
in a multi
-
story residential building in southern Brazil.
Building and
Env
. 42: 2512
–
2522.
Gross, A, O
Shmueli
, Z Ronen, E
Raveh
. 2007. Recycled vertical flow constructed wetland: a novel method of recycling
greywater
for irrigation in small
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-
923
.
Hsueh
, H.T., H. Chu, and S.T. Yu. 2006. A Batch Study on the Bio
-
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Wet Scrubber by
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-
886
Jeong
, M.L., J.M. Gillis, and J.Y. Hwang. 2003. Carbon Dioxide Mitigation by
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, AW, LA
Roesner
, SE
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. 2009. An evaluation of
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Grimme
, M.
Laar
,
V.Lucia
de
Assuncao
Paiva
, and S. Tavares. 2002. Green Roofs in temperate climates and in the hot
-
humid tropics
–
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391
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, F, K
Wichmann
, R
Otterpohl
. 2009. Review of the technological approaches for
greywater
treatment and reuses.
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of the Total
Env
. 407: 3439
-
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, J., D.
Raes
, and M.
Hermy
. 2006. Green Roofs as a Tool for Solving the Rainwater Runoff Problem in the Urbanized 21
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Urban Planning. 77: 217
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226
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, E., J.
Lundholm
, B. Bass, R.R. Coffman, H.
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, N.
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, S.
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, M. Kohler, K.K.Y. Liu, and B. Rowe. 2007. Green Roofs as Urban
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Ong
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Tarran
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, L.S. 1999. Domestic effluent treatment through integrated system of septic tank and root zone. Water Sci. Technol. 40(3):12
5
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, N.D., D.B. Rowe, J.A. Anderson, C.L.
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. R.T. Fernandez, and L. Xiao. 2005. Green Roof
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