Wednesday, June 10, 2020

Climate adaptive building shell.

The climate is changing rapidly. Due to the increase in number and the severity of heavy rainfall, especially cities will be affected by the damage and nuisance from rainwater. This urges cities to adjust their current urban area development to keep the city liveable and water-safe. In order to achieve this, climate adaptive building shells must from now on form the basis of all urban development.

Rainproof area development is priority

Cities are particularly affected by the effects of short, but very heavy rainfalls. The existing sewer systems and current layouts of cities are not designed to drain large amounts of water in a short time. The surplus of rainwater then flows to lower places, where water damage and nuisance will occur, such as flooded roads and flooded homes and businesses. Area development should therefore have special focus on extreme precipitation, by prioritizing the development of rainproof areas.

Smart rainwater management must be included form the initation phase

Transformation and redesign of the urban environment is a prerequisite for coping with our future climate. For all types of area development, this means that smart rainwater management must be included from the initiation phase. Project developers and other parties must always apply climate-proof and water-robust designs as standard. In these designs, delayed drainage of rainwater must be the primary consideration. An important contribution to this new way of designing can be made by applying a Detention Roof on new buildings or renovation projects.

Water management in the city - illustration door Natasha de Sena, WUR