A Sustainable Way to Maintain Greenery Within a City: Using Rain Water Harvesting to Irrigate Vertical Gardens in Singapore
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A SUSTAINABLE WAY TO MAINTAIN GREENERY WITHIN A CITY: USING RAIN WATER HARVESTING TO IRRIGATE VERTICAL GARDENS IN SINGAPORE By WAN PUI HOONG A THESIS PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE IN ARCHITECTURAL STUDIES UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2011 1 © 2011 Wan Pui Hoong 2 To my parents, friends and colleagues 3 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Firstly, I would like to thank my parents for their guidance, support and hard work in bringing me up to be a good citizen of the world. Secondly, I would like to thank my committee members, Professor William Tilson and Dr. Dawn Jourdan for their invaluable advice, encouragement and their tireless efforts made throughout the writing of this thesis. Additionally, I would also like to thank Mr. Michael Kung for his help in resolving technical issues during the course. Next, I would like to thank my friends, fellow classmates and colleagues for their opinions and support throughout the course. Lastly, I would like to thank the University of Florida and the entire College of Design, Construction and Planning for the uniquely international experience in studying together with people living in different time zones. 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .................................................................................................. 4 LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................ 7 LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................... 8 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ............................................................................................. 9 ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................... 10 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... 12 2 LITERATURE REVIEW .......................................................................................... 18 Policies, Legislatures and Formal Certification ....................................................... 18 Policies and Law for Water Management and Water Supply .................................. 18 Water Restrictions ............................................................................................ 18 Florida’s Water Law .......................................................................................... 19 Water Supply and Water Resource Development in Florida ............................ 20 Water Supply and Alternate Sources of Water in highly urbanized Singapore ...................................................................................................... 21 Legislature on Water Conservation and Ways to Conserve Water ......................... 22 Landscaping ..................................................................................................... 22 Built Environment ............................................................................................. 23 On Water Use and Efficiency Requirements for Formal Certification ..................... 24 Wastewater Goals, Objectives and Policies ............................................................ 26 Legislation on Environmental Sustainability for Buildings in Singapore .................. 27 Summary ................................................................................................................ 27 Case Studies .......................................................................................................... 29 Green Roofs and Brown Roofs ......................................................................... 29 Comparative environmental life cycle assessment of green roofs .................... 31 Vertical Green .................................................................................................. 31 Green wall systems, living walls and vertical gardens ...................................... 32 Florida-friendly Landscaping ............................................................................ 34 Summary ................................................................................................................ 35 3 METHODOLOGY ................................................................................................... 41 Research Approach ................................................................................................ 41 Survey in Singapore ............................................................................................... 41 Best Approaches for Creating Vertical Gardens ..................................................... 42 5 Policies, Legislatures and Formal Certification ....................................................... 44 Summary ................................................................................................................ 45 4 DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS .............................................................................. 46 Data from Surveys .................................................................................................. 46 Survey from general public in Singapore .......................................................... 46 Survey from irrigation specialists ...................................................................... 47 Data from Best Approaches for Creating Vertical Gardens ..................................... 48 Analysis .................................................................................................................. 52 Research Limitations .............................................................................................. 57 5 CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................ 58 APPENDIX A QUESTIONNAIRE FOR THE GENERAL PUBLIC IN SINGAPORE ....................... 64 B QUESTIONNAIRE FOR THE IRRIGATION SPECIALIST IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND SINGAPORE ............................................................ 66 LIST OF REFERENCES ............................................................................................... 68 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH ............................................................................................ 71 6 LIST OF TABLES Table page 4-1 Tabulation of survey results from the general public .......................................... 46 4-2 Tabulation of survey results from irrigation specialists ....................................... 47 7 LIST OF FIGURES Figure page 4-1 Column Chart of survey results from the general public ..................................... 46 4-2 Column Chart of survey results from irrigation specialists .................................. 47 5-1 View of vertical garden near a collection pond ................................................... 62 5-2 Section of vertical garden showing proposed irrigation system .......................... 63 8 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS BCA Building and Construction Authority DEP Department of Environmental Protection IFAS Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences LCA Life cycle assessment LEED Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design LID Low impact development LIUDD Low impact design and development MEWR Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources NEA National Environment Agency NParks National Parks Board Pte. Ltd. Private Limited PUB Public Utilities Board RO Reverse osmosis 9 Abstract of Thesis Presented to the Graduate School of the University of Florida in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Architectural Studies A SUSTAINABLE WAY TO MAINTAIN GREENERY WITHIN A CITY: USING RAIN WATER HARVESTING TO IRRIGATE VERTICAL GARDENS IN SINGAPORE By Wan Pui Hoong December 2011 Chair: William Tilson Major: Architecture As urbanized cities move towards a more compact growth, and land is increasingly being used for building infrastructure and housing for an increasing population, there is a need to allow nature to manifest in urban buildings. Hence, it seems logical to have intensive greening on roofs and on intermediate floors of buildings, along with vertical gardens or living walls. Such green areas can provide food source and habitats for ecosystems such as birds, bees and butterflies, increasing biodiversity, and bringing nature up from the ground. This will also bring people nearer to nature in a city. Since vertical gardens or living walls are relatively new and can be provided as freestanding structures on land, as well as wall mounted on buildings, it would be an interesting topic to find out the extent of its use, policies that may encourage its use, ways of irrigating the plants, the appropriate plant selection, visual value added and the barriers to maintaining them. Case studies on projects completed in the United States and Singapore, as well as surveys done by practitioners, and the general public in Singapore will be used to provide information on the research. This study will focus on using rain water harvesting 10 to irrigate vertical gardens as a sustainable way to maintain greenery within a city such as Singapore and in Florida since they have similar climates. 11 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Located along the equator, Singapore has a tropical climate where the temperature remains relatively constant. As for Florida, North and Central Florida has a humid subtropical climate, while South Florida has a tropical climate. Hence, it seems appropriate to