Economic Impact of Green Infrastructure Maintenance

The Center for Economic Development (the Center) at the Levin College of Urban Affairs at Cleveland State University prepared this report for LAND studio. The objective of this report is to present an economic impact of the green infrastructure maintenance of the future green infrastructure investments that the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District (NEORSD) will undertake. LAND studio will use this study as a component to a broader study of best practices in green infrastructure maintenance, the needs of the sector, and to develop a foundation for the creation of a green infrastructure maintenance education and workforce training program. The report contains two sections: the first section includes the creation of the green infrastructure maintenance estimates, and the second details the economic impact of the green infrastructure maintenance estimates. The Center’s estimates of the green infrastructure maintenance are of a five year period (2020-2024) for the Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). In the next section, the Center estimates the economic impact of this industry using the IMPLAN software. Traditional storm water management, also known as grey infrastructure, uses a network of sewers and pipes to collect and treat sewage and storm water so that it may be returned as clean water. Green infrastructure, on the other hand, is an environmentally friendly waste water cleaning technique that uses vegetation and soil to manage rainwater. Green infrastructure, also known as Best Management Practices (BMP) and Low Impact Development (LID), can take many forms. The green infrastructure that this report examines is that of bioretention ponds, defined as vegetated areas that are planted with native plants to collect and treat water runoff. It is not only the implementation and construction of green infrastructure that is important to consider, but it is also key to examine the maintenance and upkeep of these areas. It has been suggested that green infrastructure maintenance can create jobs in many cities since the maintenance of green infrastructure requires more manual labor and less heavy equipment than traditional storm water facilities

Distributed and Collaborative Test Scheduling to Determine a Green Build

In the parlance of software testing and verification, a green build is a software build that passes tests on all reference devices. A green build is typically determined by a centralized test-scheduler. The centralized test-scheduler has a database of parameters, e.g., build-artifacts, build-branches, etc., corresponding to each device. The centralized scheduler uses the database to efficiently schedule tests. Centralized scheduling is computationally intensive, and maintenance of the database is a significant burden. Per the techniques of this disclosure, devices in a pool collaboratively pick a new build to test. The first device to start within a given scheduling interval picks a build, and the remaining devices pick the same build. The devices independently test the selected build. The first device to finish testing, either due to pass or fail, picks another build. The remaining devices follow the newly picked build. The process continues until the devices converge upon a green build. The distributed manner of test scheduling, as described herein, enables efficient determination of the green build

A BIM-LCA approach for estimating the greenhouse gas emissions of large-scale public buildings : a case study

Exiting green building assessment standards sometimes cannot work well for large-scale public buildings due to insufficient attention to the operation and maintenance stage. This paper combines the theory of life cycle assessment (LCA) and building information modeling (BIM) technology, thereby proposing a green building assessment method by calculating the greenhouse gas emissions (GGE) of buildings from cradle to grave. Life cycle GGE (LCGGE) can be divided into three parts, including the materialization stage, the operation and maintenance stage, and the demolition stage. Two pieces of BIM software (Revit and Designbuilder) are applied in this study. A museum in Guangdong, China, with a hot summer and warm winter is selected for a case study. The results show that BIM can provide a rich source of needed engineering information for LCA. In addition, the operation and maintenance stage plays the most important role in the GGE reduction of a building throughout the whole life cycle. This research contributes to the knowledge body concerning green buildings and sustainable construction. It helps to achieve the reduction of GGE over the whole life cycle of a building. This is pertinent to contractors, homebuyers, and governments who are constantly seeking ways to achieve a low-carbon econom

The Energy-Saving Potential of a Green Roof on Existing Residential Buildings. A Case Study of Jubail Industrial City, Saudi Arabia.

Residential buildings are the major sector in the construction industry that consume energy and affect the whole environment. Controlling these effects has always been the foremost concern, especially the existing ones. This paper addresses a case study of existing residential buildings at Jubail Industrial City in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, where the units are reproduced all over the districts.With proper design and maintenance, green roofs can provide cost-effective and sustainable solutions for existing residential buildings. The best set of strategies through the Climate Consultant software have been studied where the strategy of adding the green roof comes as a priority for the selected city. Green roofs, also known as vegetated roofs or rooftop gardens, offer a wide range of benefits for existing residential buildings. These benefits include improved insulation, reduction of stormwater runoff, increased biodiversity, and improved air quality. In addition, green roofs can also provide aesthetic and recreational benefits for residents. Green roofs can reduce a building’s energy consumption, lower urban heat island effects, and extend the roof\u27s life.By using the green roofs suitable type for the existing buildings and simulating the two scenarios for the existing and the proposed cases using the Design Builder software, while using Climate Consultant software recommends strategies, results revealed that the green roof option could reduce the total energy consumption by at least 8.8 %. Besides benefiting the building\u27s users, this approach will provide an economical solution to protect the environment in terms of reducing power consumption and environmental pollution

The Energy-Saving Potential of a Green Roof on Existing Residential Buildings. A Case Study of Jubail Industrial City, Saudi Arabia.

Residential buildings are the major sector in the construction industry that consume energy and affect the whole environment. Controlling these effects has always been the foremost concern, especially the existing ones. This paper addresses a case study of existing residential buildings at Jubail Industrial City in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, where the units are reproduced all over the districts.With proper design and maintenance, green roofs can provide cost-effective and sustainable solutions for existing residential buildings. The best set of strategies through the Climate Consultant software have been studied where the strategy of adding the green roof comes as a priority for the selected city. Green roofs, also known as vegetated roofs or rooftop gardens, offer a wide range of benefits for existing residential buildings. These benefits include improved insulation, reduction of stormwater runoff, increased biodiversity, and improved air quality. In addition, green roofs can also provide aesthetic and recreational benefits for residents. Green roofs can reduce a building’s energy consumption, lower urban heat island effects, and extend the roof\u27s life.By using the green roofs suitable type for the existing buildings and simulating the two scenarios for the existing and the proposed cases using the Design Builder software, while using Climate Consultant software recommends strategies, results revealed that the green roof option could reduce the total energy consumption by at least 8.8 %. Besides benefiting the building\u27s users, this approach will provide an economical solution to protect the environment in terms of reducing power consumption and environmental pollution

An expert system for calculating the costs of open spaces over their entire lifecycle

In architecture, the costs that will be generated by a building or facility and its expected life expectancy are already clear at the planning and installation stage. But what is the situation with open spaces? Here maintenance is considered only cursorily, and renewal and lifecycle not at all. Research has shown that the literature also has little to offer. Considering these facts, the Center for Green Area Management at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW) in Wädenswil has developed a software program to calculate lifecycle costs in collaboration with nateco, green management and the German Database Association GmbH (d.b.g.) as business partners, and with financial support from the Commission for Technology and Innovation (CTI)

An expert system for calculating the costs of open spaces over their entire lifecycle

In architecture, the costs that will be generated by a building or facility and its expected life expectancy are already clear at the planning and installation stage. But what is the situation with open spaces? Here maintenance is considered only cursorily, and renewal and lifecycle not at all. Research has shown that the literature also has little to offer. Considering these facts, the Center for Green Area Management at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW) in Wädenswil has developed a software program to calculate lifecycle costs in collaboration with nateco, green management and the German Database Association GmbH (d.b.g.) as business partners, and with financial support from the Commission for Technology and Innovation (CTI)

The Stores Model of Code Cognition

Program comprehension is perhaps one of the oldest topics within the psychology of programming. It addresses a central issue: how programmers work with and manipulate source code to construct effective software systems. Models can play an important role in understanding the challenges developers and engineers contend with. This paper presents a model of program comprehension, or code cognition, which has been derived from literature found within the disciplines of computing and psychology. Drawing on direct experimentation, this paper argues that a model of code cognition should take account of the visual, spatial and linguistic abilities of developers. The strengths and weaknesses of this model are discussed and further research directions presented

Energyware engineering: techniques and tools for green software development

Tese de Doutoramento em Informática (MAP-i)Energy consumption is nowadays one of the most important concerns worldwide. While hardware is generally seen as the main culprit for a computer’s energy usage, software too has a tremendous impact on the energy spent, as it can cancel the efficiency introduced by the hardware. Green Computing is not a newfield of study, but the focus has been, until recently, on hardware. While there has been advancements in Green Software techniques, there is still not enough support for software developers so they can make their code more energy-aware, with various studies arguing there is both a lack of knowledge and lack of tools for energy-aware development. This thesis intends to tackle these two problems and aims at further pushing forward research on Green Software. This software energy consumption issue is faced as a software engineering question. By using systematic, disciplined, and quantifiable approaches to the development, operation, and maintenance of software we defined several techniques, methodologies, and tools within this document. These focus on providing software developers more knowledge and tools to help with energy-aware software development, or Energyware Engineering. Insights are provided on the energy influence of several stages performed during a software’s development process. We look at the energy efficiency of various popular programming languages, understanding which are the most appropriate if a developer’s concern is energy consumption. A detailed study on the energy profiles of different Java data structures is also presented, alongwith a technique and tool, further providing more knowledge on what energy efficient alternatives a developer has to choose from. To help developers with the lack of tools, we defined and implemented a technique to detect energy inefficient fragments within the source code of a software system. This technique and tool has been shown to help developers improve the energy efficiency of their programs, and even outperforming a runtime profiler. Finally, answers are provided to common questions and misconceptions within this field of research, such as the relationship between time and energy, and howone can improve their software’s energy consumption. This thesis provides a great effort to help support both research and education on this topic, helps continue to grow green software out of its infancy, and contributes to solving the lack of knowledge and tools which exist for Energyware Engineering.Hoje em dia o consumo energético é uma das maiores preocupações a nível global. Apesar do hardware ser, de umaforma geral, o principal culpado para o consumo de energia num computador, o software tem também um impacto significativo na energia consumida, pois pode anular, em parte, a eficiência introduzida pelo hardware. Embora Green Computing não seja uma área de investigação nova, o foco tem sido, até recentemente, na componente de hardware. Embora as técnicas de Green Software tenham vindo a evoluir, não há ainda suporte suficiente para que os programadores possam produzir código com consciencialização energética. De facto existemvários estudos que defendem que existe tanto uma falta de conhecimento como uma escassez de ferramentas para o desenvolvimento energeticamente consciente. Esta tese pretende abordar estes dois problemas e tem como foco promover avanços em green software. O tópico do consumo de energia é abordado duma perspectiva de engenharia de software. Através do uso de abordagens sistemáticas, disciplinadas e quantificáveis no processo de desenvolvimento, operação e manutencão de software, foi possível a definição de novas metodologias e ferramentas, apresentadas neste documento. Estas ferramentas e metodologias têm como foco dotar de conhecimento e ferramentas os programadores de software, de modo a suportar um desenvolvimento energeticamente consciente, ou Energyware Engineering. Deste trabalho resulta a compreensão sobre a influência energética a ser usada durante as diferentes fases do processo de desenvolvimento de software. Observamos as linguagens de programação mais populares sobre um ponto de vista de eficiência energética, percebendo quais as mais apropriadas caso o programador tenha uma preocupação com o consumo energético. Apresentamos também um estudo detalhado sobre perfis energéticos de diferentes estruturas de dados em Java, acompanhado por técnicas e ferramentas, fornecendo conhecimento relativo a quais as alternativas energeticamente eficientes que os programadores dispõem. Por forma a ajudar os programadores, definimos e implementamos uma técnica para detetar fragmentos energicamente ineficientes dentro do código fonte de um sistema de software. Esta técnica e ferramenta têm demonstrado ajudar programadores a melhorarem a eficiência energética dos seus programas e em algum casos superando um runtime profiler. Por fim, são dadas respostas a questões e conceções erradamente formuladas dentro desta área de investigação, tais como o relacionamento entre tempo e energia e como é possível melhorar o consumo de energia do software. Foi empregue nesta tese um esforço árduo de suporte tanto na investigação como na educação relativo a este tópico, ajudando à maturação e crescimento de green computing, contribuindo para a resolução da lacuna de conhecimento e ferramentas para suporte a Energyware Engineering.This work is partially funded by FCT – Foundation for Science and Technology, the Portuguese Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education, through national funds, and co-financed by the European Social Fund (ESF) through the Operacional Programme for Human Capital (POCH), with scholarship reference SFRH/BD/112733/2015. Additionally, funding was also provided the ERDF – European Regional Development Fund – through the Operational Programmes for Competitiveness and Internationalisation COMPETE and COMPETE 2020, and by the Portuguese Government through FCT project Green Software Lab (ref. POCI-01-0145-FEDER-016718), by the project GreenSSCM - Green Software for Space Missions Control, a project financed by the Innovation Agency, SA, Northern Regional Operational Programme, Financial Incentive Grant Agreement under the Incentive Research and Development System, Project No. 38973, and by the Luso-American Foundation in collaboration with the National Science Foundation with grant FLAD/NSF ref. 300/2015 and ref. 275/2016