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

Flora Silva (), Cristina Sousa Coutinho Calheiros, António Albuquerque, Jorge Pedro Lopes and Ana Maria Antão-Geraldes ()
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Flora Silva: ESTiG, Instituto Politécnico de Bragança, Campus de Santa Apolónia, 5300-253 Bragança, 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
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

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 16, 1-12

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.

Keywords: water efficiency; rainwater harvesting; green roofs; technical and financial feasibility; industrial building (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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