Case Study: Impact Analysis of Roof-Top Green Infrastructure on Urban System Sustainability in San José, CA

Indumathi Jeyachandran () and Juneseok Lee
Additional contact information
Indumathi Jeyachandran: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, San José State University, San Jose, CA 95192, USA
Juneseok Lee: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Manhattan University, Riverdale, NY 10471, USA

Sustainability, 2024, vol. 16, issue 22, 1-12

Abstract: This paper presents results from a case study focusing on analyzing impacts of Green Infrastructure (GI) on sensible and latent heat fluxes, urban microclimate and the subsequent water–energy nexus components of an urban infrastructure system. The case study, focusing on the campus of a public university in San José, CA, aimed to quantify the pre- and post-conditions for a hypothetical GI implementation, which is in support of San José State University’s (SJSU) robust sustainability initiatives, which are also aligned with Silicon Valley’s broader strategic goals. The results revealed that a reduction of 0.3 °C in the average daily peak maximum temperature on campus could be achieved by the GI implementation. Air-conditioning related energy use was projected to decrease by 1.28%, monthly water use by 7052 m 3 , and it would result in an estimated reduction of approximately 2800 kWh in the water–energy nexus. In addition to lowering the campus’s carbon footprint, GI therefore offers significant economic and environmental benefits in terms of reductions in the urban air temperature, energy usage and water demand. This study provides valuable information for policy makers and low impact development water infrastructure managers considering GI implementation.

Keywords: Green Infrastructure (GI); latent heat; sensible heat; urban microclimate model; water–energy nexus (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/22/9781/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/22/9781/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:22:p:9781-:d:1517418

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().