1. Life Cycle Assessment of Bioretention Cell Designs and Evaluation of Environmental Impact of Media Amendments for Catalysis in Urban Flood Mitigation.
- Author
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Kumar, Nawnit, Liu, Xiaoli, and Narayanasamydamodaran, Sanjena
- Subjects
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RAIN gardens , *ENVIRONMENTAL impact analysis , *PRODUCT life cycle assessment , *LIFE cycles (Biology) , *OZONE layer depletion , *BIOSWALES - Abstract
The benefits of Low Impact Development (LID) structures in mitigating urban floods and improving water quality have been widely recognized. In the previous chapter, a multicriteria decision analysis was conducted to determine suitable LID options for the study site, by integrating AHP and SWMM. It was found that bioretention cells were among the best choices based on the analyzed criteria, a conclusion supported by other studies. This thesis aimed to achieve flood mitigation and urban water governance goals through a sustainable approach, focusing on LIDs, their selection, and their placements. To further advance this sustainable approach, a comprehensive investigation was conducted on the environmental impact of LIDs throughout their entire life cycle. Given the suitability of bioretention cells for the study site and their general performance-based attributes that make them ideal choices for treating various pollutants under different spatial conditions, this paper extensively examined their environmental footprints. The life cycle of bioretention cells, comprising eight configurations with varying media amendments, was analyzed using the standard life cycle impact assessment procedure (IS 14,040). This study holds significance as the selection of media type, availability, transportation, and pollutant removal efficiencies directly impact on-site implementation, and each configuration incurs varying levels of environmental impacts that need quantification to meet sustainable and low-impact LID selection requirements. The primary data source for this study was the Ecoinvent database, supplemented by locally sourced data from practitioners. The TRACI 2.1 impact assessment method was employed in OpenLCA software. The results indicated that pumice had the highest environmental impacts, primarily stemming from ozone depletion, smog, and fossil fuel consumption categories due to transportation distance requirements. This Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) study of bioretention cells will be instrumental for practitioners in making environmentally sustainable design choices without compromising system efficiency. Additionally, government agencies can utilize these findings to devise incentives for optimized design providers as it addresses emerging trends in the field of catalysis related to environmental impact evaluation and sustainable design choices for bioretention cell systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
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