LILa construction - BMC roof

Today I had a chance for a visual inspection of the roof of the BMC (biomagnetic center) building. This building is now unused and is plan to act as the main location for the performance testing of different types of green roofs and green walls. I had two little problems though.

As you can see, the roof is covered with stones, which makes it a perfect nesting ground for these Eurasian oystercatchers. They were rather loud in announcing their disagreement with my visit. I count myself lucky not to have been assaulted.

The roof features aside from the stones include an airconditioning unit, ventilation pipes, a roof window located above the hallway crossing inside, and a weather/camera station for the LILa project. We will have to work around these features when constructing the (blue) green roofs and access pathway.

World Biodiversity Day

It's world biodiversity day and the UT has many relating events the coming weeks. Check them out here: BioBlitz 2024: what species can you find on campus? Explore the campus & help spot plants and animals

Gotta catch them all! Help find more species we didn't know exist at our green UT campus during the events listed. You can find more news on international events here, as it is a UN initiated day, and translation to Dutch here.

 

 

 

Examples of Green Infrastructure - Vienna

Here are some examples of green infrastructure from Vienna, Austria. While I got the chance to see only a small part of the city, it has left me with a mixed impression. On the one hand, there are several large parks, and the Danube river and a canal cross the city, allowing for blue-green infrastructure as well. 

 

 

 

On the other hand, the inner city is densely built and doesn't allow for large green infrastructure. In some cases, it is even mobile. I realize that during my short visit I have only gotten an impression of this large city, but especially the newly developed area north of the river really drove home the point that green infrastructure should be a part of urban planning with the same priority as other services. There is nearly no space for nature, while there are thousands of apartments and therefore people with the need to visit and experience nature, preferably within 300 m of their homes. 

What are wadis? Example of Green Infrastructure

Wadis are a Dutch term used for temporary water retention areas as a form of green infrastructure. You can see a famous example from Enschede in the video below. This is part of the main ring road surrounding Enschede's center. You can see the retention area is quite deep, but the number of plant species is quite monotonous. During heavy rainfall it can fill up, but it is also connected underground to prevent overflowing.

Ideally, wadis are made by disconnecting the streets and roofs of buildings from the sewage system in order to collect the water in natural areas. This helps prevent the sewer from overflowing, prevents clean water from entering the sewer, and helps restore the ground water level. You can see this disconnected system where water flows from roofs, down the center of the street, and into a nearby pond in the video below.