Water Efficient Design of Sustainable Green Open Spaces: A Knowledge Based Computer-Aided Design Tool

Water Efficient Design of

Sustainable Green Open Spaces

TECHNION

Israel - Institute of Technology

Daphna Drori M.Sc. Candidate

Prof. Edna Shaviv

WREF 2012

A Knowledge Based

Computer-Aided

Design Tool

The KBCAD tool for Water Efficient Gardens

(WEG) and the advantages of the tool

Implementations of the WEG tool in the Israeli

“Sustainable Building” standard (SI 5281) 3

1

2

Plan of the Talk

The water crisis and the need for a water

efficient design

What makes the neighbor grass “yellower”?

The question: How to do that?

The solution:

Water efficient landscape design

Via

integration of bioclimatic design in the garden

The problem:

In respond to the water crisis, governmental

policy of raising the water cost was taken and

caused the drying out of the gardens and the

creation of "yellow" neglected open spaces

The yellow grass of the neighbor's garden

The green grass of the case study garden

The Water Efficient Garden(WEG) Tool

A need for a KBCAD expert system for Water Efficient Gardens

Findings:

Governmental, professional

and scientific information for

water efficient gardens exists

Information is not always

accessible for users

Information doesn’t direct

the planner qualitatively or

quantitatively, from the early

design stages

A computerized format is

easy to retrieve

Water efficient

landscape

design

Water Authority

Water efficient garden

A field study

Ben Gurion University

of the Negev Water efficient plants

Ministry of Agriculture

Ministry of Agriculture

Species Factor of

the plants

The Water Efficient Garden (WEG) Tool

Christopher Alexander

Water efficient gardens

Non potable water

Landscape Design

Runoff Agro- technical

methods Irrigation

Specific adjustment to every project

Presenting the existing information in a

computerized format available for users

based on the “Pattern Language”

A semi-lattice decision-making design process

Level 1 5 major

branches

The WEG Tool interface

Links to other patterns in the tool and outside

An example of a pattern page

Semi-lattice links to the

same major branch

Semi-lattice links to other

branches

Hierarchical links for

orientation

Vertical links to “orientation

maps”

External links to governmental

sites and case studies

The tool directs the planner both

qualitatively and quantitatively,

from the early design stages,

how to achieve water efficient

gardens.

Quantitative Tool

The Integrative WEG Tool

Qualitative guidelines and a quantitative evaluation

Water Efficient Design

Modify

WEG Tool

Qualitative Tool

Integration with the Quantitative Tool

A quantitative information (in red) or a transition to the

quantitative tool for a numerical evaluation

A short definition or a transition to the qualitative tool for a

comprehensive explanation

Integration with the Qualitative Tool

Fully or partially shaded vegetation by

the surround built elements

Field implementation

63 48%

47 43%

34 42%

32 42%

69 52% 62

57% 48 58%

47 58%

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

2007200820092010

Gallo

ns p

er

year

Annual water consumption

Indoor consumption (Gallons)

Irrigation consumption (Gallons)

The Garden Case-Study

Validation procedure

Remark: The results are similar but not exactly identical because

the calculator is based on statistical data, while the actual results

are based on the very specific conditions for the years 2007-2010

Research end Development Implementation

A Performance – based

approach was developed

A prescriptive - descriptive

approach was developed

Reference gardens were

defined for each climate

zone

The prescription - descriptive approach

Table c-3 the northern zone of Israel (from Appendix c – SI 5281)

There is a need for reduction in water

consumption in the built environment

The WEG Tool is both effective and

user friendly

The WEG Tool includes qualitative as

well as quantitative tool

The WEG Tool is applicable for design

processes and R&D procedures

The reference gardens for the

performance and the prescriptive

approaches for the Israeli

“sustainable building” standard were

defined by the WEG Tool

Summary and conclusions