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

1. Water Efficient Design of
Sustainable Green Open Spaces
A Knowledge Based
Computer-Aided
Design Tool
Daphna Drori M.Sc. Candidate
Prof. Edna Shaviv
WREF 2012
TECHNION
Israel - Institute of Technology

2. Plan of the Talk
The water crisis and the need for a water
1 efficient design
The KBCAD tool for Water Efficient Gardens
2 (WEG) and the advantages of the tool
Implementations of the WEG tool in the Israeli
3 “Sustainable Building” standard (SI 5281)

3. What makes the neighbor grass “yellower”?
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 solution:
Water efficient landscape design
Via
integration of bioclimatic design in the garden
The green grass of the case study garden
The question: How to do that?

4. The Water Efficient Garden(WEG) Tool
Water efficient plants Ben Gurion University
of the Negev Findings:
Water efficient garden
A field study  Governmental, professional
and scientific information for
water efficient gardens exists
 Information is not always
Ministry of Agriculture
accessible for users
Water Authority  Information doesn’t direct
Species Factor of the planner qualitatively or
the plants quantitatively, from the early
Water efficient
design stages
landscape
design  A computerized format is
Ministry of Agriculture easy to retrieve
A need for a KBCAD expert system for Water Efficient Gardens

5. The Water Efficient Garden (WEG) Tool
 Presenting the existing information in a
computerized format available for users
based on the “Pattern Language”
 A semi-lattice decision-making design process
Christopher Alexander
Water efficient gardens
Landscape Agro- technical Non Level 1
Irrigation Runoff
Design methods potable 5 major
water branches
Specific adjustment to every project

6. The WEG Tool interface
 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
Links to other patterns in the tool and outside

7. The Integrative WEG Tool
Qualitative Tool Quantitative Tool
 The tool directs the planner both
qualitatively and quantitatively,
Modify from the early design stages,
WEG Tool how to achieve water efficient
gardens.
Water Efficient Design
Qualitative guidelines and a quantitative evaluation

8. Integration with the Quantitative Tool
A quantitative information (in red) or a transition to the
quantitative tool for a numerical evaluation

9. Integration with the Qualitative Tool
A short definition or a transition to the qualitative tool for a
comprehensive explanation
Fully or partially shaded vegetation by
the surround built elements

10. Field implementation
The Garden Case-Study
Annual water consumption
140
Gallons per year
120
69 100
62 52%
80
47 48 57%
60
58% 58%
63 40
34 47
32 48% 20
42% 43%
42% 0
2010 2009 2008 2007
Indoor consumption (Gallons)
Irrigation consumption (Gallons) 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

11. Research end Development Implementation
The prescription - descriptive approach
Table c-3 the northern zone of Israel (from Appendix c – SI 5281)
 A Performance – based
approach was developed
 A prescriptive - descriptive
approach was developed
 Reference gardens were
defined for each climate
zone

12. Summary and conclusions
 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