Cities around the world are coping with climate change: more rain and higher temperatures. To battle climate stress, RESILIO develops 10.000m2 of smart blue-green roofs in Amsterdam. Excess rainwater is stored underneath the green layer of plants. RESILIO for the first time realizes a smart network of roofs on a larger scale. This network contributes to urban water management. They would like to scale-up the smart blue-green roof system.
Amsterdam brings roofs to life
Space in the city is scarce. That is why Amsterdam is going to use the unused space of the rooftops in an inventive way. 10,000 m2 of smart blue-green roofs will be realized in the coming years. Excess rainwater is stored underneath the green layer of plants on the roof. The water can be retained or discharged with a smart valve connected to the weather forecast. This helps us to keep our feet dry and our heads cool. The roofs provide space for new biodiversity , and that is good for the city.
RESILIO at the AIWW Focus Event
5 neighbourhoods, social housing & private homeowners
The roofs will be realized in five Amsterdam neighbourhoods. These neighbourhoods have been selected because they have a high risk of flooding and damage during heavy rainfall. Moreover, the roofs of housing corporations that participate in these neighbourhoods are in need of replacement. Most roofs are realized on social housing of housing corporations De Key, Stadgenoot and the Alliantie. The tenants are informed about the plans and are involved in the project. Also homeowners can have a smart blue-green roof installed. Until February 2021, a subsidy from the municipality is available for this. Not only the residents of the buildings benefit from the advantages of blue-green roofs: the entire city and its inhabitants benefit, including the many wild plants, insects and birds.
Smart Network
The functioning and effectiveness of some blue-green roofs have already been investigated and scientifically proven with the Smartroof 2.0 project in Amsterdam. With RESILIO, the roofs are realized on a larger scale for the first time and connected in a smart network. By doing so, we have created a system that can create a Sponge City that can be (precisely) squeezed when necessary. The smart network (decision support system) we have developed can optimize the balance between storage capacity (when extreme rainfall is predicted) and water storage to maximize cooling and greening of the buildings.
RESILIO wants to share the knowledge and findings on the implementation of their urban water management strategy and wants to learn from other European cities. In this way they hope that blue-green roofs will also be applied abroad to prevent flooding and heat stress as a result of climate change.
Amsterdam Agreement on Smart Blue-Green roofs, AIWW 2019
- Do you recognize the value of the smart sponge city?
- Are you coping with the private-public boundary in the bigger challenges of climate adaptation?
- Do you have good examples of implemented policies on water management in the private domain?
Interested to collaborate, please send an email to a.holstein@amsterdam.nl and j.langewen@amsterdam.nl. They are happy to further explain and discuss possibilities. The collaboration will be shaped along the AIWW community and its Amsterdam Agreements. This project is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund through the Urban Innovative Actions Initiative.
