Meet Thailand's secret weapon in climate change battle

Yahoo – AFP, Dene-Hern CHEN, March 8, 2020

Architect Kotchakorn Voraakhom made her name showing how the effects of 

climate change can be mitigated by ensuring the issue is at the heart of city 

planning (AFP Photo/Lillian SUWANRUMPHA)

Bangkok's future hangs in the balance.

Rising sea levels, unchecked development, groundwater extraction, and rapid urban population growth has left millions vulnerable to natural disasters -- scientists warn the city itself may not survive the century.

New analysis by the Nestpick 2050 Climate Change City Index says the Thai capital could be hardest hit by global warming.

And while it is not alone facing such a threat -- Venice, New Orleans, and Jakarta are predicted to be underwater by 2100 -- it does have a secret weapon in its battle to negate the impact of a hotter planet: renowned architect Kotchakorn Voraakhom who preaches mindful development over mindless construction.

"We are talking life and death in this situation," says the 39-year-old who is hoping to bring Bangkok back from the brink, as scientists warn extreme weather -- flooding and droughts -- could ravage the city, leaving as much as 40 percent submerged in the next decade.

Kotchakorn says: "I don't want to face it with fear. At this moment we have a chance to make change... We have to do it right now to show the coming generations that this is possible. It is not about sitting and waiting and doing the same thing."

No one can accuse the Harvard graduate of resting on her laurels: She made her name showing how the effects of climate change can be mitigated by ensuring the issue is at the heart of city planning.

Kotchakorn rails against Bangkok's unchecked development (AFP Photo/Lillian

SUWANRUMPHA)

She and her firm Landprocess created the internationally acclaimed Chulalongkorn University Centenary Park, an 11-acre (4 hectares) space in central Bangkok, which tilts downward at a three-degree angle, allowing rainwater to flow through the flanking grass and wetlands.

Water that's not absorbed by the plants runs down to a pond at the base of the park, where it can be stored and filtered for use during dry spells or released gradually. In cases of severe flooding, the park can hold up to a million gallons of water.

Global rising star

Kotchakorn rails against Bangkok's unchecked development -- more than 10 million live in the metropolis packed with skyscrapers, factories, malls and hotels -- warning that an "addiction to growth" at all costs is jeopardising its ability to thrive.

"We think about how we're going to have more growth in our annual development... What if we shift the orientation from growth to really consider our actions on the environment, listen to the land more," she says.

"It doesn't mean I am against development but I want it to be very meaningful, very mindful, and at the right pace -- so we don't actually kill our future."

Today her ideas have been embraced at home, and abroad -- she gave an acclaimed TED talk in 2018, and last year TIME Magazine included her in its "100 Next" list of global rising stars.

Convincing clients, authorities, and other businesses to see the big environmental 

picture has not been easy in a mega-city obsessed with economic targets and 

expansion (AFP Photo/Lillian SUWANRUMPHA)

But convincing clients, authorities, and other businesses to see the big environmental picture has not been easy in a mega-city obsessed with economic targets and expansion.

Driving change as a woman in a patriarchal society has been an additional challenge, but Kotchakorn insists there is "power" in being different, particularly in an industry dominated by older men offering only "conventional ways of thinking".

Many of her ideas were initially dismissed, but she held firm, explaining: "I feel that was based on their fear. But it's not my fear."

"Women offer different kinds of judgement, different kinds of attitude towards problems... We have to bring that diversity to the table and create better decisions," she adds.

Things must change

A turning point came in 2011, when Thailand endured its worst floods in half a century, which left more than 800 dead nationwide with hundreds of thousands displaced. Bangkok, built on once-marshy land and surrounded by natural waterways, was hard hit.

Then came the World Bank warning that 40 percent of it would be inundated by 2030.

It was clear then things needed to change, says Voraakhom, who grew up in the capital and says air quality has deteriorated rapidly, as has food quality and security because of the heavy use of pesticides.

Hailing her late mother as her inspiration, and her 11-year-old daughter as her 

motivation, Kotchakorn hopes her work will solve problems for generations to 

come (AFP Photo/Lillian SUWANRUMPHA)

In 2018, she created Asia's largest rooftop farm, which mimics the region's famed rice terraces where run-off travels down layers of crops, conserving both water and soil. Winding around the 22,400 square-metre (241,000 square-foot) rooftop is a jogging path and a lawn.

Later this year she will unveil plans to transform a vast, unused bridge crossing the Chao Phraya river into a park with bicycle lanes, bringing more green space to a place with precious little of it.

"If you just do a normal building, it's just going to be the same. It's just another building. But if you create (something new), you actually could touch and change their way of living, their way of eating, their way of understanding of sustainability."

Kotchakorn has even greater ambitions for the city she grew up in -- she wants to "reclaim" the more than 1,000 canals that snake through Bangkok that are currently used for sewage.

"Canals have so much life, so much potential to be public green space and a skeleton of the whole city," she explains.

Hailing her late mother as her inspiration, and her 11-year-old daughter as her motivation, she hopes her work will solve problems for generations to come.

She says: "Being a mother is really helping to push me to create hope and solutions for the next generation. You see that the things you build will last after your life."

For a rainy day: Amsterdam plans to make new buildings catch rainwater

DutchNews, March 6, 2020 - By Senay Boztas 

A green roof bus stop. Photo: Mobilane

New build projects in Amsterdam would be forced to capture the first 60mm of rainfall thanks to proposals currently under public consultation. 

The city, which today launches a ‘roadmap’ charting its way to becoming climate neutral, is also concerned about how the built environment absorbs ever-increasing rainfall. 

A proposal, submitted in February, suggests that new builds will be obliged to ‘capture and process rainwater on their own ground, because the climate is changing and in the future ever heavier showers may fall.’ 

The obligation to capture and reuse rainwater – in features such as green roofs, water butts, and ‘grey water’ based sanitary facilities – is intended to help protect streets, cellars, houses and buildings from water damage. 

New builds would be obliged to soak up the first 60mm of rainfall and only then ‘gradually’ release it into city drainage system over 60 hours. 

Daniel Goedbloed, head of the water-management programme Amsterdam Rainproof, said that if the new rules are adopted, they would make a huge difference to the Dutch capital’s capacity to absorb water. 

‘The idea is that all new builds, including those which don’t need to apply for planning permission, can deal with up to 60ml of water on their own plot of land,’ he told DutchNews.nl. ‘You could install a “blue roof” that acts like a temporary lake and then slowly drains water, or a “blue-green” roof with sedum plants and the ability to hold some water. 

Rainwater harvesting systems can also be good, although they need to have water ready for the next use rather than draining it all away.’ 

Costs 

The rule for these systems is that they must catch 90ml of water and drain away 30% of this in 60 hours, he said. Smart rainwater harvesting systems and so-called ‘polder’ roofing would be exempt, and developments which don’t need planning permission would have slightly lower requirements. 

The costs would have to be borne by developers, although it is expected that on its own land, Amsterdam city council would offer a reduced ground rate for developers with rainwater harvesting measures in their plans. 

The public consultation period runs until the end of April and the rain harvesting measure is expected to go to a council vote before the summer. Meanwhile, local rules in areas such as Oud-West already mean that owners can only tile 50% of their gardens in order to let rainwater soak into the ground. 

The attention to rain is part of a drive to future-proof Amsterdam against climate change. The city’s plans to go climate neutral by 2030 – by better insulating homes and removing domestic gas – will reportedly cost ‘billions’ in investment. 

Head of sustainability Marieke van Doorninck on Friday compared the future-proofing plans in Amsterdam to the level of change during the Industrial Revolution, and a report by CE Delft confirmed that the city may be able to reduce its emissions by 48% in 2030, compared with 1990. 

Nika Haspels, a spokeswoman for Amsterdam city council, said that the rainwater proposals fall under this environmental drive. ‘This is part of the climate adaptation strategy,’ she said. ‘We have to do something: if you don’t ensure the rain is captured, then soon you are going to have a problem.’

New rooftops in France to go green

Yahoo – AFP, 19 March 2015

Rooftops on new buildings built in commercial zones in France, a view of Paris
seen here, must either be partially covered in plants or solar panels, under a law
approved on Thursday (AFP Photo/Stephane de Sakutin)

Paris (AFP) - Rooftops on new buildings built in commercial zones in France must either be partially covered in plants or solar panels, under a law approved on Thursday.

Green roofs have an isolating effect, helping reduce the amount of energy needed to heat a building in winter and cool it in summer.

They also retain rainwater, thus helping reduce problems with runoff, while favouring biodiversity and giving birds a place to nest in the urban jungle, ecologists say.

The law approved by parliament was more limited in scope than initial calls by French environmental activists to make green roofs that cover the entire surface mandatory on all new buildings.

The Socialist government convinced activists to limit the scope of the law to commercial buildings.

The law was also made less onerous for businesses by requiring only part of the roof to be covered with plants, and giving them the choice of installing solar panels to generate electricity instead.

Green roofs are popular in Germany and Australia, and Canada's city of Toronto adopted a by-law in 2009 mandating them in industrial and residential buildings.

Global warming threatens groundwater supply: Expert

Erwida Maulia, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Fri, 12/04/2009 5:14 PM

Not only is global warming putting thousands of Indonesia’s islands at risk of sinking, it also threatens the country's groundwater supply, an expert says.

Heru Hendrayana, a hydrogeologist from Yogyakarta's Gadjah Mada University, said here Friday that groundwater volume in a number of regions has been proved to have reduced in the past few years, believed to be an impact of the warming earth.

"Global warming has led to climate change, which has immense influence upon the water cycle.

"It disrupts the wind and air pressure patterns and, in the end, causes changes in rainfall volume," Heru said after a discussion on drinking water in Jakarta.

He said although some regions enjoyed more rainfall due to the phenomenon, most suffered from less rain instead.

The reduced groundwater volume is evident in Yogyakarta and its surrounding areas, among others, he said.

Pollution is another threat for Indonesia's groundwater supply, especially in urban areas.

Heru said most groundwater supplies in metropolitan cities like Jakarta, Semarang and Surabaya were contaminated with E. coli bacteria because of poor sanitation, not to mention the vulnerability of groundwater to seawater intrusion.

The growing number of industries, gas stations, and carwashes in big cities has exacerbated the threat, said Heru, who is currently studying how far they have affected the groundwater supply.

To make matters worse, big cities, which are typically crowded with buildings, lack the capacity to absorb rainwater.

Heru said urban areas could only absorb 20 percent of rainwater, compared with 30 percent for suburban and 40 percent for rural areas.

Manggarai sluice gate on alert for flooding

The Jakarta Post, Thu, 04/09/2009 12:25 PM

JAKARTA: The South Jakarta Manggarai sluice gate was on level III alert, the third highest alert level, on Wednesday, as the water level in the Ciliwung river rose due to spillover from upstream Bogor, West Java.

"The Manggarai waterway water level is currently 825 centimeters," Manggarai sluice gate officer Ibnu told Antara news agency.

The water level was 810 centimeters at 8 a.m., 60 centimeters above the normal limits, he said.

Separately, officials at the Katulampa sluice gate in Bogor said the water level was 60 centimeters, 20 centimeters below the alert threshold, at the dam, which is a vital barrier to flooding in Jakarta.

It generally takes between 10 and 11 hours for water from Katulampa to reach the Manggarai sluice gate, the main barometer for flooding in Jakarta. -JP

On the banks of Ciliwung

The Jakarta Post | Wed, 04/08/2009 6:51 PM

Ghetto living: Two boys are seen sitting on a rooftop in Kampung Pulo, East Jakarta, on Wednesday as their house goes under water due to the annual flooding of Ciliwung river. Heavy rains and also water flowing from Bogor have in recent days inundate several parts of the city (JP/P.J. Leo)

City aims to build 5m biopores this year

Triwik Kurniasari, THE JAKARTA POST, JAKARTA | Wed, 04/01/2009 11:37 AM

The city administration has set a target of creating 5 million biopores this year in five municipalities across the city in an effort to improve water retention and therefore ease the ongoing water crisis.

The City Environmental Board (BPLHD) said that the city only had 335,590 biopores, far below the recommended 76 million.

BPLHD head Peni Susanti said that the board would require developers to build the biopores in a bid to meet the target.

“The bylaw rules that every building, including malls and hotels, must have absorption wells or biopores,” Peni said, referring to the 2005 bylaw on groundwater.

She said her office was cooperating with the City Building Supervision Agency (P2B) to ensure that developers applying for building permits abide by the regulations.

“We also encourage Jakarta residents to make biopores at their homes,” Peni said.

She said that the biopores could help retain rainwater longer in the soil and therefore maintain the equilibrium of the groundwater table.

The biopore technology was introduced by a lecturer at the Bogor Agriculture Institute (IPB), Kamir Raziudin Brata, in 1976. Biopores are made with a T-shaped iron bore to create a 1-meter-deep hole in the ground with a diameter of between 10 and 30 centimeters. The hole, also containing organic waste, absorbs more rainwater and therefore allows insects and worms to live. Firdaus Ali, an environmental expert at the University of Indonesia, said biopores were not the only way to solve the city’s problem.

“Jakarta is experiencing a serious water crisis due to the massive exploitation of groundwater. Therefore, I fully support the administration’s plan to raise the ground water tax,” Firdaus said. Earlier in March, the administration announced that it would draft a bylaw to increase ground water tax in a bid to prevent exploitation and land subsidence.

The BPLHD reported that groundwater exploitation had caused land to sink about 1.2 meters. The construction of high-rise buildings also speeds up land subsidence.

The tax in wealthy residential areas will increase from Rp 525 per cubic meter to Rp 3,300, and from Rp 8,800 to Rp 23,000 in industrial areas.

“The administration can use the money to develop more sophisticated technology for water absorption... It should also impose stricter sanctions on violators,” Firdaus said.

Besides biopores, the administration has been working with the IPB in developing bio-retention technology. This method uses the chemical, biological and physical properties of plants, microbes and soils, to slow rainwater runoff and retain water.

In addition, the BPLHD reported that as of December 2008, the administration had built more than 83,000 absorption wells capable of retaining 1,154,000 cubic meters of water.

IPB tells city to use bioretention tech

Theresia Sufa and Triwik Kurniasari, THE JAKARTA POST, BOGOR/JAKARTA | Sat, 03/21/2009 10:33 AM

An expert with the Bogor Agricultural Institute (IPB) says Jakarta’s city administration may be able to ease the water crisis in the capital city by using bioretention technology.

Bioretention technology uses the chemical, biological and physical properties of plants, microbes and soils, to slow the rainwater runoff and retain water longer in the soil.

Nana M. Arifjaya, a lecturer at the institute’s School of Forestry, said the city needed to set aside 44 percent of its land area, or around 28,902 of its 64,346 hectares, to retain groundwater with bioretention technology.

“Jakarta needs to set aside specific areas, which can act as a huge sponge absorbing rainwater and retaining it,” Nana said.

He pointed out Senayan, Pasar Minggu, Srengseng, Kebon Jeruk, Meruya, Joglo, Menteng and Pondok Indah as among the key areas the city should use to retain groundwater.

He added since most areas in the city were built-up, residents could convert small spaces across the city, such as backyards, gutters, pavements, parks, parking spaces and small alleys, to build water retention wells using the technology.

With an average precipitation of 2,000 millimeters per year, Jakarta can store up to 578.34 million cubic meters of water per year, or 1,583,655 cubic meters per day, he estimated.

“That will be more than sufficient to cater for the water needs of 7.9 million city residents,” he claimed.

“The implementation of the technology would also slow down land subsidence and seawater intrusion thanks to the well-maintained water table in the ground,” he said.

Experts have warned earlier that many parts of the city would be underwater before the year 2012. Firdaus Ali, an environmental expert at the University of Indonesia, reported land was sinking at around 10 centimeters a year on average. The city environmental management agency also confirmed land subsidence had increased due to pressure from buildings (87.5 percent) and ground water absorption (12.5 percent). More than 21 million cubic meters of groundwater was pumped out every year.

Some other experts also reported seawater intrusion, 11 to 12 kilometers from the coast. Seawater intrusion and subsidence can also cause buildings to collapse.

The city administration teamed up with the IPB last year to introduce bioretention technology to the capital.

“We’ve already built 800 wells,” Governor Fauzi Bowo said Friday.

“We will keep developing the wells throughout the city. The problem is how to involve as many as city residents in this project,” Fauzi said.

Aside from the bioretention technology, the city administration recently introduced biopores, 1-meter-deep holes bored into the ground to collect rainwater. Biopores are made by putting organic waste into soil. Insects and worms then create micropores around the waste, improving the soil’s water absorption.

Nana said Jakarta alone needs more than 125,000 bioretention wells.

If the technology is used to tackle flooding, he said, it should be implemented across Greater Jakarta and include 261,622 wells spread around Bogor, Tangerang, Bekasi and Depok. He estimated the costs of building those wells would reach Rp 1 trillion.

Households may have to store rainwater

Adianto P. Simamora, THE JAKARTA POST, JAKARTA | Mon, 02/09/2009 9:10 AM

Homeowners and commercial building owners across the country will be required to build facilities to store rainwater, in a bid to prevent repeated floods and water scarcity.

A draft decree to be issued this week by State Minister for the Environment Rachmat Witoelar says all households and building owners must collect rainwater and channel it underground, starting this year.

“By doing so, we can reduce flooding in the country by up to 40 percent. The rainwater will also be a source to recharge groundwater in the event of drought,” said Masnellyarti Hilman, deputy director for nature conservation enhancement and environment degradation control at the ministry.

When signed, the decree will give households and commercial building operators who have not built rainwater catchment facilities one year to comply with the regulation.

The decree, however, stipulates no punitive measures against offenders, but Masnellyarti said a failure to heed the decree was subject to punishment, according to the 1997 environment law.

The draft stipulates three alternatives to collect rainwater, namely rainwater runoff pools, catchment basins and biopore cylinders.

A house built on land measuring up to 21 square meters must have at least three biopore cylinder units with a diameter of 10 centimeters and a maximum depth of 1 meter each.

“This is the simplest and cheapest way to collect rainwater. A biopore cylinder costs less than Rp 200,000 [US$17.39],” she said.

The cylinder can be planted either in the garden or parking area.

Commercial building operators can build rainwater runoff pools or catchment basins based on the rainfall rate, type of soil and aquifer where the building are situated.

A commercial building standing on 50 square meters or more of land, with groundwater levels less than a meter deep, must have a rainwater runoff pools measuring 1.5 cubic meters, which can be placed underground or above ground.

The rainwater would be channeled to the catchment pool through a pipe.

For buildings where the roof covers less than 26 square meters and with groundwater levels above 50 centimeters, catchment basins must be set up at least 10 meters from the septic tank.

Administration tells residents to dig in

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The city administration has requested the public dig one million biopores around homes and office buildings, to help the city combat floods.

Head of Jakarta's Environmental Management Agency, Budirama Natakusumah, told reporters Wednesday the city administration would launch a biopore program Saturday at Soemantri Brojonegoro youth center in Kuningan, South Jakarta.

A biopore is an organic waste disposal system which serves the dual purpose of allowing water to seep into the ground more easily.

They can be made simply using a specially designed hand-operated iron bore which drills into the ground, and creates a 1 meter-deep hole with a diameter of between 10 and 30 centimeters.

The hole can be used to dispose of organic waste such as leftover chicken bones, rotten vegetables or fallen leaves.

The buried waste attracts ants, worms and a variety of underground fauna which turn the garbage into compost. Animals may also create tunnels to access the waste which in turn allows rainwater to be absorbed into groundwater more easily.

"This is society's best tool to help the city combat flooding," Budirama said.

"The holes are very easy to make since one tool can be shared by hundreds of households," he said, adding that the tools would be distributed to some 200 community unit chiefs during Saturday's event.

The event will involve several non-government organizations and university students who will assist local communities to make and maintain the biopores.

The technique was first made public by Kamir Brata, a researcher from Bogor Institute of Agriculture (IPB), last year and has been applied in Bogor.

On April 22, Bogor city administration ordered the digging of 5,250 biopore holes in 21 of its sub-districts.

As of June, the city had dug more then 22,000 holes.

Kamir has been promoting the technology to Jakarta since.

"The problem with Jakarta's flood mitigation technology is that they are still separating water containment and waste disposal. These two areas are closely related and need to be addressed simultaneously," he said.

He claims to have introduced the technique to Jakarta officials around a year ago, but said he kept getting snubbed.

"I guess they thought the technology was too simple," he told The Jakarta Post in a separate interview.

"But it's good they're adopting it now, they are finally coming around," he said.

Budirama said the city also wants to build absorption wells under the city's flood prone streets but was waiting for the Jakarta Public Works Agency to release a concrete plan. (anw)

City promotes water-harvest installations

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

In an effort to avert floods, Jakarta's Environment Management Board has asked university students and companies to help residents make percolation pits and biopore absorption holes to harvest rainwater.

The board's head of environmental damage control Daniel Abbas told The Jakarta Post over the weekend this household intervention could help compensate for water catchment areas being lost to new homes, offices and apartments.

The environmental board hopes 4,000 people -- students and more than 24 companies -- will join the program, which will be launched by Governor Fauzi Bowo at the Sumantri Bojonegoro Stadium, South Jakarta on Dec. 8.

"We are asking the universities to let students assist in the installation of household percolation pits or biopore holes, while companies can use their CSR budgets to help with the financing," said Daniel.

There are at least 12 different types of percolation pits for draining rainwater. The cheapest and simplest is a 100-centimeter deep, 10-centimeter wide hole filled with compost. As worms, insects and fungi work together to decompose the waste, they create pore spaces, allowing rainwater to seep more quickly into the aquifer.

Daniel said residents could choose between percolation pits and biopore absorption holes depending on their budget and the height of the local water table.

"A percolation pit with a capacity of one cubic meter costs around Rp 1 million while creating a biopore hole requires only a drilling tool."

A biopore absorption hole can be as simple as a hole with a diameter of 10 centimeters and depth of 30 centimeters filled with organic waste.

As percolation pits are deeper than biopores they are suitable only in areas not located below sea level.

"Residents in North Jakarta will not be able to build percolation pits because the water level in the area comes within a half meter of the surface," said Daniel.

He suggested that universities make the program a part of the community service curriculum, which is mandatory in most schools.

"Students can transfer knowledge (of the conservation technique to the general public) while getting credit for the program," he said, adding that several universities including University of Indonesia and Trisakti University had confirmed their involvement.

The water-harvesting effort could be fast-tracked, said Daniel, if university students and companies got behind the 10-year program that covers five municipalities.

Water-harvesting is mandated under a 2002 ordinance requiring all building owners, regardless of building size, to set up percolation pits or biopore holes.

However, the environmental board said, so far, there are only about 100,000 pits, while the target is some 2 million pits. (lln)