IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v13y2020i23p6320-d453855.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Biochar for Vertical Greenery Systems

Author

Listed:
  • Michal Kraus

    (Department of Civil Engineering, Institute of Technology and Business in České Budějovice, Okružní 517/10, 370 01 České Budějovice, Czech Republic)

  • Kateřina Žáková

    (Department of Statistics and Operation Analysis, Faculty of Business and Economics, Mendel University in Brno, Zemědělská 1, 613 00 Brno, Czech Republic)

  • Jaroslav Žák

    (Department of Civil Engineering, Institute of Technology and Business in České Budějovice, Okružní 517/10, 370 01 České Budějovice, Czech Republic)

Abstract

Vertical greenery systems (VGS) are effective at solving urban heat. They can absorb noise pollution and dust, and, aesthetically, they are positively perceived. Systems using hydroponic irrigation and nutrition, in combination with mineral wool as a base, are light and effective (they are able to hold water, with a high percentage of air, and a good mechanical structure to hold the plant stable). However, the functionality of a system can be compromised if the water supply is depleted or the irrigation system fails. This deficiency can be partially remedied if a certain amount of biochar or a suitable organic fertilizer is also a part of the system. The research task consisted of verifying this assumption and determining the effective amount of the biochar. Samples with different amounts of biochar were examined under the same temperature and humidity conditions; extended drying times, additional costs, and safety tank size savings were found. Subsequently, the effective amount of the biochar was determined by the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) method. It has been experimentally verified that biochar has a positive effect and prolongs the drying time; the additional costs are almost offset by the benefits. It should be noted that the results are valid for central Europe, and may be modified for different climate and economic zones.

Suggested Citation

  • Michal Kraus & Kateřina Žáková & Jaroslav Žák, 2020. "Biochar for Vertical Greenery Systems," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(23), pages 1-13, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:13:y:2020:i:23:p:6320-:d:453855
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/13/23/6320/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/13/23/6320/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Karishma Asarpota & Vincent Nadin, 2020. "Energy Strategies, the Urban Dimension, and Spatial Planning," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(14), pages 1-25, July.
    2. Vojtěch Máca & Jan Melichar, 2016. "The Health Costs of Revised Coal Mining Limits in Northern Bohemia," Energies, MDPI, vol. 9(2), pages 1-20, January.
    3. Charnes, A. & Cooper, W. W. & Rhodes, E., 1978. "Measuring the efficiency of decision making units," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 2(6), pages 429-444, November.
    4. Manso, Maria & Castro-Gomes, João, 2015. "Green wall systems: A review of their characteristics," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 863-871.
    5. Jiayu Li & Bohong Zheng & Wenquan Shen & Yanfen Xiang & Xiao Chen & Zhiyong Qi, 2019. "Cooling and Energy-Saving Performance of Different Green Wall Design: A Simulation Study of a Block," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(15), pages 1-17, July.
    6. Sri Yuliani & Gagoek Hardiman & Erni Setyowati, 2020. "Green-Roof: The Role of Community in the Substitution of Green-Space toward Sustainable Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-14, February.
    7. Łukasz Pardela & Tomasz Kowalczyk & Adam Bogacz & Dorota Kasowska, 2020. "Sustainable Green Roof Ecosystems: 100 Years of Functioning on Fortifications—A Case Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-21, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Susca, T. & Zanghirella, F. & Colasuonno, L. & Del Fatto, V., 2022. "Effect of green wall installation on urban heat island and building energy use: A climate-informed systematic literature review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 159(C).
    2. Alireza Sedghikhanshir & Yimin Zhu & Yan Chen & Brendan Harmon, 2022. "Exploring the Impact of Green Walls on Occupant Thermal State in Immersive Virtual Environment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(3), pages 1-25, February.
    3. Khezrimotlagh, Dariush & Kaffash, Sepideh & Zhu, Joe, 2022. "U.S. airline mergers’ performance and productivity change," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    4. Christian Growitsch & Tooraj Jamasb & Christine Müller & Matthias Wissner, 2016. "Social Cost Efficient Service Quality: Integrating Customer Valuation in Incentive Regulation—Evidence from the Case of Norway," International Series in Operations Research & Management Science, in: Joe Zhu (ed.), Data Envelopment Analysis, chapter 0, pages 71-91, Springer.
    5. Franz R. Hahn, 2007. "Determinants of Bank Efficiency in Europe. Assessing Bank Performance Across Markets," WIFO Studies, WIFO, number 31499, March.
    6. Alperovych, Yan & Hübner, Georges & Lobet, Fabrice, 2015. "How does governmental versus private venture capital backing affect a firm's efficiency? Evidence from Belgium," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 30(4), pages 508-525.
    7. Wang, Zhao-Hua & Zeng, Hua-Lin & Wei, Yi-Ming & Zhang, Yi-Xiang, 2012. "Regional total factor energy efficiency: An empirical analysis of industrial sector in China," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 115-123.
    8. repec:lan:wpaper:1115 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Azarnoosh Kafi & Behrouz Daneshian & Mohsen Rostamy-Malkhalifeh, 2021. "Forecasting the confidence interval of efficiency in fuzzy DEA," Operations Research and Decisions, Wroclaw University of Science and Technology, Faculty of Management, vol. 31(1), pages 41-59.
    10. Ruiqing Yuan & Xiangyang Xu & Yanli Wang & Jiayi Lu & Ying Long, 2024. "Evaluating Carbon-Emission Efficiency in China’s Construction Industry: An SBM-Model Analysis of Interprovincial Building Heating," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(6), pages 1-16, March.
    11. Costa, Marcelo Azevedo & Lopes, Ana Lúcia Miranda & de Pinho Matos, Giordano Bruno Braz, 2015. "Statistical evaluation of Data Envelopment Analysis versus COLS Cobb–Douglas benchmarking models for the 2011 Brazilian tariff revision," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 47-60.
    12. Kristiaan Kerstens & Ignace Van de Woestyne, 2018. "Enumeration algorithms for FDH directional distance functions under different returns to scale assumptions," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 271(2), pages 1067-1078, December.
    13. Bo Li & Muhammad Mohiuddin & Qian Liu, 2019. "Determinants and Differences of Township Hospital Efficiency among Chinese Provinces," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(9), pages 1-16, May.
    14. Ahmad, Usman, 2011. "Financial Reforms and Banking Efficiency: Case of Pakistan," MPRA Paper 34220, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    15. Nijkamp, P. & Stough, R. & Sahin, M., 2009. "Impact of social and human capital on business performance of migrant entrepreneurs - a comparative dutch-us study," Serie Research Memoranda 0017, VU University Amsterdam, Faculty of Economics, Business Administration and Econometrics.
    16. Bowlin, W. F., 1995. "A characterization of the financial condition of the United States' aerospace-defense industrial base," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 23(5), pages 539-555, October.
    17. Zhang, Chonghui & Bai, Chen & Su, Weihua & Balezentis, Tomas, 2024. "The centralised data envelopment analysis model integrated with cost information and utility theory for power price setting under carbon peak strategy at the firm-level," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 292(C).
    18. Mika Kortelainen & Timo Kuosmanen, 2007. "Eco-efficiency analysis of consumer durables using absolute shadow prices," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 28(1), pages 57-69, October.
    19. Ashrafi, Ali & Seow, Hsin-Vonn & Lee, Lai Soon & Lee, Chew Ging, 2013. "The efficiency of the hotel industry in Singapore," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 31-34.
    20. Büschken, Joachim, 2009. "When does data envelopment analysis outperform a naïve efficiency measurement model?," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 192(2), pages 647-657, January.
    21. repec:lan:wpaper:4471 is not listed on IDEAS
    22. Muhammad Jam e Kausar Ali Asghar & Abdul Zahid Khan & Hafiz Ghufran Ali Khan, 2019. "Economies of Scale and Efficiency of Mutual Funds in Pakistan," Global Regional Review, Humanity Only, vol. 4(1), pages 96-103, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:13:y:2020:i:23:p:6320-:d:453855. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.