IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v14y2022i20p13679-d949957.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Agronomic Evaluation of Recycled Polyurethane Foam-Based Growing Media for Green Roofs

Author

Listed:
  • Patrice Cannavo

    (Institut Agro, EPHOR, 49000 Angers, France)

  • Mathieu Artous

    (Institut Agro, EPHOR, 49000 Angers, France)

  • Olivier Lemmel

    (Brangeon Recyclage, 49300 Cholet, France)

  • Hervé Buord

    (Jaulin Paysages, Chemin des Gruellières, 44470 Carquefou, France)

  • Laure Vidal-Beaudet

    (Institut Agro, EPHOR, 49000 Angers, France)

  • René Guénon

    (Institut Agro, EPHOR, 49000 Angers, France)

Abstract

Green roofs are very popular and their individual surface area is constantly growing. Considering that the organo-mineral materials used in planting growing media (GM) are often non-renewable resources, the search for alternative materials from waste recycling is a challenge. Among these, recycled polyurethane (PU) foams are light and porous. The objective of this study was to evaluate the potential agronomic valorisation of PU foams for extensive green roofs. Three GM based on compost, PU foam and topsoil were developed and tested in situ for 18 months along with four plant species in containers containing 15 cm of GM. The agronomic properties of the GM and their contaminant contents were evaluated, as well as the plant aerial and root biomasses and trace element levels. The main results of this work are that GM are suitable for plant growth. Compost ratio effect resulted in a lower pH and higher exchangeable cations in GM1, whereas topsoil proportion effect mainly decreased macroporosity and increased nutrient contents. Furthermore, due to the high trace element load in the compost, hyperaccumulator plants such as Hypericum calycinum and Stipa tenuissima should be preferred. Ecotoxicological analyses will be carried out to validate the absence of risk of PU foam contaminants being released in the environment before proposing these types of GM to green roof developers.

Suggested Citation

  • Patrice Cannavo & Mathieu Artous & Olivier Lemmel & Hervé Buord & Laure Vidal-Beaudet & René Guénon, 2022. "Agronomic Evaluation of Recycled Polyurethane Foam-Based Growing Media for Green Roofs," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(20), pages 1-19, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:20:p:13679-:d:949957
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/20/13679/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/20/13679/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sara Wilkinson & Renato Castiglia Feitosa, 2015. "Retrofitting Housing with Lightweight Green Roof Technology in Sydney, Australia, and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(1), pages 1-18, January.
    2. Lê, Sébastien & Josse, Julie & Husson, François, 2008. "FactoMineR: An R Package for Multivariate Analysis," Journal of Statistical Software, Foundation for Open Access Statistics, vol. 25(i01).
    3. Stefano Cascone, 2019. "Green Roof Design: State of the Art on Technology and Materials," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(11), pages 1-27, May.
    4. Berardi, Umberto & GhaffarianHoseini, AmirHosein & GhaffarianHoseini, Ali, 2014. "State-of-the-art analysis of the environmental benefits of green roofs," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 411-428.
    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. Seyed Mohammad Hossein Zakeri & Amir Mahdiyar, 2020. "The Hindrances to Green Roof Adoption in a Semi-Arid Climate Condition," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(22), pages 1-16, November.
    2. Manso, Maria & Teotónio, Inês & Silva, Cristina Matos & Cruz, Carlos Oliveira, 2021. "Green roof and green wall benefits and costs: A review of the quantitative evidence," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).
    3. Fabiana Frota de Albuquerque Landi & Claudia Fabiani & Anna Laura Pisello, 2021. "Experimental Winter Monitoring of a Light-Weight Green Roof Assembly for Building Retrofit," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-20, April.
    4. Stefano Cascone, 2019. "Green Roof Design: State of the Art on Technology and Materials," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(11), pages 1-27, May.
    5. Maria Luíza Santos & Cristina Matos Silva & Filipa Ferreira & José Saldanha Matos, 2023. "Hydrological Analysis of Green Roofs Performance under a Mediterranean Climate: A Case Study in Lisbon, Portugal," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-18, January.
    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. Nicole Tassicker & Payam Rahnamayiezekavat & Monty Sutrisna, 2016. "An Insight into the Commercial Viability of Green Roofs in Australia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(7), pages 1-25, June.
    8. Mitali Yeshwant Joshi & Jacques Teller, 2021. "Urban Integration of Green Roofs: Current Challenges and Perspectives," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(22), pages 1-33, November.
    9. Bevilacqua, Piero & Bruno, Roberto & Arcuri, Natale, 2020. "Green roofs in a Mediterranean climate: energy performances based on in-situ experimental data," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 152(C), pages 1414-1430.
    10. Karin Kauer & Sandra Pärnpuu & Liina Talgre & Viacheslav Eremeev & Anne Luik, 2021. "Soil Particulate and Mineral-Associated Organic Matter Increases in Organic Farming under Cover Cropping and Manure Addition," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 11(9), pages 1-23, September.
    11. Surun, Clément & Drechsler, Martin, 2018. "Effectiveness of Tradable Permits for the Conservation of Metacommunities With Two Competing Species," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 147(C), pages 189-196.
    12. Jan Kluge & Sarah Lappöhn & Kerstin Plank, 2023. "Predictors of TFP growth in European countries," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 50(1), pages 109-140, February.
    13. Renata Giedych & Gabriela Maksymiuk & Agata Cieszewska, 2024. "Eco-Spatial Indices as an Effective Tool for Climate Change Adaptation in Residential Neighbourhoods—Comparative Study," Land, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-18, September.
    14. Navarro-Miró, D. & Iocola, I. & Persiani, A. & Blanco-Moreno, J.M. & Kristensen, H. Lakkenborg & Hefner, M. & Tamm, K. & Bender, I. & Védie, H. & Willekens, K. & Diacono, M. & Montemurro, F. & Sans, F, 2019. "Energy flows in European organic vegetable systems: Effects of the introduction and management of agroecological service crops," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 188(C).
    15. Alexander Platzer & Thomas Nussbaumer & Thomas Karonitsch & Josef S Smolen & Daniel Aletaha, 2019. "Analysis of gene expression in rheumatoid arthritis and related conditions offers insights into sex-bias, gene biotypes and co-expression patterns," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(7), pages 1-23, July.
    16. Baccar, Mariem & Raynal, Hélène & Sekhar, Muddu & Bergez, Jacques-Eric & Willaume, Magali & Casel, Pierre & Giriraj, P. & Murthy, Sanjeeva & Ruiz, Laurent, 2023. "Dynamics of crop category choices reveal strategies and tactics used by smallholder farmers in India to cope with unreliable water availability," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 211(C).
    17. Abdullah Addas, 2023. "Understanding the Relationship between Urban Biophysical Composition and Land Surface Temperature in a Hot Desert Megacity (Saudi Arabia)," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(6), pages 1-16, March.
    18. Aditi Sahu & Kivanc Kose & Lukas Kraehenbuehl & Candice Byers & Aliya Holland & Teguru Tembo & Anthony Santella & Anabel Alfonso & Madison Li & Miguel Cordova & Melissa Gill & Christi Fox & Salvador G, 2022. "In vivo tumor immune microenvironment phenotypes correlate with inflammation and vasculature to predict immunotherapy response," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-19, December.
    19. Joy R. Petway & Yu-Pin Lin & Rainer F. Wunderlich, 2019. "Analyzing Opinions on Sustainable Agriculture: Toward Increasing Farmer Knowledge of Organic Practices in Taiwan-Yuanli Township," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(14), pages 1-27, July.
    20. Mihalakakou, Giouli & Souliotis, Manolis & Papadaki, Maria & Menounou, Penelope & Dimopoulos, Panayotis & Kolokotsa, Dionysia & Paravantis, John A. & Tsangrassoulis, Aris & Panaras, Giorgos & Giannako, 2023. "Green roofs as a nature-based solution for improving urban sustainability: Progress and perspectives," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 180(C).

    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:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:20:p:13679-:d:949957. 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.