Smart roofs featuring predictive control: An upgrade for mitigating precipitation extreme-induced pluvial floods

Area of Science:

• Environmental Engineering
• Urban Hydrology
• Climate Change Adaptation

Background:

• Urban pluvial floods are intensifying due to climate change, overwhelming conventional roof drainage systems.
• Central Business Districts (CBDs) face significant risks from extreme precipitation events.
• Existing infrastructure often lacks the capacity to manage increased rainfall intensity.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce and evaluate the Smart Internal Drainage Roof (SIDR) system for mitigating urban pluvial floods.
• To assess the effectiveness of SIDR in reducing flooded areas and flood risk in CBDs.
• To demonstrate the optimization capabilities of combined Rule-based Control (RBC) and Model Predictive Control (MPC) for roof drainage.

Main Methods:

• Implementation of a Smart Internal Drainage Roof (SIDR) system integrating grey and green roof functionalities.
• Utilization of Rule-based Control (RBC) and Model Predictive Control (MPC) algorithms for optimizing drainage operations.
• Testing the system in a 1.3 km² area in Beijing, China, during three actual flood events.

Main Results:

• SIDR systems reduced total flooded areas by 30%-50% and eliminated 60%-100% of high-risk zones.
• Flood duration at a critical underpass was reduced by over 50%.
• Outflow processes were streamlined without increasing discharge time.

Conclusions:

• The Smart Internal Drainage Roof (SIDR) system offers a scalable and cost-efficient solution for enhancing urban flood resilience.
• Advanced predictive control strategies can significantly improve the management of urban pluvial floods.
• SIDR technology presents a viable upgrade for existing urban infrastructure to combat climate change impacts.