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Entwicklung einer CO1 Bilanz für grüne und blaue Infrastruktur

Project Leader: Von Der Thannen Magdalena, Project Leader

Duration:: 01.01.2021-30.06.2023

Programme:: Jubiläumsfonds der Stadt Wien für die Universität für Bodenkultur Wien

Type of Research: Applied Research

Staff: Smit Eric, Project Staff (bis 31.01.2022)

BOKU Research Units: Institute of Soil Bioengineering and Landscape Construction

Funded by: City of Vienna, Rathaus, 1010 Wien, Austria

Abstract: Climate change adaptation strategies have been an important topic for the city of Vienna since the 1990s. An ambitious climate protection program with hundreds of measures has been implemented in 1999 in order to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The package of measures that supports the conservation and expansion of green and open spaces is of great importance for a good city climate. Green and open spaces promote and maintain biodiversity and quality of life in the city and, additionally, serve as an important recreational area. There is no holistic method for evaluating such essential areas in terms of their maintenance costs (CO2 emissions) or the ecosystem services provided by vegetation (CO2 sequestration). For this reason, a model will be developed which, on the one hand, compares the potentially negative effects of care and maintenance efforts to the potentially positive effects of the existing vegetation, on the other hand. The aim of this project is to present a holistic assessment based on a carbon balance of green and blue infrastructure. The potential negative effects are depicted with the help of an ecological life cycle assessment (LCA) model, which focuses primarily on the use phase and considers the relevant processes including all necessary transports. An additional model is being developed to consider the potential positive effects, which determines the existing vegetation, its biomass and the ability to sequester CO2. Then both models are coupled and an overall carbon balance is drawn up. The results can be used to show the positive effects of the existing green and blue infrastructures and to optimize existing care and maintenance concepts with regard to greenhouse gas emissions. This innovative and holistic carbon balance model is developed using the Danube Island as an example. The Danube Island is ideally suited for this investigation, as it is one of the most important green spaces in Vienna and a good data basis (by the Municipal Department MA45) is given. With the newly developed model, all green and blue infrastructures can be evaluated and optimized with regard to their carbon balance. The model thus makes an important contribution to the climate target of the city of Vienna.

Keywords: Climate change; Ecosystem research; Vegetation science; Sustainable building; Landscape architecture; Soil bioengineering;; carbon balance; Danube island; green and blue infrastructure; Environmental life cycle analysis; eco system service;