Comparative performance and cost-integrated life cycle assessment of low impact development controls for sustainable stormwater management

Abstract

Climate change and urbanization have led to an increase in the frequency and intensity of floods in urban regions. To cope with such extreme events, low impact development (LID) has been adopted as a sustainable alternative to conventional stormwater management systems. LID controls mitigate runoff and manage flooding at the source by providing additional storage, filtration, and infiltration of stormwater. This study aims to investigate the techno-economic and environmental performance of multiple LID controls: bioretention cells (BC), infiltration trenches (IT), and permeable interlocking concrete pavement (PICP) compared to a conventional stormwater pipe drainage system. A cost-integrated life cycle analysis was conducted to assess the environmental impacts and evaluate the financial feasibility of the examined stormwater management systems. An eco-efficiency analysis (EEA) was carried out to quantify the environmental costs of LID controls by incorporating the results of a life cycle assessment (LCA) and life cycle cost analysis (LCCA). The technical analysis showed that LID controls significantly reduced runoff by 67%, 53%, and 36% for IT, BC, and PICP, respectively compared to the conventional system. Moreover, the LCA results revealed that the pipe drainage system was the least favorable with a single score of 191 mPt, followed by PICP (188 mPt), BC (40 mPt), and IT (30 mPt). Over a 30-year assessment period, the LCCA findings indicated that the IT and BC controls had the lowest net present costs of $11.6 and $14.5 million, respectively, compared to the PICP ($17.0 million) and conventional ($19.5 million) systems. The EEA revealed that IT was the most eco-efficient (EI = 0.34 Pt/$) among the LID systems, whereas PICP was the least cost-efficient (EI = 0.97 Pt/$). It was also found that applying hybrid LID models further reduced the runoff, environmental impacts, and financial burdens by up to 79%, 84%, and 48%, respectively. Overall, these findings emphasized the potential environmental and financial benefits of implementing integrated LID controls as sustainable stormwater management systems.