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Rainwater collection for domestic uses represents an interesting practice from the economical and environmental point of view. However, this solution is adopted due to the threat of the scarcity of water resources; it is not neutral from a sanitary perspective. This paper presents an analysis of the economical and technical viability of the its use as an alternative for irrigation purposes, as well as cleaning of facades and hard areas in the campus of the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana (Bogota, Colombia). Three main aspects are developed in the paper: (i) estimation of the available rainwater volumes and the possible collection points; (ii) preliminary quality analysis of the collected rainwater; (iii) estimation of the construction costs for the basic infrastructure required to collect rainwater and estimation of the monetary savings obtained with the proposed solution. The results suggest that the use of rainwater is economically and technically viable, and that it may contribute with a sustainable management and development of the University's campus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the use of the stated-preference technique in a discrete choice experiment carried out to examine the behavior of car users concerning changes in parking costs in the central business district of Bogotá. The research seeks to determine the level of elasticity between parking costs and car use for work trips. First, the area of interest is selected, bearing in mind compatibility with other studies. Then, the experiment is designed taking into account variables such as costs, commuting time, parking time and walking distance from the parking lot to the workplace. A multinomial logit model is used in order to determine elasticity between the parking cost and the use of the car, and to experiment with the variables included in the model. The model shows that the elasticity between parking costs and car use is -0.13496, which is considered low when compared to international standards. However, the model indicates high sensitivity on the part of car users with respect to walking distances. This work contributes to improving parking pricing policies to discourage the use of cars in urban areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]