No abstract

No abstract

For greening the building envelope several concepts can be used, for example green roofs, façades greened with climbing plants or living wall systems (modular pre-vegetated panels), etc. Greening the building envelope allows to obtain a relevant improvement of the its effi- ciency, ecological and environmental benefits as well as an increase of the biodiversity. Since the interest restoring the environmental integ- rity of urban areas continues to increase, new developments in construction practices with beneficial environmental characteristics take place, as vertical greening systems. Applying green façades is not a new concept and can offer multiple benefits as a component of cur- rent urban design; considering the relation be- tween the environmental benefits, energy sav- ing for the building and the vertical greening systems (material used, maintenance, nutrients and water needed) the integration of vegetation could be a sustainable approach for the enve- lope of new and existing buildings

This study shows that greening the building envelope with vertical greening systems such as climbing plants or living wall systems provides ecological and environmental\ud benefits. Contemporary architecture in fact is increasingly focusing on vertical greening systems as a means to restore the environmental integrity of urban areas, biodiversity\ud and sustainability. Applying green façades, which is an established feature of contemporary urban design, can offer multiple environmental benefits on both new and\ud existing buildings and can be a sustainable approach in terms of energy saving considering materials used, nutrients and water needed and efficient preservation of edifices. To provide\ud a full perspective and a viable case study on vertical greening systems a process tree is developed throughout this research. Elaborating the process tree has proved to be a useful\ud methodology to analyse main parameters as climate and building characteristics, avoid damages and maintenance problems caused by inappropriate design, and compare different\ud elements such as technologies, materials, durability, dimensions, and plant species employed

No abstract