This research reports the potential environmental benefits derived from an overall intervention of living skins [green roofs and green façades] in the city core of Vancouver, Canada. These include the reduction in cooling and heating demand; reduction in stormwater runoff; improvement of air quality; enrichment of urban biodiversity and urban agriculture; reduction in the urban heat island effect; the contribution to carbon neutral architecture; and an assessment of different construction systems. It analyses the environmental behaviour of the selected site by applying the Seattle Green Factor.The research focuses on the energy performance of a typical residential building within the selected area, through the Energy 10 simulation program. It also analyses the reduction in stormwater runoff through the Curve Number Method; as well as the reduction of CO 2 emissions based on related research.Obtained data shows that the total energy used for cooling is reduced [100%] through the greening of roofs and façades, which means the 9% of the total energy demand by the studied building. It also shows that CO 2 emissions would decrease by 9%; and stormwater runoff would be reduced by 4%. The research compares these findings with previous related research on green roofs, façades and urban forests. Its findings suggest that these types of "living skins" interventions achieve better environmental performance in warm-dry climates where cooling energy demand is greater.
Green Urban Infrastructure Solutions (GUIS) are becoming more and more popular globally. Recent research reveals the environmental benefits derived from GUIS as well as their contribution to climate change adaptation. However, the urgent need for GUIS in order to meet the Paris Agreement, has not translated into an easy implementation thereof. This paper proposes a circular design methodology (CDM) where the combination of research and practice contributes to minimize both current skepticism and barriers when implementing GUIS. It includes a community engagement process to better understand their sensitivity and build consensus on GUIS. Additionally, GUIS are implemented, in a series of pilot projects and specific research is applied to comprehend the environmental benefits derived from these GUIS. The paper argues that GUIS represent a significant opportunity to respond to climate change risks as well as to achieve other urban benefits; however, in order to overcome existing barriers and skepticism, the proposed CDM reaches for more consensual urban solutions and drives uptake and implementation of GUIS, contributing to move from pilot project to common practice.
Constant change in current market and social conditions has triggered the demand for a more adaptable building stock. The capacity to assume and accommodate change has thus become a new requirement for buildings. At the same time, there is a growing demand for more environmentally conscious buildings. New protocols, building codes, and certification systems are becoming stricter regarding buildings’ CO2 emissions, energy efficiency, and other environmental aspects. The current building industry fails to satisfy these two demands; conventional buildings rarely enable change, unless undergoing complex renovations, and rarely consider environmental features beyond mandatory legislation. In this context, this paper proposes Modular Ecotechnological Architecture as a response to both demands. The basis is an integrated design that looks at energy, water, and materials’ efficiency altogether, combined with a modular industrialized building system. The system allows buildings to grow or reduce in size according to their needs, with little impact for their inhabitants, enabling versatility for a variety of uses within the same space and over time. This paper presents the concept of this new building system together with the technical, building code-related, and economic challenges encountered throughout recent experimental projects.
This research explores the potential benefits derived from a proposed green intervention which combines living envelopes (green roofs and green façades) and green energy envelopes (photovoltaic and thermal panels), as a means of addressing the concept of carbon neutral cities. It proposes to take advantage of the environmental contributions that living envelopes provide, in terms of food production and the reduction of energy demand; as well as the energy produced through green energy envelopes such as photovoltaic and thermal panels.This green living envelopes intervention is applied to a specific site of downtown Vancouver, Canada. The research explores the contribution of such a green intervention. It analyses existing conditions of the site in terms of different building types and uses as well as their current energy consumption and CO 2 emissions. It then proposes to incorporate living envelopes such as green roofs and façades, as well as green energy envelopes by applying the proposed Vancouver Green Factor.Achieved findings from such a green intervention shows that the total energy consumed by buildings by the greening of roofs and façades would be reduced by 17%. In addition, energy produced through photovoltaic and thermal panels is enough to cover 16% of the energy demand. Moreover, by using green roofs as food producers, 54% of the vegetable demand of the people living in the selected site would be covered, further contributing to a reduction of 4% of the total food production. This translates into a reduction of 45% of CO 2 emissions produced by the selected site.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.