A Green Building Envelope: A Crucial Contribution to Biophilic Cities - Biotechnologies and Biomimetics for Civil Engineering - page 136

Fig. 6.2 Urban green and the
application of it requires an
holistic approach to
encounter the negative impact
of the build environment on
(local) climate

Biology

Measuring

Macro
scale

Ecological
city

Micro
scale

Urban
climate

Exterior
climate

Interior
climate

Validation

Modelling

Architecture Engineering

The application of vegetation, especially in relation to the involved biological
processes in urban areas, requires an holistic approach at different scales (Fig. 6.2 ),
since the benefits operate at a range of different scales from the individual
building, the domestic, or garden scale, to district and finally to the city scale
(Beatly 2008 ). Different disciplines such as biology, architecture, and engineering
comes together in this concept, as it should be applied, as an integral approach to
optimize the efficiency of green structures and its surrounding.
Another important distinction can be made to private and public advantages.
Private advantages should be found in the direction of energy savings, esthetic
improvement, or for example extension of the life span of the waterproofing layer,
while public advantages are associated with storm-water management, biodiver-
sity, urban heat, and for example air pollution (Johnston and Newton 2004 ).
As mentioned earlier, green roofs and green facades are common techniques to
implement urban greenery at the building level, and within these techniques there
is a variety of concepts possible (Table 6.1 ).
Literature review done by Peck et al. ( 1999 ) and Köhler ( 2008 ) shows the
benefit of green roofs on the inner temperature in buildings. Under a green roof

Table 6.1 Green building techniques for the urban area
Common urban green (techniques) at the building level
Vertical green

Green roofs

Extensive Intensive Living wall concepts Green façade

(traditional)

Thin substrate layer
(5-15 cm). Vegetation
mainly sedum,
mosses, and herbs

Thicker soil layer
([25 cm). Vegetation
mainly herbs, herbs,
shrubs and trees

Modern technique based
on grow able panels
(mainly prefabricated),
hydroponic system and
nutrients needed

Consists out
of self-
adhesive
creepers