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Green Cities
Green cities are no longer just a vision of the future but have long been seen as the key to increasing the quality of life and reducing temperatures. Green cities make an important contribution to cooling down the global warming. There are many concepts, but there are also real projects that are already under construction. The best thing is that virtually anyone can take part in this new way of life.
Bosco Verticale
Bosco Verticale, the vertical forest, is considered the most innovative skyscraper in the world. The architect Boeri is now planning more forested high-rise buildings in China. “The vertical forest helps improve the microclimate in the apartments and on the balconies. “The plants generate moisture, absorb carbon dioxide and dust particles and release oxygen,” says Stefano Boeri, the architect of the vertical forest, summing up the ecological benefits of the twin towers.
The Line,
is a 170 km long band city (also linear city) building under construction in Saudi Arabia that will be free of cars, roads and carbon dioxide emissions. When completed, it will extend from Neom on the Red Sea to south of the city of Tabuk. Saudi Arabia's plans assume 9 million residents when fully developed.
The city will create 380,000 jobs and increase the country's gross domestic product by $48 billion, says Saudi Arabia. The aim is to create a single structure 500 meters high and 200 meters wide, extending over the entire length of 170 km. Workplaces and centers in the band city should be assigned to each other in such a way that there are no long commutes. Within each community, all routes should be able to be covered within five minutes on foot. The entire system should be operated entirely with renewable energy and be climate neutral. The estimated cost of construction is between $100 billion and $200 billion, with some estimates even putting it at $1 trillion. The first earthworks for the spine began in November 2021.
Images: NEOM https://www.neom.com/en-us
Green City Singapore
In order to keep Singapore liveable, to achieve sustainability goals and to ensure supplies for the growing population, the government is implementing several measures by 2030. One of them, for example, is the consistent greening of the city. This does not only mean the planting of open areas and squares, but above all the greening of roofs and building facades (“green buildings”). A second measure is the consistent energy-saving renovation of existing buildings.
Water evaporation
Green facades, whether climbing plants or deciduous trees, whether in troughs or attached to the facade with panels - are intended to serve several purposes. The plants shade the facade and ensure that the building does not heat up too much in summer through water evaporation. According to a trial by the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, the outside temperature can be reduced by up to 14 degrees if all street facades in one part of the city are covered with greenery.
Greening
But for which buildings is a green facade suitable? “Facade greening is well suited for buildings that are not thermally insulated because the greening forms an additional layer of protection,” says Azra Korjenic, professor at the Vienna University of Technology for ecological building technology, who has been working on various greening projects in Vienna with partners for years researches. “This has a lot of thermal benefits – in winter and also in summer.” The problem with well-insulated new buildings is that you usually have to drill through the insulation to install the green facade, which results in thermal bridges and the insulation deteriorates. For well-insulated buildings, the option of placing the plants in troughs at ground level in front of the building or on balconies and terraces is more suitable - as in the “Bosco Verticale” project in Milan. This type of greenery can be implemented on almost every balcony, even by amateurs.
Private balcony forests
How difficult is that actually? Well, if you live in the south, for example southern Italy, Israel or Mexico, perhaps Turkey, where no frost is to be expected, it is relatively easy to create balcony plants. In northern climes where the winters are characterized by sometimes severe frost, it is not quite so easy. Either you only use plants that survive a winter or the plants have to be brought into the apartment in the winter. In northern countries, most plants lose their leaves and, in connection with rain, this of course represents an extended cleaning effort. In general, plants have to be watered, pruned, fertilized and otherwise cared for. But the reward is obvious. The summer heat actually no longer penetrates the apartment, sitting in the green in the city also has a very special recreational value and you even get to meet new animal friends every now and then who like to use planted balconies as breeding grounds from time to time. I have been using balcony planterie since 1996, back then in a high-rise building in the middle of Frankfurt am Main.
Climbing plants
There are basically two types of facade greening: ground-based and wall-based. The latter also has static limits. The load-bearing capacity of the wall construction must be at least 100 kilograms per square meter in order to be able to install wall-mounted systems.” If you want a green facade, you also have to take the corresponding costs into account. The cheapest option is the ground-based one with troughs and climbing plants, according to the expert. “However, climbing plants are limited in height. They grow a maximum of 20 to 30 meters in height.”
Turbo speed
I am sure that in the coming years we will have to turn on the turbo and we will, new concepts will spring up like mushrooms and present us with a new, more liveable life.
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