Ooh, I want this to be my house. It’s so inviting, and the porch’s green roof provides a cool environment in the summer!
via quietthestorm
Urban Forestry
I know there’s some skepticism that trees would be able to handle the wind and temperature extremes of the high-rise environment, making visions like this nothing more than pipe-dreams. I’m no arborist, but I’m sure there are a lot of extreme environments on earth where we can could some robust species. I’m still hopeful our skyscrapers will all look like this someday.
Not only would they clean the air, they make great environments for high-rise dwellers & workers, reducing elevator congestion at lunchtime.
(Source: b3-nice)
kiyo:
174 GRAND, BROOKLYN NEW YORKThe green roof has approximately eight inches of soil and absorbs rainwater runoff. (via Peek Inside 8 Of The World’s Greenest Homes )
The rainwater runoff is one of the biggest benefits of green roofs; the soil filters and cleans the water, leaving less for the city’s water treatment plants to have to deal with
These vegetated surfaces don’t just look pretty. They have other benefits as well, including cooling city blocks, reducing loud noises, and improving a building’s energy efficiency.What’s more, a recent modeling study shows that green walls can potentially reduce large amounts of air pollution in what’s called a “street canyon,” or the corridor between tall buildings.
For the study, Thomas Pugh, a biogeochemist at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany, and his colleagues created a computer model of a green wall with generic vegetation in a Western European city. Then they recorded chemical reactions based on a variety of factors, such as wind speed and building placement.
The simulation revealed a clear pattern: A green wall in a street canyon trapped or absorbed large amounts of nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter—both pollutants harmful to people, said Pugh. Compared with reducing emissions from cars, little attention has been focused on how to trap or take up more of the pollutants, added Pugh, whose study was published last year in the journal Environmental Science & Technology.
That’s why the green-wall study is “putting forward an alternative solution that might allow [governments] to improve air quality in these problem hot spots,” he said.Compared with reducing emissions from cars, little attention has been focused on how to trap or take up more of the pollutants, added Pugh, whose study was published last year in the journal Environmental Science & Technology.
That’s why the green-wall study is “putting forward an alternative solution that might allow [governments] to improve air quality in these problem hot spots,” he said.
