Urban challenges
Cities face a range of challenges, including increasing heat stress, peak rainfall, poor air quality, biodiversity loss and problems with residents’ mental well-being. At the same time, cities have limited space, leaving little room for new parks and green areas. A large part of the urban surface, however, remains underused, particularly facades and walls.
Potential of facades
The Growing Facades Fieldlab therefore focuses on greening facades and walls. To improve the design of green facades, project partners are studying two types of green facade systems: a ground-based system with climbing plants rooted in the soil, and a non-ground-based system in which plants grow on facade panels. These two systems will serve as test locations for two main areas of research.
First, the effects of green facades on biodiversity will be quantified and monitored. The effects include air quality, water retention, noise, heat stress, public acceptance and well-being, as well as other urban challenges. This will be done partly through manual monitoring and partly using sensors. As part of this research, the project will also investigate the added value of AI-based recognition for biodiversity monitoring.
Second, the best approaches to the integration, governance, ownership, social acceptance and management of green facades will be identified.
“For Leafy, this field lab is valuable because it allows us not only to test our green facade system in practice, but also to measure its effects together with our knowledge partners. Combining practical experience, research and collaboration helps us further improve the system and build a strong evidence base for scaling it to more and more buildings and cities.”
Naud van der Padt
Founder of Leafy
Results
Design criteria
Design criteria for optimizing green facades in terms of both reducing urban challenges and increasing social acceptance and use. Results 2 and 3 are needed to develop these criteria.
Quantitative performance data
Insight into the performance of two types of green facade systems in terms of biodiversity, air quality, heat stress, noise, public acceptance and well-being, as well as other urban challenges, compared with conventional facades.
Recommendations for implementation and management
Recommendations on the integration, governance, ownership, management, regulations, procurement frameworks, social acceptance and other sociotechnical aspects of green facade systems.
The insights generated by the Growing Facades Fieldlab will help the participating parties improve green facades in response to urban challenges such as heat stress, noise, poor air quality and biodiversity loss. This will contribute to a more liveable city for all residents.
The installation of the Muurbos on the Marineterrein.
Impact
Social impact
Greater use of green facades can help reduce heat stress, noise, particulate matter, biodiversity loss, peak rainfall and mental health problems, as well as other urban challenges. The design criteria developed through the project can also be applied beyond the specific green facade systems studied in the Fieldlab, for example to the design of green roofs. This can help accelerate the development of more urban green spaces.
Scientific impact
The project will provide reliable data on:
- The added value of green facade systems
- The benefits of automated monitoring of green facade systems
- The use of AI for biodiversity monitoring
- Design criteria for different types of green facade systems
Economic impact
The project will contribute to the development of improved green facade systems, creating opportunities to scale them up in other urban areas and apply them in national and European markets. By monetizing social benefits, such as increased biodiversity, the societal value of green facades can be made more visible. This can also enable a fairer comparison between green and conventional facades.
This fieldlab is one of three fieldlabs launching at the Marineterrein in Amsterdam with funding from CLICKNL. The other two fieldlabs focus on robust crisis communication (Fieldlab New Path Networks) and a resilient energy system (Fieldlab ISLAND).
The field labs bring together a broad network of partners, each contributing its own expertise, ranging from scientific research and design to technological development, data collection and practical application. By developing, testing and refining innovations in real-world settings, the partners aim to move from experimentation to wider application in Amsterdam and other cities.
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Partners
