Design Procedure and Criteria Used in Vertical Gardens and Green Roof Constructions

Abstract

A vertical garden also known as living wall or green wall is an independent vertical garden attached to exterior or interior walls of a building. In vertical gardens, various types of modular panels can be used along with geo-textile fabrics, growing media, irrigation systems, and plants. Living walls are mainly appropriate for cities, as they permit good use of obtainable vertical surface areas. The living wall could also function for urban agriculture, urban gardening, or for its beauty as art. Green walls can be indoors or outside, freestanding or attached to an existing wall, and come in a great variety of sizes. A Green roof is a green space created by adding layers of plants on top of a traditional roofing system. There are several important designs and structural differences between ground level landscape development and rooftop developments. Green roofs provide ecosystem facilities in cities, including mitigated urban heat island effect, balancing of building temperature, improved run-off water management, and improved urban biodiversity. Designers try to improve the environmental sustainability of their society by adding more vegetation through green roofs, but without enough knowledge about the suitable greenery system for green roofs, the effort will be a failure. Green roofs have been heralded as a “sustainable building practice” in cities throughout the world as one response to mounting environmental stresses. The use of vegetation on walls and roofs of buildings, particularly roofs, is a common practice in the architecture of older buildings in countries like Iceland, Scandinavia, Switzerland, Germany and Tanzania. Nowadays, a thriving green roof industry prevails in many parts of the world, as authorities distinguish the myriad environmental benefits associated with the technology. Throughout Europe, particularly Germany, the last thirty years have produced a wide complement of academic green roof research, predictable research funding and a proliferation of green roof installations. The paper discusses the various design procedures and criteria that are employed in vertical garden and Green roof construction works.