Affiliation:
1. University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences � Vienna
2. IBO - Austrian Institute for Building and Ecology
Abstract
In contemporary architecture, glass is one of the most popular materials and considered a fundamental source for natural lighting. However, the advantage of high light transmittance has shortcomings: Intense solar radiation affects the energy balance and the well-being in indoor spaces with inadequate cooling.
Vertical greenery systems (VGS) can contribute to an improvement of indoor climatic conditions behind glazed facades through natural shading and cooling of the surroundings. Natural light input is only partially reduced and can be determined by selecting proper plant species with target leaf characteristics. However, there still is a limited database in green shading effects and cooling potentials/capacities of climber species, although there exists evidence on beneficial contributions to indoor and outdoor microclimate. Green retrofitting of glass facades and building fronts is a huge knowledge gap, and currently there are no standard applications for plant shaders and plant-based isolation of glazed building elements available. This research focuses on the design of specific VGS to be installed at a heat stressed glazed building in the Tyrol (Austria), June 2022.
We collect plant physiological data of four climber species (Aristolochia macrophylla, Humulus lupulus, Parthenocissus inserta, Wisteria sinensis) regarding transmissivity, potential transpiration rates, daytime cooling capacities, plant growth in order to quantify the impact of vertical greenery systems on glazed buildings and to generate comparable and predictable data. Data on outdoor conditions are correlated with indoor data and form the basis for deriving design recommendations for architects and property developers. Our contribution presents data sets from the first vegetation period after installation and initial findings on individual plant growth.