Abstract
Window gardens are known to provide a window view with psychological and physiological benefits, whether they can be used for passive cooling of buildings remains to be investigated. This paper aims to supplement the impact of window gardens on the thermal performance of windows, walls, and even indoor air temperatures, which previous research has ignored. A field experiment was conducted for two classrooms with integrated planting troughs outside the windows, with and without living plants. The indoor air temperature and the interior surface temperature of the two classrooms were measured on a typical hot summer day, with windows closed and air conditioners switched off. The results show that: Window garden with living plants can not only reduce the average temperature of the indoor air by 1.1 ℃, but also reduce the average temperature of the interior surface of the building envelope by 2.8 ℃, the reduction of interior surface temperature is more obvious, which is due to the formation of a cold bridge. Therefore, Window garden can improve the summer indoor thermal environment in hot summer and warm winter area in China.