Technological

The roof of IKEA in Åsane outside Bergen covers 22,000 m2 and has been covered with plants since 2011. (Ref. 1) The green roof promotes biodiversity, cleanses the air from pollutants and acts an important flood prevention measure in the region, as Bergen experiences a lot of rainfall and is expected to receive more as a consequence of climate change over the coming decades. (Ref. 3,5) The roof has attracted a lot of birdlife, including endangered species. (Ref. 2)

The Vertical Garden Wall situated at the J&T Bank Café Bratislava was constructed in 2010 as Bratislava's first vertical green wall. The green wall in the two-story J & T Bank Café is one of the most recent implementations of Patrick Blanc – botanist and the creator of Vertical Garden. The Café was designed by the architectural studio MIMOLIMIT, and has been realized under the supervision of AED project. The vertical garden consists of more than 2600 plants of 66 various species (3).

This office complex at 10 Gedonstrasse in Munich was completed in the spring of 2002 with a pre-grown Ceratodon purpureum green roof and living green wall panels. It uses a special technique called BRYOTEC Technology, which enables the producing of (plant) mosses for revitalization. The biological crusts of mosses which it produces play a very important role in engineered soil media stabilisation, accelerating the development of depleted soils/substrates for vegetation establishment.
The extensive green roof is built up from mosses that require minimum maintenance. (Reference 1, 4)

The data centre for Citi Bank in Frankfurt is the first in the world to put sustainability at its heart, setting radical new standards in an industry at the forefront of the fight against global carbon emissions (1). The functional and aesthetic aspects, as well as their CO2 balance and later reusability, played a decisive role in the selection of all materials. Disguising the full volume of the data hall, the iconic green wall features indigenous plants and is fully irrigated by harvested rainwater. The wall, measuring some 55 m by 12 m high, complements the extensive green roof and helps maintain a constant building temperature throughout the year while reducing thermal gain in the summer months. (1)

At the Frankfurt Airport, the departures hall of Terminal 2 features green walls measuring about 135 square meters and covered with live plants. The walls also provide oxygen from photosynthesis, improve acoustics, and reduce carbon dioxide concentrations and dust in the air (1).
The plants grow in special mats without soil and are automatically irrigated with the aid of a drainage system. Frankfurt Airport now sports various types of ferns, climbing plants, and spider plants. Flamingo flowers add dashes of red to the green sea. The hanging gardens are located in Concourses D and E. (1)

A landscape scheme had laid out around the Scottish Parliament building and structures were turfed and covered in grass. The landscaping softens the concrete canopies with wildflower meadows, rooftop gardens, ponds, plants, flowers etc. 2 distinct types of green roofs are present at the Parliament - wildflower meadow grass canopies and roof gardens. The Parliament is built on a brownfield site and it has increased the biodiversity of the site. A number of rare and native grasses were planted in the parliament’s open spaces. (ref 1)

The Edinburgh Living Landscape (ELL) is a partnership between the Scottish Wildlife Trust, the City of Edinburgh Council, Edinburgh and Lothians Greenspace Trust (EGLT), the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, Green Surge and Edinburgh University, it aims to help make Edinburgh a city fit for the future by fashioning healthy and beautiful environments that are resilient to climate change as well as being highly valued and accessible to people. It is made up of a range of projects that will create, restore and connect green areas of the city to make attractive and biodiverse landscapes that are enjoyed by residents and visitors. One of the examples is the Holyrood park. Naturalisation was tested in Holyrood Park, where a once regularly mown grassland is now cut only once per year. It benefits both wildlife and public amenity and also reduces maintenance costs for the site, with the potential to spend elsewhere on greenspace maintenance. This is a part of the ongoing Edinburgh Living Landscape Case Study which aims to make Edinburgh a city with healthy and beautiful environments, resilient to climate change. A range of similar projects will create, restore and connect green areas of the city to make an attractive and biodiverse landscape (ref 2, 3).

A formerly derelict area, part of a 19th-century estate, the Zurich Square is a park, whose whereabouts are relatively new, and whose main function is to serve as the only park for the 700 children of the neighbourhood. Its location makes it also valuable, meaning that this park is situated in an industrial area and it contains trees planted in the 19th century (1).

The project aims to reintroduce Patella ferruginea in the three Protected Marine Areas (AMP) (Portofino, Bergeggi and Cinque Terre), where the causes of extinction have been eliminated and an adequate level of protection is ensured (1). The project expects to achieve the following results: Biodiversity recovery and restoration of ribbed Mediterranean limpet by re-establishing a local population starting with 100 specimens; Reproduction and production of juveniles (some 6 000 larvae per year) to be introduced to the target areas for restocking; Full recovery and new population development of ribbed Mediterranean limpet in the target area; Restoration of the population translocated from Tavolara by introducing juveniles from controlled reproduction; and Strengthened territorial promotion and reinforcement of the “clean sea” message" (4).

The OrtoCollettivo project focuses on the creation of common spaces to grow local sustainable food while raising awareness about environmental challenges in cities. The project is based on teamwork: if there is work planned for today and someone cannot come to do that job, someone else will do it, with the ultimate benefit of everyone. It, therefore, stimulates common values about well-being, sustainable food production, and sharing time and activities collectively as a group (2). The initiative is ongoing and expanding, however in 2020 there were voices from the people living in the area that the poor maintenance of the terraces caused landslides and disturbed traffic. Nevertheless the NGO that initiated the intervention defended the project and suggested that the issue is caused by the lack of canals for the rain water to flow in. (8)