Point location, which indicates where the NBS takes place

The green wall outside of the garden section of Leroy Merlin in Zlotniki near Poznan. First of such projects in a shopping mall in Poland which was designed already at the planning stages of the building infrastructure. It serves both ecological and marketing purposes [1,2].

The NBS is a building of offices which includes vertical gardens. The building brings a unique "green urban concept" into the local market, reflected in the vertical garden and the courtyard, creating a natural, vast outdoor image and a "harmony with nature" environment on each floor. Linked gardens provide a space that will allow employees working in Green Gate to relax and socialize. (1)

The first shopping center in Romania which has a green roof installed aiming at increasing environmental awareness among its consumers but also including a green space in an area surrounded by building blocks. (1)

Named after the first mayor of Lisboa after the 25 April Revolution, the Aquilino Ribeiro Machado garden and the horticultural park provides an area of 25000 squared meters of green space, connecting Alvalade to the Alta de Lisboa. Divided into various zones interconnected by walkable trails and paths, the park offers fields where locals dedicate themselves to farming and gardening, several fitness types of equipment, a children playground, tables and benches and a different kind of viewpoint for a different sight of the city, watching the planes of the Humberto Delgado airport landing or taking off. There are bicycle roads along the park as well. (7)

The vertical gardens were installed on a property whose two street-facing facades are almost entirely covered with layered greenery. The building is a mini-lung and an example of sustainability for the city, keeping the principles of a living habitat and a relationship with the outside, assuming a revitalizing urban role. Its walls are completely covered with vegetation, creating a vertical garden, with around 4500 plants. (ref.3, 1)The architect who designed the property was originally commissioned to transform an old building but serious structural problems meant the building had to be demolished, and with the chance to start from scratch, considerations for a more radical design began. (1)

Marks & Spencer transformed its Newcastle city centre store on Northumberland Street into one of the most eco-friendly in the north-east. (1) The striking development to the store includes various eco-features including the installation of a green living wall to improve the insulation of the building encourage biodiversity and improve customer experience (2, 3). The project also fits into Newcastle City Council's intention to transform Northumberland Street, and its surrounding area, into a European-leading retail destination (9)

The project area comprises the morphological floodplain of the Rhine to the north and south of the city of Karlsruhe and sections of the river Alb, covering an area of about 7.665 hectares in total. Alongside Karlsruhe, five smaller communities in the neighbourhood contribute to the project as partners. Due to the channelling of the Rhine, the construction of dykes and the isolation of river channels, the area has lost its natural floodplains and precious habitats and became more vulnerable to flooding. Major objectives of the project are the re-introduction of natural floodplains and the enhancement of natural habitats for local flora and fauna. (Ref. 7). The project included an exceptionally wide range of measures including species protection measures, the complete desludging of parts of the Rhine, the re-establishment of softwood and hardwood forests typical of the floodplain, the construction of bridges, the natural remodelling of the entire river Trench systems and the creation of new bodies of water. (Ref. 9) The project also provides environmental education, informing the public about activities and encouraging their participation (Ref. 7)

Vine Court is a student residential complex located at the heart of the University’s city campus. It is equipped with both green and brown roofs, providing environmentally friendly habitats for local flora and fauna, utilizing local plant mixes and building material rubble from the excavated site. (Reference 2). It is at the forefront of sustainable residential development in the UK higher education sector and it was built to a high standard of sustainable design and energy performance. In addition to the eco-technologies incorporated into the structure, the brickwork includes built-in nest boxes for swifts and bats. It has been awarded a design stage BREEAM Excellent certification (Reference 1).

The project focuses on the conservation of a locally rare plant (Dictamnus albus L.) and the community of its natural pollinators. At present, European natural populations of Dictamnus albus are declining because of the scarcity of pollination service; in addition to this, suitable habitats (woodland fringes and clearings) are becoming rare due to land-use changes as a result of the abandonment of traditional agro-sylvo-pastoral activities. This project assesses these issues by re-introducing and monitoring the plant in its natural habitat while re-establishing a suitable habitat for the plants and their natural pollinators (1).

This vertical garden was created with the aim to integrate the shopping mall in the surrounding green. A total of 44.000 plants of 200 different species were used on a surface of 1.262 square meters, making it the largest living wall in the world (now in Italy) at the time it was created. The green wall has met large positive response both by the owners of the shopping mall, who noticed a decrease in their energy expenses, and by local residents, who can appreciate the aesthetic beauty of the wall and breathe fresher and cleaner air. (2,3)