1. General information
2. Objectives of the intervention
Goals of the intervention
o The main motivation for this installation was to provide a research roof to study the thermodynamic impact of a green roofs in hot Athens (Ref 1, 2).
o To install a lightweight greenroof that would be safely implemented in seismic region (Greece) (Ref 7).
o To study if biodiversity could be affected by rooftop garden (Ref 1, 2).
o To study the effect of greenroof on the local micro-climate (Ref 1).
o To install a lightweight greenroof that would be safely implemented in seismic region (Greece) (Ref 7).
o To study if biodiversity could be affected by rooftop garden (Ref 1, 2).
o To study the effect of greenroof on the local micro-climate (Ref 1).
Quantitative targets
To achieve Energy savings up to 50% for air conditioning on the floor directly below the installation. To reduce the energy bill for air conditioning and heating.
To improve the biodiversity of the roof top area.
To keep the wet weight of the built-up area is under 50 kg. The light weight was achieved by incorporating several strategies including shallow substrate depth (less than 10 cm) and lightweight substrates. And to maintain high water storage capacity (Ref 1).
To improve the biodiversity of the roof top area.
To keep the wet weight of the built-up area is under 50 kg. The light weight was achieved by incorporating several strategies including shallow substrate depth (less than 10 cm) and lightweight substrates. And to maintain high water storage capacity (Ref 1).
Monitoring indicators defined
Energy savings
Reduce heat island effect
Increase biodiversity (Number of plants/animal species)
CO2 sequestrate (Ref 1)
Reduce heat island effect
Increase biodiversity (Number of plants/animal species)
CO2 sequestrate (Ref 1)
Sustainability challenge(s) addressed
Climate change mitigation: What were the goals of the NBS?
Climate change mitigation: What activities are implemented to realize the conservation goals and targets?
Habitats and biodiversity conservation: What types of conservation goals are / were defined for the NBS intervention?
Habitats and biodiversity conservation: What activities are implemented to realize the conservation goals and targets?
Implementation activities
The project has been implemented in 2008. A shallow substrate depth of (<10 cm) has been used as the base for the roof top garden. The ten-floor building has a total floor space of 1.4 hectares. The oikostegi covers 650 m², equaling 52% of the roof space and 8% of the total floor space. As the weather condition is harsh in the summer, some plant species which are native to Greece has been planted on the base. Primarily, the plant selection was composed of indigenous Hellenic aromatic herbs. There are also a number of wild perennial flowers such as hypericum and phlomis and annuals such as poppies, grasses, and chamomile, all within a proprietary substrate from Oikosteges. A second stage study was done after 12 months. Between these two studies, more biomass was added to the base to increase the biodiversity of the garden. Shallow substrate depth, use of light weighted materials with high water storativity has been used to make the project a successful one (Ref 1).
3. NBS domains, ES and scale
4. Governance and financing
5. Innovation
Type of innovation
Please specify technological innovation
Innovations involve technological specificities on the infrastructure. eg. the substrate implementation on the roof, calculations on the specific measures to make it resistant to earthquake damages, the plantation, and strategies to increase the biodiversity (Ref 1).
Novelty level of the innovation
Please specify novelty level of the innovation
The roof top garden is common and has been implemented successfully in many places of Athens by the designer or manufacturer Andrew Clements, OS Greenroofs (Ref 6). The same technology has been applied to this project. The novelty of this project is that the way they made it earthquake damage resistant without damaging the main building infrastructure. The amount, weight, and type of material used for the substrate is the novel idea (Ref 1).
Replicability/Transferability
Please specify Replicability/Transferability
Designer Andrew Clements and his team established the Green Roof Greece, a not for profit organization. They are working on greening roofs and replicating the same technology they used for the Hellenic Treasury building(Ref 6).
