1. General information
Location and description of the intervention
City or FUA
Bremen
Region
Europe
Native title of the NBS intervention
Grüne Dächer in Findorff
Short description of the intervention
A private investment project that aimed to create a new building complex in the Findorff district of Bremen and build two large residential buildings "Münchner Bogen" and "Findorffer Tor" with green roofs on top. The green roofing of the buildings was influenced by the local actors - the alliance "Green Bremen" and the advisory board of the Findorff Council. The initiative aimed to contribute to sustainable urban development by the positive impact on biodiversity, rainwater retention, improved local air quality and provision of natural thermoregulation for the buildings (Ref. 1, 2, 3).
Address

Bremen
Germany

Location
Point location, which indicates where the NBS takes place
Total area
5500.00m²
Type of area before implementation of the NBS
Building
Website of the intervention
https://www.gruenes-bremen.de/
Timeline of intervention
Start date of the intervention (planning process)
unknown
Start date of intervention (implementation process)
2017
End date of the intervention
2019
Present stage of the intervention
Completed
Goals of the intervention
Goals of the intervention:
1) Building green roofs in the new building complex that will provide for an additional green space in the area, help with rainwater retention, improve local air quality and provide natural thermoregulation;
2) Contributing to urban biodiversity;
3) Providing new means for municipal climate protection and climate change adaptation;
4) Contributing to sustainable urban development;
5) Improving the quality of life of the and expanding city's green infrastructure.
6) Improvement in local air quality; Improved rain water management (Ref. 1, 2).
Quantitative targets
Building a new building complex on the approximately 5,500 square meter lot with more than 100 apartments and green roofs on the top (Ref. 3).
Monitoring indicators defined
Unknown
Sustainability challenge(s) addressed
Climate action for adaptation, resilience and mitigation (SDG 13)
Climate change adaptation
Climate change mitigation
Water management (SDG 6)
Stormwater and rainfall management and storage
Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)
Habitat and biodiversity conservation
Green space creation and/or management
Environmental quality
Air quality improvement
Regeneration, land-use and urban development
Promote natural styles of landscape design for urban development
Health and well-being (SDG 3)
Creation of opportunities for recreation
Economic development and employment (SDG 8)
Real estate development
Climate change adaptation: What were the goals of the NBS?
Reduce the impacts of climate risks events on urban places and communities
Build resilience
Climate change adaptation: What activities are implemented to realize the conservation goals and targets?
Increase or improve urban vegetation cover to help reduce outdoor temperature
Implement green walls or roofs to lower indoor temperature and provide insulation
Climate change mitigation: What were the goals of the NBS?
Reduce energy demand, with the use of renewables or energy efficiency improvements
Climate change mitigation: What activities are implemented to realize the conservation goals and targets?
Install vertical or horizontal artificial surfaces that help with carbon storage and cooling
Habitats and biodiversity conservation: What types of conservation goals are / were defined for the NBS intervention?
Ecosystem-focused
Habitats and biodiversity conservation: What activities are implemented to realize the conservation goals and targets?
Protect and enhance urban habitats
Create new habitats
Implementation activities
A new building complex was created on the approximately 5,500 square meters with more than 100 apartments in two large residential buildings "Münchner Bogen" and "Findorffer Tor" with green roofs on top (Ref. 3, 5).
Type of NBS project
Creation of new green areas
NBS domain and interventions
Ecological domain(s) where the NBS intervention(s) is/are implemented
Nature on buildings (external)
Green roofs
Please specify other type of green roof
Unknown
Type of Green Roof
Other
Vegetation Type
Grass
Amenities offered by the NBS
Unknown
Services
Expected ecosystem services delivered
Regulating services
Local climate regulation (temperature reduction)
Air quality regulation
Flood regulation
Habitat and supporting services
Habitats for species
Maintenance of genetic diversity
Cultural services
Recreation
Scale
Spatial scale
Sub-microscale: Street scale (including buildings)
Beneficiaries
Primary Beneficiaries
Citizens or community groups
Governance
Governance arrangements
Led by non-government actors
Non-government actors
Private sector/Corporate/Business
Citizens or community groups
Please specify the roles of the specific government and non-government actor groups involved in the initiative
The project is a part of the investment of the Justus Grosse company and the local actors (alliance "Green Bremen" and the advisory board of the Findorff Council) played a role in the plans for advocating for the inclusion of the green roofs in the architectural plans (Ref. 2, 3). The original plans did not contain a green roof (Ref. 2).
Bremen has introduced a green roof funding program, offering grants and subsidies of up to 12 000 Euros based on the construction height and water retention capacity of the roof (Ref. 4).
Key actors - initiating organization
Non-government organisation/civil society
Private sector/corporate actor/company
Land owners
Real estate developer
Key actors - Other stakeholders involved (besides initiating actors)
Local government/municipality
Private sector/corporate actor/company
Citizens or community group
Land owners
Real estate developer
Participatory methods/forms of community involvement used
Citizen oversight (e.g. boards, advisory)
Policy drivers
NBS intervention implemented in response to an Regional Directive/Strategy
Unknown
NBS intervention implemented in response to a national regulations/strategy/plan
Unknown
NBS intervention implemented in response to a local regulation/strategy/plan
Yes
Please specify the "local regulation/strategy/plan"
'Support program for roof greening' in Bremen (Förderprogramm Dachbegrünung) (Ref. 4).
Mandatory or voluntary intervention
Voluntary (spontaneous)
Please specify other type of voluntary intervention
Despite the existence of the 'Support program for roof greening' in Bremen (Förderprogramm Dachbegrünung), the greening of the roofs is not compulsory in Bremen like in some other German cities, but the investor of the buildings in Findorff voluntarily decided to build green roofs (Ref. 4).
Enablers
Presence of specific city-level GI/NBS vision/strategy/plan - mentioned in connection to the project
Unknown
Presence of specific city-level GI/NBS section/part in a more general plan - mentioned in connection to the project
Unknown
Presence of city network or regional partnerships focused on NBS - mentioned in connection to the project
Yes
Please specify
Yes, the local alliance "Green Bremen" (Bündnis Grünes Bremen) - this "Alliance for a viable city" consists of local branches of Architects' Chamber of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen, Federation of German Landscape Architects, Federation for Environment and Nature Conservation in Germany (BUND), The German Society for Gardening and Landscape Culture, and the Association of Garden, Landscape and Sports. The "Green Bremen" supported the demands of the advisory board of the Findorff Council that called for the roof greening of the "Findorffer Tor" building, which convinced the project's investor to build the green roofs on the planned buildings (Ref. 2, 3).
Presence of GI / NBS research project - mentioned in connection to the project
Unknown
Subsidies/investment for GI / NBS in the city - mentioned in connection to the project
Yes
Please specify
The Department of Environment, Construction and Transport in Bremen promotes the installation of roof greening in the state of Bremen with up to 12,000 euros subsidies - up to 25% of the eligible costs can be reimbursed (Ref. 4).
Co-finance for NBS
Yes
Co-financing governance arrangements
Yes
Co-governance arrangement
A fund / grant
Was this co-governance arrangement already in place, or was it set up specifically for this NBS?
Already in place
Financing
Total cost
Unknown
What is/was the Cost/Budget (EUR) of the NBS or green infrastructure elements?
Unknown
What are the total amount of expected annual maintenance costs?
Unknown
What is the expected annual maintenance costs of the NBS or GI elements?
Unknown
Please specify cost savings
Unknown
Please specify total cost (EUR)
The total cost is unknown, but it is likely that this NBS was co-financed by the developer and the local government on the basis of available grants/subsidies for green roofs in Bremen (Ref. 4).
Source(s) of funding
Public local authority budget
Corporate investment
Type of fund(s) used
Direct funding (grants, subsidies, or self-financed projects by private entities)
Please specify other type of fund used
Corporate funds of the Justus Grosse company that is implementing the project, but the type of funds used is unknown (Ref. 1).
Non-financial contribution
Unknown
Business models
Green densification model
Urban offsetting model (biodiversity or water)
Which of the involved actors was motivated by this model?
Public actor (e.g. municipality)
Private for-profit actor (e.g. firm, insurer)
Type of innovation
Technological
Product innovation
Please specify technological innovation
The green roofs in Findorff are a product innovation that provides sustainable urban solutions in the area and that have diverse positive impact (biodiversity, water retention, air quality, temperature reduction) that would not be possible if the green roofs were not to be installed (Ref. 2, 3).
Novelty level of the innovation
Unknown
Please specify novelty level of the innovation
Unknown
Replicability/Transferability
The innovation is not referred to as being transferred to new initiative(s)
Please specify Replicability/Transferability
There is no mention of the initiative being replicated by the developer or otherwise (Ref. 5).
Impacts, benefits
Environmental impacts
Climate change
Lowered local temperature
Reduced emissions
Environmental quality
Improved air quality
Water management and blue areas
Increased protection against flooding
Improved stormwater management
Green space and habitat
Increased green space area
Reduced biodiversity loss
Description of environmental benefits
Climate change:
-Lowered local temperature/Reduced emissions: provide natural thermoregulation (Ref. 1, 2). Providing new means for municipal climate protection and climate change adaptation (Ref. 1, 2).

Environmental quality:
-Improved air quality: Improvement in local air quality (Ref. 1, 2).

Water management and blue areas:
-Increased protection against flooding/Improved stormwater management: help with rainwater retention (Ref. 1, 2).

Green space and habitat:
-Increased green space area:
-Reduction of biodiversity loss (Ref 1,2)
Economic impacts
Increased property prices
Description of economic benefits
Increased property prices: While it is unclear if the addition of the green roof increased property prices, all of the condominiums in the construction project were sold before completion of the building (Ref. 5).
Social and cultural impacts
Social justice and cohesion
Improved liveability
Improved access to urban green space
Description of social and cultural benefits
Social justice and cohesion:
-Improvement of liveability/Improved access to urban green space: Improving the quality of life of the and expanding city's green infrastructure.; Increase in access to the urban green area (Ref. 1, 2, 3).
Type of reported impacts
Expected impacts
Achieved impacts
Indicators
Unknown
Environmental, social and economic impacts
Climate action for adaptation, resilience and mitigation (SDG 13)
Water management (SDG 6)
Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)
Environmental quality
Regeneration, land-use and urban development
Health and well-being (SDG 3)
Analysis of specific impact categories
Job creation: The NBS created ...
No information available
Environmental justice: The implementation of the NBS project resulted in ...
Improved access to green and/or blue spaces
Negative impacts: Did the project cause any problems or concerns?
No information was found regarding negative impacts of the project
COVID-19 pandemic
No specific information available as of October 19, 2020.
Methods of impact monitoring
Process of recording NBS impacts
No evidence in public records
Methods used to evaluate the impacts of NBS
Unknown
Evidence for use of assessment
Presence of an assessment, evaluation and/or monitoring process
Unknown
Presence of indicators used in reporting
No evidence in public records
Presence of monitoring/evaluation reports
No evidence in public records
Availability of a web-based monitoring tool
No evidence in public records
Impact assessment mechanism
Name of any specific impact assessment tools
Unknown
Use of GIS in mapping impacts
No evidence in public records
Citizen involvement
Citizens involvement in assessment/evaluation
Unknown
Mode(s) of citizen involvement in evaluation/assessment
Other
Please specify other modes of citizen involvement in evaluation/assessment
The fact that the advisory board of the Findorff Council successfully called for the roof greening of the new buildings in Findorff by a private investor suggests that the NBS will be monitored and evaluated by the board after its completion.(2)
Citizens involvement in the analysis of the assessment/evaluation
Unknown
Follow-up to the evaluation / assessment
Unknown
References
Web links relevant to the intervention
Ref.1 (Bdla website)
Ref.2 (Gruenes Bremen website)
Ref.3 (findorffaktuell.de)
Ref.4 (Bremer Umwelt Beratung)
Ref. 5 (Real Estate company statement on building)
List of references
1. Bdla (2017). 'Green roofs in Bremen' (Grüne Dächer in Bremen). Available at: https://www.bdla.de/landesverbaende/niedersachsen-bremen/nachrichten/218-gruene-daecher-in-bremen (Accessed: October 19, 2020).
2. Gruenes Bremen (2017). 'First step for climate-friendly construction', ('Erster Schritt für klimagerechtes Bauen'). Available at: https://www.gruenes-bremen.de/ (Accessed: October 19, 2020).
3. Leben in Findorff (2017). 'New construction with green roof for air quality' ('Neubau mit Gründach als Klimaausgleich'). Available at: https://www.findorffaktuell.de/findorff-aktuell/bau-stadtentwicklung/bauprojekte/ (Accessed: October 19, 2020).
4. Bremer Umwelt Beratung (2018). 'Support program for roof greening' (Förderprogramm Dachbegrünung). Available at: http://www.bremer-umwelt-beratung.de/umwelttipps-natur-foerderprogramm-dachbegruenung.html (Accessed: October 19, 2020).
5. Justus Grosse (2019). "Münchner Bogen in Findorff komplett verkauft - Jetzt letzte Wohnungen zur Miete sichern". Available at: http://justus-grosse.de/de/aktuelles/projekt/211-Muenchner-Bogen-in-Findorff-komplett-verkauft---Jetzt-letzte-Wohnungen-zur-Miete-sichern.html (Accessed: October 19, 2020).
Comments and notes
Public Images
An architectural image of a building on a street corner with a green roof
https://www.gruenes-bremen.de/gr%C3%BCnd%C3%A4cher/