1. General information
Location and description of the intervention
City or FUA
Karlsruhe
Region
Europe
Native title of the NBS intervention
Dachbegrünung Amt für Umwelt
Short description of the intervention
The renewal of the 220 sqm roof terrace of the Ministry of the Environment in 2010 focused on improving the thermal insulation of the building and the remaking of its green roof. The project was planned by the city council’s department for urban nature in collaboration with a landscape architect and implemented by a professional outdoor greening company (Ref. 2). The green roof won the award “green roof of the year 2013” and is also actively promoted as a model for green roofs, frequently shown to international guests of the Ministry. (Ref. 1).
Address

Markgrafenstr. 14
76131 Karlsruhe
Germany

Location
Point location, which indicates where the NBS takes place
Total area
220.00m²
NBS area
220.00m²
Type of area before implementation of the NBS
Building
Website of the intervention
http://www.gebaeudegruen.info/aktuelles/news/details/news/artenreiche-extensivb…
Timeline of intervention
Start date of the intervention (planning process)
unknown
Start date of intervention (implementation process)
2010
End date of the intervention
2010
Present stage of the intervention
Completed
Goals of the intervention
Absorption of rainwater and efficiently use it for plant watering. (Ref. 1)
Creating a space for biodiversity and habitat creation, especially for small animals (Ref. 1)
Creating recreational green spaces that are used by employees while requiring minimal maintenance (Ref. 2)
Quantitative targets
Unknown
Monitoring indicators defined
Unknown
Sustainability challenge(s) addressed
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
Health and well-being (SDG 3)
Creation of opportunities for recreation
Habitats and biodiversity conservation: What types of conservation goals are / were defined for the NBS intervention?
No information provided regarding the goals of the intervention.
Habitats and biodiversity conservation: What activities are implemented to realize the conservation goals and targets?
Protect and enhance urban habitats
Create new habitats
Protect species
Undertake specific measures to protect species
Implementation activities
The regreening of the roof was performed by a professional gardening company called “Garten Moser”, making use of the „Optigrün System 2010”. The surface area was discerned into different green areas combining different vegetation patches with leisure, recreation areas and canopy walks. As the green roof has several layers with up to 20cm of substrate base underneath, vegetation suitable for an intensive green roof was planted. There is a large variety of more than 50 types of plants, which includes hedges, trees and herbs. These plant types were strategically selected for their rainwater retention capacity. In addition to the species-rich vegetation, different habitats for small animals were created by means of dry-stone walls and stone beds consisting of shell limestone and deadwood. The garden is used by all employees from different companies and institutions in the building as a recreational and meeting area. (Ref. 1).
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
Grey infrastructure featuring greens
Institutional green space
Type of Green Roof
Intensive Green Roof: depth 7 - 24+ inches; plants: Perennials, Lawn, Putting green, Shrubs and Trees, rooftop farming; High maintenance and costs
Vegetation Type
Shrubs
Trees
Other
Please specify how many trees were planted
unknown
Amenities offered by the NBS
Unknown
Services
Expected ecosystem services delivered
Regulating services
Flood regulation
Pollination
Habitat and supporting services
Habitats for species
Cultural services
Recreation
Scale
Spatial scale
Sub-microscale: Street scale (including buildings)
Beneficiaries
Primary Beneficiaries
Public sector institution (e.g. school or hospital)
Private sector/Corporate/Company
Other
Please specify "other primary beneficiary"
Major beneficiaries are the employees of the federal agency and other employees of businesses in the building that also use the rooftop garden.
Governance
Governance arrangements
Government-led
Please specify the roles of the specific government and non-government actor groups involved in the initiative
The project was initiated by the Federal Ministry of Environment, planned by the city council’s department for urban green and parks in collaboration with a landscape architect, and implemented by a professional outdoor greening company (Ref. 2)
Key actors - initiating organization
Public sector institution
Land owners
No information found
Key actors - Other stakeholders involved (besides initiating actors)
Local government/municipality
Public sector institution
Private sector/corporate actor/company
Land owners
No information found
Participatory methods/forms of community involvement used
Unknown
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
Unknown
Mandatory or voluntary intervention
Voluntary (spontaneous)
Please specify other type of voluntary intervention
The green roof has existed since 1990 but required a renovation (Ref. 2).
Enablers
Presence of specific city-level GI/NBS vision/strategy/plan - mentioned in connection to the project
Yes
Please specify
Since 30 years there has been a city-wide programme called "Green courtyards, roofs and facades for Karlsruhe", one part of which are subsidies and competitions of greened, private courtyards (see below) (Ref. 4).
Presence of specific city-level GI/NBS section/part in a more general plan - mentioned in connection to the project
Unknown
If there is a relevant strategy or plan, please specify the theme / type of the plan.
City specific green space strategy or plan
Please specify other vegetation type
herbs (Ref. 1)
Presence of city network or regional partnerships focused on NBS - mentioned in connection to the project
Unknown
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
For more than 30 years, the city-wide programme "Green courtyards, roofs and facades for Karlsruhe", carried by the city department for parks and urban green has provided free advice for greening of private properties, subsidized desealing and greening on private properties with up to € 4,000 per intervention (Ref. 4).
Co-finance for NBS
No
Co-financing governance arrangements
Unknown
Was this co-governance arrangement already in place, or was it set up specifically for this NBS?
Unknown
Financing
Total cost
€10,000 - €50,000
What is/was the Cost/Budget (EUR) of the NBS or green infrastructure elements?
19,000
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 costs for the intervention only (just the construction including materials) were EUR 19,000 which were entirely born by the city council of Karlsruhe (Ref. 2)
Source(s) of funding
Public local authority budget
Type of fund(s) used
Direct funding (grants, subsidies, or self-financed projects by private entities)
Non-financial contribution
Unknown
Business models
Green densification model
Which of the involved actors was motivated by this model?
Public actor (e.g. municipality)
Type of innovation
Technological
Product innovation
Please specify technological innovation
The green roof was awarded as “green roof of the year 2013” and is frequently shown to international guests of the Ministry (Ref. 1). Furthermore, when it comes to rooftop greens there are different professional systems with different building blocks such as drainage, substrate types and plants on the market, two of which were used in the intervention (Ref. 5).
Novelty level of the innovation
Unknown
Please specify novelty level of the innovation
Unknown
Replicability/Transferability
Unknown
Please specify Replicability/Transferability
Unknown
Impacts, benefits
Environmental impacts
Green space and habitat
Increased green space area
Increased number of species present
Description of environmental benefits
The project increased the number of species present and contributed to the restoration of ecosystems by planting over 50 different types of plants and creating habitats for the small animal by means of dry-stone walls and stone beds consisting of shell limestone and deadwood (Ref. 1).
Economic impacts
Unknown
Description of economic benefits
Unknown
Social and cultural impacts
Health and wellbeing
Gain in activities for recreation and exercise
Description of social and cultural benefits
It is stated that the rooftop is used by employees of the whole building including visitors of the ministry as a recreational and meeting area (Ref. 1).
Type of reported impacts
Achieved impacts
Indicators
Unknown
Environmental, social and economic impacts
Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)
Health and well-being (SDG 3)
Analysis of specific impact categories
Job creation: The NBS created ...
No information available
Negative impacts: Did the project cause any problems or concerns?
No information was found regarding negative impacts of the project
COVID-19 pandemic
Unknown (in October 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
No
Presence of indicators used in reporting
No
Presence of monitoring/evaluation reports
No
Availability of a web-based monitoring tool
No
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
Citizens involvement in the analysis of the assessment/evaluation
Unknown
Follow-up to the evaluation / assessment
Unknown
References
Web links relevant to the intervention
Project info (no website)
Information on system solutions rooftop green
List of references
1. Fachvereinigung Bauwerksbegrünung e.V. (FBB) (2015) Pressemitteilungen Dachbegrünung. Artenreiche Extensivbegrünung FBB-Gründach des Jahres 2013. Available at: http://www.gebaeudegruen.info/aktuelles/news/details/news/artenreiche-extensivbegruenung-fbb-gruendach-des-jahres-2013/ [Accessed: 25 Oct. 2020].

2. Widmann, B. (2015) Umweltamt Karlsruhe - Dachbegrünung Projektdaten. Karlsruhe.

3. n.a. (2015) ‘Übersichtsplan Dachbegrünung Umweltamt Karlsruhe’. Karlsruhe: Umweltamt Karlsruhe.

4. Stadt Karlsruhe (2016) Grüne Höfe, Dächer und Fassaden für Karlsruhe. Available at: https://www.karlsruhe.de/b3/freizeit/gruenflaechen/hdf.de [Accessed: 25 Oct. 2020].

5. Optigrün International AG (2017) Dachbegrünung „Naturdach“ Lösung 1: 0 - 5° (mit mit Drän- und Wasserspeicherelement). Available at: https://www.optigruen.de/systemloesungen/naturdach/loesung-1/ [Accessed: 25 Oct. 2020].
Attachments
Attachment Size
Map of the green roof (340.05 KB) 340.05 KB
Basic data of the project (51.46 KB) 51.46 KB
view_complete_rooftop_garden.pdf (755.83 KB) 755.83 KB
view_of_the_roof_top_garden_with_canopy_walk.pdf (859.51 KB) 859.51 KB
view_of_the_rooftop_garden_2.pdf (1.34 MB) 1.34 MB
Comments and notes
Comments
2/targets: No quantitative targets mentioned in the project documents.
2/indicators: No monitoring indicators mentioned in the project documents.
4/policy drivers/EU: Unlikely, because the roof has existed since 1990 and was only renovated in 2010.
Public Images
"NATURAL ROOF" GREEN ROOF
"NATURAL ROOF" GREEN ROOF
Source:https://www.optigruen.de/systemloesungen/naturdach/systemaufbau/
"NATURAL ROOF" GREEN ROOF
"NATURAL ROOF" GREEN ROOF
Source:https://www.optigruen.de/systemloesungen/naturdach/systemaufbau/