Abstract
In urban areas today, natural vegetation are been replaced with concrete pavements, buildings and other structures, which bring with it several consequences such as; noticeable increase in the amount of energy used in heating and cooling buildings which led to urban heat island (UHI) effect, degrading of air quality, increasing the amount of hard surfaces in cities which led to rise in temperature and also increase the volume of storm water collected. The technology of integration of plants on building façade became a trend in the last decade. This paper outlined different types of green façade and their benefits to the built environment. The paper through review of related literature is aimed at discussing how façade greening positively affect the built environment through the moderation of air quality; mitigate urban heat stress through transpiration cooling and shading. The paper also shows that façade greening will help in attaining a healthier living and a pollution free work place in the urban areas and any other place. The research concluded that the use of greenery on building façade provides a way to attaining a sustainable built environment.
Highlights
The integration of vegetation into building and construction of cities has been in use for many centuries, one of the famous examples of such is the Hanging Gardens of Babylon ordered by the ancient civilization of Tigris and Euphrates river valleys in Mesopotamia (Dunnett et al, 2010)
From sustainability point of view, among the properties of plant is making their own food through the process called photosynthesis, the process requires carbon dioxide to be done and the byproduct of this process is oxygen; plants absorb the carbon dioxide which pollute the environment and produce oxygen which is good for humans and their environment
The major factor that is causing the urban heat island (UHI) effect is high degree of urban development; for example, how many square meters of green area are in order to construct houses and streets for the growing population in the cities, and most of the materials used in these constructions are concrete and asphalt, which are all impervious materials; they absorb heat in the day time and realize it at night
Summary
The integration of vegetation into building and construction of cities has been in use for many centuries, one of the famous examples of such is the Hanging Gardens of Babylon ordered by the ancient civilization of Tigris and Euphrates river valleys in Mesopotamia (Dunnett et al, 2010). The architects and the engineers are faced with the daunting task of designing and constructing buildings that are environmental friendly as much as possible, while urban planners are looking for where to plant their greenery. This is what gave green facade more popularity (Wong et al, 2009). The advantage of green façade is limited to environment and nature but, help in lowering the operating cost for buildings in long term It helps in moderation of the micro climate of a given area when use in larger area, because of the additional layer of vegetation on the building facades of the area. The vegetation serves as dust filter, as humidifier and generates cold air, promoting human health (Sheweka et al.)
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