Potential of using greenery to reduce overheating of buildings in Polish climate conditions

Abstract

The issue of overheating the buildings gives great opportunities for the use of greenery, that can affect the amount of passive solar gains through the glazed parts of façades. Restricting the access of the sunlight to the façades helps to reduce the energy usage for the cooling purposes, but, on the other hand, may cause reduction of solar gains in winter. The aim of the research is to determine the potential of using greenery to reduce energy demand of buildings by achieving the optimal balance between solar energy gains and losses in polish climate conditions.