Green infrastructure refers to standalone and strategically networked environmental features designed for environmental, social and economic benefits. Examples include permeable surfaces, green walls, green roofs and street trees.
During the summer of 2019-20 Australia was burning with devestation to the natural environment; wildlife species & habitat; air & water quality; increases in UHI effects; communities and the economy.
Australia is a “land of climate extremes”. This is especially true for our cities, which have become hubs of extreme summer temperatures. This past summer was the second-hottest on record for Australia, following the 2018-19 record, with average maximum temperatures more than 2°C above the long-term average.
A number of lampposts in Belgravia have recently been fitted with plant columns running up their length. It’s a trial to see if the green columns can help reduce pollution along the streets.
The Smart Pillar, which has been developed by Scotscape and Greenwich University, takes the concept of ‘vertical greening’, as seen on living walls, one step further.
Biophilic design (design features that reconnect people with nature) help reduce stress in the workplace & home. In an ideal world every interior & flat rooftop will have either a green wall or green roof to compensate for the lack of contact with nature that is a reality for many urban dwellers in 2020.
Such amenities are in line with scientific and psychological theories about humans’ intrinsic need for exposure to natural environments — a disposition known as biophilia.
Rain can fall through a cut-out in the concave roof of this London house extension by Tonkin Liu, animating a shallow pool of water beneath.
The lobby and main entrance of the St. Charles Methodist Church in St. Charles, Missouri looks out over a small flat roof area, below. Like many white membrane roof owners, they quickly learned how fast they can get ugly.
As this roof is highly visible to every visitor, they turned to Green Roof Blocks to it spruce up last summer 2019.
EXAMPLE: The unused rooftops of Melbourne’s buildings are a massively underutilised resource that has the potential to create new green space in the central city that is bigger than Royal Park.
