Suche
Mein Konto
Karlsruhe fights against heat: The miracle of the vertical garden!
Vertical gardens in Karlsruhe: Innovative solutions to combat urban heat and improve quality of life.
Karlsruhe fights against heat: The miracle of the vertical garden!
Urban life has its challenges, and one of the most pressing is the summer heat in the city centers. The search for cool places to retreat is becoming increasingly important, especially in densely built-up areas. An innovative approach that has already proven itself in Karlsruhe is vertical gardens. These green wonders on building facades can not only reduce temperatures by a few degrees, but also enhance the cityscape. Loud daily news A vertical garden like Volker Lück's, realized by architect Jonathan Müller, will be a true blessing for the city. In his house in Karlsruhe-Knielingen, around 3,000 plants, including 50 different species, shine on the facade, improving the microclimate in the courtyard and cooling the house itself.
How does such a system work? Plants do the cooling work by lowering the ambient temperature by releasing water through their leaves. An area of around 50 square meters on the facade can provide considerable relief in the hot season. The vertical garden doesn't even need to be watered regularly, as rainwater is collected from the roof using an old heating oil tank and distributed via an automatic irrigation system. It is a true “green oasis” for insects and birds, from which swallows particularly benefit as they nest in the passageway of the house and thus keep the mosquito population in check. In addition, the care effort for the plants is manageable - a single cut in spring and autumn and the replanting of 100 to 150 specimens annually, like Fraunhofer UMSICHT knows to report.
The benefits of vertical greenery
Vertical gardens not only have design advantages, but also ecological ones. They not only bring a piece of nature back into urbanized areas, but also improve the living environment of the residents. That also proves My beautiful city, where the benefits of vertical greenery are listed: noise reduction and dust control are just some of the positive side effects. These gardens act as a less invasive form of urban greening and are therefore a fine answer to space problems in cities.
Municipal institutions and private developers should therefore seriously consider incorporating vertical gardens into their plans. The selection of plants should be based on the local climatic conditions, which increases the chance of a flourishing ecological system. Whether modestly on balconies or in large-scale installations on townhouses - the trend of vertical greenery could permanently change our cityscape and at the same time make many a hot summer night more bearable.