About the project
The whole world is facing a major challenge with climate change. We are already experiencing how extreme weather situations lead to humanitarian disasters. In Scandinavia, the changing climate is causing greater differences between summer and winter. We expect wetter winters and drier summers, albeit with more frequent and severe precipitation. All of this places a burden on our society economically, socio-economically, and health-wise.
The overarching aim of the Green Sponge Buildings in Scandinavia project is to support adaptation to a changing and extreme climate by allowing buildings to become an active climate adaptation solution in Scandinavian cities. A solution that cannot stand alone but can have a significant positive effect on the challenges of increasing rainfall and the risk of flooding due to cloudbursts by storing and delaying the infiltration of rainwater, thereby relieving the drainage systems and reducing health risks.
The partnership in an earlier Interreg ÖKS pre-project on the potentials for Green Sponge Buildings has documented an untapped potential and a knowledge gap regarding green walls as a climate adaptation solution, where green roofs, in contrast, are much better illuminated. There are increased constructive challenges in establishing green roofs on existing buildings, which we have the most of in cities, where the risk of flooding due to overloading of drainage systems is greatest. Building-wise, it is more appropriate to establish green walls on existing buildings, and therefore the project limits itself to exclusively dealing with green walls, as the knowledge needs, solution possibilities, and potential here are expected to be greatest for both existing and new buildings.
Project timeline
01.04.2023 - 31.03.2026
Project type
Research and development
Goal
The focus of the project will be:
- How green walls in an urban context can reduce future climate challenges
- What potential exists here, what opportunities are there for implementing and scaling up nature-based solutions in cities, how these solutions can structurally adapt to existing and new buildings
- What added value green walls will have in their local areas. In the project, we will document the climate adaptation potential, the possibilities, and the added value of establishing green walls.
Founding
50% of Interreg Öresund-Kattegat-Skagerrak, 50% own financing
Cooperation
- VIA University College (coordinator)
- BG Byggros A/S
- Henning Larsen Architects A/S
- Scandinavian Green Roof Institute AB
- Sveriges Lantbruksuniversitet
- Østfold University College
- The Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate