Greening Urban Areas

Cork County Council is an excellent example of a sustainable structure.

This bulding is an excellent example of Accessible Design and a sustainable structure. The tower has been fitted out with a climactically responsive glass louver façade - which allows it to be naturally ventilated - text pads, anti-glare blinds, wheelchair accessible toilets on eight floors and lifts on each floor.

Courtesy of Cork County Council

Cork County Council is an excellent example of a sustainable structure.
Courtesy of Cork County Council

Cork County Council is an excellent example of a sustainable structure.

This bulding is an excellent example of Accessible Design and a sustainable structure. The tower has been fitted out with a climactically responsive glass louver façade - which allows it to be naturally ventilated - text pads, anti-glare blinds, wheelchair accessible toilets on eight floors and lifts on each floor.

Courtesy of Cork County Council

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The Green Building Temple Bar

This is a prime example of how environmentally sound buildings can not only contribute towards achieving our climate change goals, but can be hugely profitable, and be built in urban areas. It is a mixed-use building offering accommodation, office space and retail lettings.

The Green Building Temple Bar

The Green Building Temple Bar

This is a prime example of how environmentally sound buildings can not only contribute towards achieving our climate change goals, but can be hugely profitable, and be built in urban areas. It is a mixed-use building offering accommodation, office space and retail lettings.

Enlarge image

Research shows that city residents have a 20% greater chance of suffering anxiety and an almost 40% greater likelihood of developing depression. Interestingly, however, studies have also shown that people in urban areas who live closest to large green spaces are significantly less likely to suffer poor mental health. After 40 years of research measuring specific neurological, cognitive, emotional and physiological effects of “nature” elements, results have shown the positive impacts of nature and green spaces including increased calmness, decreased agitation and aggression, and increased cognitive functioning – such as concentration, memory and creative thought. Green infrastructure is particularly important in this regard.

First, Green buildings can provide a range of benefits to human health, including improving air and water quality, enhancing quality of life, and supporting occupant health and comfort. In their 2016-2022 Development Plan, Dún Laoghaire Rathdown Council have subsequently mandated that all new buildings are built to a passive housing standard or equivalent in order "to improve indoor air quality, energy performance, comfort, and the prevention of surface/interstitial condensation". Please click here to discover current examples of innovative green buildings in Ireland.

With competition for open space often at a premium in urban areas, Green Roofs offer a means of increasing green space. They are widely used around the world and are now becoming very popular in Ireland. Installing a garden on your apartment or house roof is an effective way to make better use of confined urban space or to fit in with a country environment. Green Roofs are made up of various components that create an environment suitable for vegetation growth. They are becoming increasingly important as a means of reducing stormwater run-off during heavy rainfall events. There is also growing evidence that visual and physical contact with natural greenery provides multiple benefits to people, including both mental health benefits (such as stress reduction) and physical health benefits (including cleaner air). Access to green space can improve a person’s heart rate and blood-pressure, and can support general well-being. In this regard, in 2016 Dún Laoghaire Rathdown Council introduced a requirement that any large building with a roof space of more than 300 square metres is required to install a green roof, in an attempt to insulate the building to lower energy costs, absorb stormwater run-off to reduce the risk of flooding, and to encourage wildlife into the city. Such measures indirectly offer increased health benefits for individuals.

An extension of the green roof in urban design planning includes the concept of Vertical Forests in Milan and Sydney for residential properties. Plans are also underway to expand the concept of vertical forests and green infrastructure in urban building design in Utrecht (Netherlands), New York (USA), Tirana (Albania), and in Liuzhou and Nanjing (China). Similarly, the development of the 'Highline' in New York city, a 2.5km elevated linear park and greenway in Manhattan demonstrates a similarly innovative solution to 'green' densely populated urban environments using a raised park concept.

Singapore has embraced the concept of green infrastructure and has taken the idea one step further. Singapore’s Gardens by the Bay has redefined green urban planning in recent years. The gardens are host to 18 LED lit “Supertrees”, reaching 50 metres in height. Each “tree” consists of a concrete structure with hundreds of small plants embedded around the structure. At the top of each structure are solar panels to power the park’s systems and conservatory, and rainwater storage facilities. The gardens are beneficial to the city in many ways. Firstly their mechanical columns literally support a huge range of plant species, which supports a variety of wildlife. The ‘trees’ presence helps keep the city cool by providing shade, reflecting sunlight, and releasing water into the environment via evaporation. Finally, they provide a valuable space for the local residents to use and enjoy, fostering health benefits in the process.