16.08.2023
Europe’s Largest Green Facade
Eight kilometres of green hedges, some 30,000 plants in total, cover the surface of the Ko-Bogen II in the heart of Dusseldorf. Consequently, Kö-Bogen II’s facade hedges were chosen for their microclimate improving qualities: they protect the building against sun rays in summer, and by doing so reduce the overall urban heat in their surroundings. Green spaces in any form also support a higher biodiversity by providing living and breeding space for insects and birds. According to ingenhoven architects, the ecological benefit of the Kö-Bogen II hedges equals that of “approximately 80 fully grown deciduous trees”. In short, an intelligent green concept can provide a valuable mitigative effect of the results of the climate crisis, while also creating a better environment for people to live and work in. The hornbeam is a wonderfully rewarding plant. Robust and non-poisonous, it grows quickly into thick hedges. The positive effects of the giant hornbeam hedges on the inner-city climate are plain to see. The greening prevents the facade of “Kö-Bogen 2” from heating up disproportionately to as much as 70 degrees when exposed to strong sunlight and returning this heat to the ambient air. Here, the plants act as a buffer against heat, stopping temperatures around the new complex from rising. Credit: WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM
Poverty deprives people of adequate education, health care and of life's most basic necessities- safe living conditions (including clean air and clean drinking water) and an adequate food supply. The developed (industrialized) countries today account for roughly 20 percent of the world's population but control about 80 percent of the world's wealth.
Poverty and pollution seem to operate in a vicious cycle that, so far, has been hard to break. Even in the developed nations, the gap between the rich and the poor is evident in their respective social and environmental conditions.
Poverty and pollution seem to operate in a vicious cycle that, so far, has been hard to break. Even in the developed nations, the gap between the rich and the poor is evident in their respective social and environmental conditions.
