Green Facades and Living Walls: The Portuguese Experience

Urban areas are facing several challenges as a result of the increasing expansion of cities and due to climate changes. In this regard, green infrastructures have been presented as possible solutions to mitigate some of these issues, improving the quality of live in the urban centres. The final report from Horizon 2020 Expert group on "Nature based solutions" also recognized the benefits that these solutions may provide to both urban ecosystems and citizens. In fact, green roofs and green vertical systems (GVS) may offer a range of ecosystems services contributing to improve a buildings' thermal and acoustic insulation, reduce urban heat island effect, and increase urban biodiversity and air quality. This communication will present the main results of an ongoing systematic review of the existing green vertical systems in Portugal. The main characteristics of the different systems will be presented and discussed in terms of constructive design, vegetative species and irrigation and maintenance needs.