“Cool” revolution: vertical greening against heat

A very hot summer raises big challenges for humans and nature. In particular in cities, densely built-up areas give rise to urban heat islands. In those populous areas, vertical greening offers major potentials. It hardly needs additional space and can substantially improve the quality of living for residents. However, outdoor vertical greening is a complex system that needs to be carefully planned and adapted to the building structure in question and subsequently requires a sound maintenance concept.

Austrian standard attracts international attention: increasing number of inquiries

In ÖNORM L 1136, Austrian Standards already published comprehensive guidance on planning, building, maintenance and control for outdoor vertical greening in 2021. Thereby, this document sets clear standards and also attracts international attention. Due to the great interest from non-German speaking countries, this ÖNORM standard is now being translated into English.

“Standards play an important role in the context of all future trends. They are not an end in themselves but are to help solve problems. With ÖNORM L 1136, Austrian Standards underlines the significance of greened buildings and Austria’s pioneering role in sustainable urban development. The English translation of this standard will allow cities from all over the world to access this invaluable know-how,” stresses Valerie Höllinger, CEO and Managing Director of Austrian Standards.

The objective of ÖNORM L 1136 is to lay the foundation for durable greening that delivers the best possible performance with regard to biodiversity, human health and climate protection. In the development of the standard, a leading role was played, for example, by experts from the Association for Greening Buildings, Wiener Wohnen, the Climate Protection Ministry, the Province of Lower Austria, the Agricultural Chamber and Vienna’s Municipal Department 42 – Parks and Gardens.

City of Vienna as a green pioneer

The City of Vienna promotes greening measures taken by individual citizens and enterprises. Greened façades, roofs and courtyards are not only visually appealing and sensible in ecological respects, but often also provide economic benefits. “This is the first comprehensive standard allowing property owners and cities to implement modern vertical greening. Contractors can also use it for planning and drawing up comparable tenders. This means that it is possible to get long-lived, cost-efficient and well-functioning greening based on professional implementation. The City of Vienna uses this ÖNORM standard to achieve objectives such as improving climate resilience, increasing biodiversity and reducing urban heat islands,” states Hans Heider, chairman of Committee 229 “Green space” and head of the garden engineering unit of Wiener Wohnen.

The key subjects covered by the ÖNORM standard include technical requirements for greening systems, criteria for selecting suitable plants, care and maintenance guidelines as well as safety aspects. Moreover, checklists provide additional assistance for the planning, implementation and maintenance of vertical greenery.

The German version of ÖNORM L 1136 can be obtained from Austrian Standards. The English version is expected to become available in 2025.

Bibliography:

ÖNORM L 1136 Outdoor vertical greening – Directives for planning, building, maintenance and control

About Austrian Standards

Austrian Standards is the Austrian organization for standardization & innovation and forms part of an international network of partners from 167 countries. The central objective: providing support to finding solutions for society’s challenges, enabling more innovations and raising the competitiveness and export potential of the Austrian and European economy. Standards are developed by practitioners in European and international cooperation. In Austria alone, more than 4,700 experts participate from around 2,800 different organizations, disciplines and sectors (business, research, administration and NGOs). Austrian Standards networks those experts and, through its membership in international standardization organizations such as ISO, CEN and ETSI, offers access to a worldwide network. Based on digital solutions, Austrian Standards also ensures easy access to standards from all over the world. Specialized literature, congresses and seminars support practical application; certification services confirm compliance with standards. Austrian Standards has around 130 employees and was awarded the equalitA quality label for the in-house advancement of women. www.austrian-standards.at

About Wiener Wohnen

Wiener Wohnen manages, maintains and renovates Vienna’s municipal housing estates. These include around 220,000 municipal flats, approximately 6,000 commercial premises and more than 47,000 indoor and outdoor parking spaces. Thus, Wiener Wohnen is the biggest municipal property manager in Europe. Roughly 500,000 Viennese – i.e. a quarter of Vienna’s population – live in its 1,800 municipal housing compounds.