Climate-resilient urban planning and architecture with GREENPASS illustrated by the case study 'FLAIR in the City' in Vienna

• Published in: IOP conference series. Earth and environmental science Vol. 323; no. 1; pp. 12087 - 12097
• Main Authors: Kraus, F, Scharf, B
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Bristol IOP Publishing 01.08.2019
• Subjects: Architecture; Buildings; Carbon sequestration; Case studies; Climate; Climate change; Climatic conditions; Extreme weather; Green buildings; Green infrastructure; Green roofs; Infrastructure; Optimization; R&D; Rainfall; Research & development; Residential buildings; Residential location; Sustainable design; Technology; Thermal comfort; Urban areas; Urban development; Urban environments; Urban planning; Urban sprawl; Weather; Austria; Vienna Austria
• ISSN: 1755-1307; 1755-1315
• DOI: 10.1088/1755-1315/323/1/012087

Urban growth and climate change are 2 of the main challenges worldwide [20]. Cities are growing rapidly while average temperatures are rising, and extreme weather conditions, as heavy rain events, are becoming more frequently. Soon 4 out of 5 EU citizens are living in cities [6]. The results are increasing costs for health expenses and infrastructure damages. Urban planning processes have to consider future climate conditions and the impact on people, buildings and the urban environment. Until today there was no simple solution to measure and calculate the climate impacts of urban developments. GREENPASS® is a technological breakthrough, the world's first software-based technology for climate-resilient and resource-efficient urban development. After 9 years of scientific research and development the technology can easily be used by urban planners as architects and be integrated into existing urban planning workflows and processes. With GREENPASS® the impact of buildings, materials and plants on urban climate become measurable and comparable in a standardized way - powered by ENVI-met®. It supports optimization of investments towards effects of Green Infrastructure (trees, green roofs and walls, ...) such as cooling, thermal comfort, water retention and carbon sequestration. GREENPASS® allows to identify the optimal solution for any urban development. Supported projects receive finally a GREENPASS® certificate on their overall performance. The technology has already been applied successfully for more than 25 projects within Austria and Europe [3] and will be explained more in detail using the case study of 'FLAIR in the City' - the world's first GREENPASS® Gold-certified residential building, located in Vienna/Austria.