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Landscaping includes any element of your development which contributes to providing green, vegetated spaces. This could include the provision of garden areas, trees, grassed areas, etc. Increasingly, more creative solutions to providing vegetated areas in modern developments are being realised.
Providing green structures and spaces within your development design can help to combat climate change. Vegetated areas absorb carbon dioxide (a key contributor to global warming) through photosynthesis. Also, green spaces can help to adapt the urban environment to lessen the negative effects associated with hotter summers (buildings overheating) and wetter winters (flooding, etc.) likely to be worsened through climate change.
Tree Planting/Retention and Provision of Garden Areas
Accommodating trees and gardens within your new development can have aesthetic benefits as well as contributing to environmental sustainability objectives (see below). There is evidence that the presence of green areas close to a development can have a positive impact on the well-being of people and can contribute to greater property values.
Green Roofs (and Green Walls)
A Green Roof (also known as Eco Roof or Living Roof) is a roof space that is partially or completely covered with vegetation and soil (or another growing medium) planted over a waterproof membrane. The potential benefits in contributing to the sustainability of your development are numerous.
- The benefits of landscape elements within developments:
- Contribute to Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SUDS) because vegetated areas can act as a store for rainwater, reducing the amount of water which burdens the sewer system and which can contribute to flooding.
- Increase biodiversity. An established green area can be home to an abundance of wildlife.
- Reducing the urban heat island effect though evaporative cooling.
- Helping to reduce air pollution. Large trees are especially useful in capturing pollutants present in the local atmosphere.
- Additional benefits through Green Roofs and Green Walls:
- Improve the thermal insulation of buildings by reducing the loss of heat through the roof spaces during the winter
- Reduce over-heating of buildings and the immediate surrounding areas during hot summer days. The vegetated layer shields the main building structure from direct solar gain helping to keep it cooler.
- To almost double the life expectancy of a conventional roof.
Further Information
For further information and advice regarding the use of creative landscaping within developments you could refer to the following sources of information:
- Arboriculture - Specific advice on the treatment of trees within building developments in Torbay
- The Green Roof Centre
- A wealthy resource of information regarding Green Roof technology - Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE) - CABE has produced documentation outlining the positive role of green infrastructure and sustainable design
Related Websites
Contact Environmental Policy & Sustainability
- Tel: 01803 207751
- Email: sustainability@torbay.gov.uk
- Fax: 01803 208882
