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Blue‐green roofs (BGRs), compared to traditional green roofs, can provide enhanced water storage capacity for stormwater management and drought mitigation. However, the potential of utilizing stored water for external purposes, such as toilet flushing and lawn irrigation, remains underexplored. This study developed a daily time‐step hydrological model based on the water balance equation to simulate the runoff reduction ratio, water supply reliability, and irrigation time fraction of BGRs with water supply functions. Using summer rainfall and evapotranspiration (ET) data (1980–2013) from six climatically different cities based on Köppen climate zone classification in the United States (Atlanta, Flagstaff, Billings) and China (Guangzhou, Jinan, Lanzhou), the study revealed that: (a) BGRs with external water supply significantly improve runoff control and water supply benefits but increase irrigation demands, particularly in arid regions; (b) increasing storage layer capacity enhances BGRs' performance, but benefits diminish beyond 50 mm; (c) adaptive water supply strategies based on climate variations can improve both flood control benefit and irrigation reliability for BGRs; and (d) water deficits can be avoided in high‐rainfall or low‐ET regions. These findings provide valuable insights for optimizing BGR design and management in diverse climatic conditions. Plain Language Summary Blue‐green roofs (BGRs) offer enhanced water storage capacity compared to traditional green roofs, aiding stormwater management and drought mitigation. This study developed a daily time‐step hydrological model to simulate runoff reduction performance, water supply reliability, and irrigation demand of BGRs with water supply functions. Using summer rainfall and evapotranspiration (ET) data (1980–2013) from six cities in the U.S. and China, the study found that: (a) BGRs with external water supply greatly increase runoff reduction and water supply benefits, but need higher irrigation demands; (b) increase in storage layer capacity enhances system's performance, but benefits decrease beyond 50 mm; (c) climate‐adaptive water supply strategies can help increase runoff control benefit and satisfy irrigation demand for BGRs; and (d) water supply and demand balance is achievable in areas with high rainfall or low ET. These findings can help proper BGR design and management in areas with different climate conditions. Key Points A daily hydrological model was developed for water‐supply enabled blue‐green roofs Blue‐green roofs' external water supply potential was explored for non‐potable applications Hydrologic performance for blue‐green roofs were assessed across six cities

Growing and densifying cities set a challenge for preserving and enhancing green spaces to cool urban spaces. Green roofs, involving the planting of vegetation on rooftops, are regarded as an alternative approach to enhancing urban greenery and urban cooling. For better cooling performances, it is essential to reasonably configure green roofs, especially in real and complex neighborhoods. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to investigate the impact of morphological characteristics of green roofs on pedestrian cooling in real and complex neighborhoods. In specific, based on an ENVI-met model, we studied the effect of greening layout, coverage ratio, vegetation height, and building height on pedestrian air temperature reduction in the tropical city of Hangzhou, China. Results indicate green roofs could generate moderate effects on pedestrian air temperature reduction (around 0.10–0.30 °C), while achieving a cooling performance of 0.82 °C. Green roofs in upwind zones were able to generate the most favorable cooling performance, while green roofs in downwind zones made slight differences to pedestrian thermal environments. Green roofs with a low coverage ratio were not useful for lowering pedestrian temperature, and a greening coverage ratio of 25–75% in upwind zones was cost-effective in real neighborhoods. Locations that were horizontally close to green roofs enjoyed better cooling performances. Increasing vegetation height could strengthen cooling effects of green roofs, while an increase in building height weakened the cooling performance. Nevertheless, higher building height could enhance pedestrian cooling performances because of building shading effects. In addition, because of wind effects and building shading, building height limits for the cooling performance of green roofs could be higher than 60 m.

\"With the progress of urbanisation worldwide, the conflict between architecture and green areas in the urban context is becoming increasingly pressing. The concept of integrated landscape arises as an important approach to increase green areas while not occupying valuable inner city lands, and thus finds its way in more and more cities around the world. The book focuses on the theme of integrated landscape, addressing its two main categories respectively: green walls and rooftop gardens. Thirty-nine cutting-edge projects are selected to present the latest trends in landscape design.\"--Dust jacket.

The development of buildings and other infrastructure in cities is viewed as a threat to local biodiversity and ecosystem functioning because natural habitat is replaced. However, there is momentum for implementing green infrastructure (GI), such as green roofs, wetland detention basins and community gardens, that partially offset these impacts and that benefit human health. GI is often designed to explicitly support ecosystem services, including implied benefits to biodiversity. The effects of GI on biodiversity have been rarely quantified, but research on this topic has increased exponentially in the last decade and a synthesis of the literature is needed. Here, we examined 1,883 published manuscripts and conducted a meta‐analysis on 33 studies that were relevant. We determined whether GI provides additional benefits to biodiversity over conventional infrastructure or natural counterparts. We also highlighted research gaps and identified opportunities to improve future applications. We determined that GI significantly improves biodiversity over conventional infrastructure equivalents, and that in some cases GI had comparable measures of biodiversity to natural counterparts. Many studies were omitted from these analyses because we found GI research has generally neglected conventional experimental design frameworks, including controls, replication or adequate sampling effort. Synthesis and applications. Our synthesis identified that taxa specificity is an important consideration for green infrastructure (GI) design relative to the more common measurements at the community level. We also identified that ignoring multi‐trophic interactions and landscape‐level patterns can limit our understanding of GI effects on biodiversity. We recommend further examination of species‐specific differences among infrastructures (i.e. green, conventional or natural equivalents) or using functional traits to improve the efficacy of GI implementation on urban biodiversity. Furthermore, we encourage policy makers and practitioners to improve the design of GI to benefit urban ecosystems because of the potential benefits for both humans and global biodiversity. Our synthesis identified that taxa specificity is an important consideration for green infrastructure (GI) design relative to the more common measurements at the community level. We also identified that ignoring multi‐trophic interactions and landscape‐level patterns can limit our understanding of GI effects on biodiversity. We recommend further examination of species‐specific differences among infrastructures (i.e. green, conventional or natural equivalents) or using functional traits to improve the efficacy of GI implementation on urban biodiversity. Furthermore, we encourage policy makers and practitioners to improve the design of GI to benefit urban ecosystems because of the potential benefits for both humans and global biodiversity.

Integrating photovoltaic (PV) systems with green roofs presents a synergistic approach to urban sustainability. Many existing flat-roof PV installations, often east–west oriented with limited elevation, present integration challenges for green roofs and are therefore understudied. This study addresses this by investigating the microclimatic effects of retrofitting an extensive green roof beneath such an existing PV array. Over a two-year period, continuous measurements of sub-panel air temperature, relative humidity, and module surface temperature were conducted. Results show that the green roof reduced average midday sub-panel air temperatures by 1.7–2.2 °C, with peak reductions up to 8 °C during summer, while nighttime temperatures were higher above the green roof. Relative humidity increased by up to 8.1 percentage points and module surface temperatures beneath the green roof were lowered by 0.4–1.5 °C, though with greater variability. Computational fluid dynamics simulations confirmed that evaporative cooling was spatially confined beneath the panels and highlighted the influence of structural features on airflow and convective cooling. Despite limited vegetation beneath the panels, the green roof retained moisture longer than the gravel roof, resulting in particularly strong cooling effects in the days following rainfall. The study highlights the retrofitting potential for improving rooftop climates, while showing key design recommendations for enhanced system performance.

Mitigation of the urban heat island (UHI) effect at the city-scale is investigated using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model in conjunction with the Princeton Urban Canopy Model (PUCM). Specifically, the cooling impacts of green roof and cool (white high-albedo) roof strategies over the Baltimore-Washington metropolitan area during a heat wave period (7 June-10 June 2008) are assessed using the optimal set-up of WRF-PUCM described in the companion paper by Li and Bou-Zeid (2014). Results indicate that the surface UHI effect (defined based on the urban-rural surface temperature difference) is reduced significantly more than the near-surface UHI effect (defined based on urban-rural 2 m air temperature difference) when these mitigation strategies are adopted. In addition, as the green and cool roof fractions increase, the surface and near-surface UHIs are reduced almost linearly. Green roofs with relatively abundant soil moisture have comparable effect in reducing the surface and near-surface UHIs to cool roofs with an albedo value of 0.7. Significant indirect effects are also observed for both green and cool roof strategies; mainly, the low-level advection of atmospheric moisture from rural areas into urban terrain is enhanced when the fraction of these roofs increases, thus increasing the humidity in urban areas. The additional benefits or penalties associated with modifications of the main physical determinants of green or cool roof performance are also investigated. For green roofs, when the soil moisture is increased by irrigation, additional cooling effect is obtained, especially when the 'unmanaged' soil moisture is low. The effects of changing the albedo of cool roofs are also substantial. These results also underline the capabilities of the WRF-PUCM framework to support detailed analysis and diagnosis of the UHI phenomenon, and of its different mitigation strategies.

Blue-Green Infrastructure (BGI) consists of natural and semi-natural systems implemented to mitigate climate change impacts in urban areas, including elevated air temperatures and flooding. This study is a state-of-the-art review that presents recent research on BGI by identifying and critically evaluating published studies that considered urban heat island mitigation and stormwater management as potential benefits. Thirty-two records were included in the review, with the majority of studies published after 2015. Findings indicate that BGI effectively controls urban runoff and mitigates urban heat, with the literature being slightly more focused on stormwater management than urban heat island mitigation. Among BGI, the studies on blue- and blue-green roofs focused on one benefit at a time (i.e. thermal or hydrologic performance) and did not consider promoting multiple benefits simultaneously. Two-thirds of the selected studies were performed on a large urban scale, with computer modelling and sensor monitoring being the predominant assessment methods. Compared with typical Green Infrastructure (GI), and from a design perspective, many crucial questions on BGI performance, particularly on smaller urban scales, remain unanswered. Future research will have to continue to explore the performance of BGI, considering the identified gaps.

In recent years, owing to intense urbanization and global change with the consequent extreme climate effects, interest in green roofs, even extensive ones, in the Mediterranean environment has increased. To this end, the choice of plant species is crucial because, owing to the identification of the most suitable plants, it will be possible to expand this type of green infrastructure and increase its ecosystem services in the urban environment. In this context, the objective of the review, through a critical analysis of some of the references on the topic, is to identify suitable criteria for plant species selection that are simple to apply and able to respond to the need to have plants capable of surviving, ensuring a suitable aesthetic effect, and providing essential ecosystem services. We also investigated whether, and to what extent, associations of different species can better adapt to the difficult environmental conditions of Mediterranean green roofs. Two possible strategies to identify the plant idiotype were analyzed: the analysis of plants present in habitat analogues or the identification of morpho-functional characters capable of discriminating the response to abiotic stress, and in particular to drought stress. The use of plant communities, rather than a single species, seems capable of improving aesthetic effects, plant survival, and ecosystem services.