Abstract:
Greenery use in buildings has become a trend and a topic of discussions amongst the built environment community and abroad. One of the major elements affecting the dispersion of modern environmentally friendly building envelopes is the need to better the performance of the targeted buildings.
With cityscapes expanding both horizontally and vertically, green washed buildings seem to appear more often on the scene of recently permitted buildings even though the evidence to back up their claims on environmental performance lack strong backing from scientific studies. As a result, the early design evaluation process on these large parts of urban fabric is critical. While many studies have analyzed and evaluated, different scenarios that consist of different types of greenery use there is a gap in literature regarding whether greenwashing relates to outdoor thermal comfort, and if so, how much of an impact it has. This paper will attempt to answer this question by analyzing a real case scenario, using simulations to obtain data on two different optimization scenarios that follow greenwashing techniques based on literature. The goal of this paper is to guide and assist planners in Tirana and other cities with similar climate circumstances to make the right decisions when planning new neighborhoods.
