BIG4LIFE (Building-integrated Greenery): Collaborative xeriscaping-based maintenance and monitoring in Mediterranean cities

Nature-based solutions (NBS) have been confirmed in recent years as one of the most important strategies on the path to future resilient, sustainable and circular cities within the Sustainable Development Goals.  In January 2021, the European Commission launched the New European Bauhaus (NEB), an initiative that connects the European Green Deal with our living spaces. 

The integration of vegetation and nature into buildings’ envelopes, such as green roofs, green walls and green facades, stands out for its ability to re-fill the scarce surfaces of opportunity in the dense built environment. Thus, so-called Building-Integrated Greenery (BIG) systems allow for the renaturing of cities when there is no room for traditional solutions, e.g. urban parks, gardens, street trees or urban forests. 

BIG systems provide several ecosystem services at both the building and city level including: mitigation of the urban heat island effect; decrease in storm water runoff; enhancement of biodiversity; purification of air and water runoff; reduction of urban noise; activation of the economy by creating jobs and stimulation of urban agricultural production; and improvements in citizens’ mental health. 

However, there are still barriers to the widespread use of these construction systems in the building sector and consequently to its integration into local, regional and national urban policies and planning processes, particularly in the Mediterranean regions: 

• cost of maintenance and lack of "management and maintenance" standards.
• lack of monitoring of BIG systems' performance in real cases.
• diverging interests of stakeholders.
• demanding nature of the Mediterranean climate.

The general objective of the BIG4LIFE project is to demonstrate that it is possible to guarantee positive service life, and optimal and continuous provision of ecosystem services, through the application of appropriate collaborative strategies for the management, maintenance, and impact monitoring and evaluation of Building-Integrated Greenery (BIG) systems. The BIG4LIFE project will focus on the Mediterranean climate. 

The specific objectives of the BIG4LIFE project are to: 

Characterise the current operation of eight BIG projects in terms of ecosystems provided, stakeholders involved, and maintenance and monitoring activities (identify drivers of success and causes of failure).  

Co-design two specific "networking plans" for each selected project, integrating xeriscaping and smart approaches. 

Apply the two networking plans, maintenance and monitoring, for 24 months and to evaluate the impacts of the new approaches.  

Partially refurbish selected BIG projects that have failed, considering circular economy and xeriscaping criteria, to establish the reference conditions. 

Install the facilities and smart control systems necessary for maintenance activities and ecosystem services/KPI monitoring that can be automated.  

Carry out awareness raising and training activities on BIG systems with a view to stakeholder capacity building. 

Draft two definitive EU "framework plans" that can be replicated in the future in any BIG system.  

Catalyse the large-scale deployment and application of the BIG4LIFE project achievements, both in the Mediterranean area and worldwide, whilst guaranteeing the consolidation of BIG4LIFE methodologies, approaches, results and conclusions in the medium and long term, as well as its integration into regulations, policies and professional guides.