Last updated: November 2021
Santalaia is a high-end, multi-family residential building located in the heart of downtown Bogota, Colombia. Santalaia is often referred to as "the green heart of Bogota" and is seen as an icon of sustainability [1]. The 11-story building was completed in 2015 and all eleven floors are engulfed in many species of plant wildlife to encourage biodiversity. There are 115,000 native plants of 10 different species covering a total area of 3117 m² [2,3]. The plants included on the exterior of the building rely on a hydroponic system and provide a model of how to increase green zones in urban areas. A vertical garden of this size provides natural beauty in the middle of concrete Bogota while mitigating the carbon footprint of more than 700 people. An additional benefit of Santalaia’s vertical garden is that the plants create a “green carpet” that serve as insulation and reduce the use of air conditioners, an increasingly valuable contribution during times of rising temperatures due to climate change [5,6].
More than 10 different plant species from compatible families
https://blogging-techies.com/el-jardin-vertical-mas-grande-del-mundo-florece-en-el-corazon-de-bogota/
Overview
Nature-based solution
- Nature on buildings (external)
- Green walls or facades
Key challenges
- Climate action for adaptation, resilience and mitigation (SDG 13)
- Climate change adaptation
- Climate change mitigation
- Water management (SDG 6)
- Improvements to water quality
- Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)
- Habitat and biodiversity conservation
- Environmental quality
- Air quality improvement
- Noise reduction
Focus
Creation of new green areas
Project objectives
-Improve water management [4].
-Improve the air quality in the city and create a healthier environment for the citizens [4].
-Reduce urban heat island effect [3].
-Reduce internal temperature and energy consumption [3, 4].
-Encourage biodiversity [2].
Implementation activities
-Santalaia Building Vertical Garden plays a role in climate change mitigation through the generation of clean energy, by helping to filter pollutants from the air, mitigating the urban heat island effect, and absorbing noise pollution through the plants, which are natural filters [4,7].
-Building a 3,117 m2 vertical garden over a large metallic structure explicitly designed for the project, completely covered with a lush layer of 115,000 native plants of 10 different species and five different families by creating urban ecosystems that attract insects and birds, positively affecting biodiversity [3,7]
-Installation of a particular hydroponic irrigation system that handles up to 42 different irrigation stations regulated automatically depending on humidity and solar radiation to optimize water consumption. "The leftover water is recycled through the living walls along with the wastewater of its residents". As a result, it improves water management by diminishing the amount of wasted water and redirecting it towards plants [6,7].
-The blanket of selected plants offers a green respite to the residents of this building and others in the environment, reduce the thermal island effect in the area and ensuring internal temperature inside the building, which reduces the need for air conditioning [4,7].
Climate-focused activities
Climate change adaptation:
- Increase or improve urban vegetation cover to help reduce outdoor temperature
- Implement green walls or roofs to lower indoor temperature and provide insulation
Climate change mitigation:
- Implement solutions to help reducing energy consumption or support the use of sustainable energy resources
- Install vertical or horizontal artificial surfaces that help with carbon storage and cooling
Biodiversity conservation or restoration-focused activities
Biodiversity conservation:
- Protect and enhance urban habitats
- Create new habitats
- Protect species
- Undertake specific measures to protect species
- Undertake specific measures to protect native species
Main beneficiaries
- Private sector/Corporate/Company
- Citizens or community groups
Governance
Management set-up
- Led by non-government actors
Type of initiating organisation
- Private sector/corporate actor/company
Participatory approaches/ community involvement
- Unknown
Details on the roles of the organisations involved in the project
The vertical garden of the Santalaia building was designed and constructed by The Colombian Company Groncol with the technological support of the Spanish Company Paisajismo Urbano. Completed in December 2015, the project took a total of eight months of planning and eight months of construction [3].
Project implemented in response to ...
... an EU policy or strategy?
Unknown
... a national policy or strategy?
Unknown
... a local policy or strategy?
Unknown
Financing
Total cost
Unknown
Source(s) of funding
- Corporate investment
Type of funding
- Unknown
Non-financial contribution
Unknown
Impacts and Monitoring
Environmental impacts
- Climate change
- Lowered local temperature
- Reduced emissions
- Enhanced carbon sequestration
- Environmental quality
- Improved air quality
- Green space and habitat
- Promotion of naturalistic styles of landscape design for urban development
- Increased green space area
- Increased number of species present
Economic impacts
- Unknown
Socio-cultural impacts
- Social justice and cohesion
- Improved liveability
Type of reported impacts
Expected impacts, Achieved impacts
Presence of formal monitoring system
Unknown
Presence of indicators used in reporting
No evidence in public records
Presence of monitoring/ evaluation reports
No evidence in public records
Availability of a web-based monitoring tool
No evidence in public records
References
1. Blogging-techies. 2021. El jardín vertical más grande del mundo florece en el corazón de Bogotá. [online] Available at: Source link [Accessed 28 September 2021].
2. Container Gardenville. 2021. Santalaia: The Coolest Vertical Garden in the World - Container Gardenville. [online] Available at: Source link [Accessed 28 September 2021].
3. Greenroofs. 2021. Santalaia - Source link. [online] Available at: Source link [Accessed 28 September 2021].
4. Icities4greengrowth. 2021. Santalaia Building Vertical Garden (Bogotá - Colombia) | Indian Cities 4 Green Growth. [online] Available at: Source link [Accessed 26 September 2021].
5. Infobae. 2021. Algunos de los jardines verticales más grandes del mundo están en América Latina: cuáles son. [online] Available at: Source link [Accessed 28 September 2021].
6. Wonderful Engineering. 2017. World's Largest Vertical Garden Blooms In The Heart Of Bogota. [online] Available at: Source link [Accessed 28 September 2021].
7. Ideassonline. 2021. Available at: Source link [Accessed 29 September 2021].
2. Container Gardenville. 2021. Santalaia: The Coolest Vertical Garden in the World - Container Gardenville. [online] Available at: Source link [Accessed 28 September 2021].
3. Greenroofs. 2021. Santalaia - Source link. [online] Available at: Source link [Accessed 28 September 2021].
4. Icities4greengrowth. 2021. Santalaia Building Vertical Garden (Bogotá - Colombia) | Indian Cities 4 Green Growth. [online] Available at: Source link [Accessed 26 September 2021].
5. Infobae. 2021. Algunos de los jardines verticales más grandes del mundo están en América Latina: cuáles son. [online] Available at: Source link [Accessed 28 September 2021].
6. Wonderful Engineering. 2017. World's Largest Vertical Garden Blooms In The Heart Of Bogota. [online] Available at: Source link [Accessed 28 September 2021].
7. Ideassonline. 2021. Available at: Source link [Accessed 29 September 2021].
Santalaia Building Vertical Garden
https://www.ambientebogota.gov.co/web/sda/techos-verdes-y-jardines-verticales
The Santalaia Building in Bogotá
https://paisajismourbano.com/blog/2015/12/17/jardin-vertical-mas-grande-del-mundo-edificio-santalaia/
The plants improve the building’s isolation
https://paisajismourbano.com/blog/2015/12/17/jardin-vertical-mas-grande-del-mundo-edificio-santalaia/
Santalaia by Paisajismo Urbano and Groncol
https://inhabitat.com/the-worlds-largest-vertical-garden-blooms-with-85000-plants-in-the-heart-of-bogota/santalaia-vertical-garden-lead-2/
Irrigation stations.
https://www.greenroofs.com/projects/santalaia/
The technological base for the project utilized Paisajismo Urbano’s hydroponic green wall system – their f+p system (or “Sistema f+p”
https://www.greenroofs.com/projects/santalaia/
Information about this nature-based solution was collected as part of the UNA global extension project funded by the British Academy.