Last updated: October 2021
This office complex at 10 Gedonstrasse in Munich was completed in the spring of 2002 with a pre-grown Ceratodon purpureum green roof and living green wall panels. It uses a special technique called BRYOTEC Technology, which enables the producing of (plant) mosses for revitalization. The biological crusts of mosses which it produces play a very important role in engineered soil media stabilisation, accelerating the development of depleted soils/substrates for vegetation establishment. The extensive green roof is built up from mosses that require minimum maintenance. (Reference 1, 4)
Greenroof, Office Building Münchener Rückversicherung
Source: Ref. 5
Overview
Nature-based solution
- Nature on buildings (external)
- Green roofs
- Green walls or facades
Key challenges
- Climate action for adaptation, resilience and mitigation (SDG 13)
- Climate change adaptation
- Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)
- Green space creation and/or management
Focus
Creation of new green areas, Other
Project objectives
"The goal of BRYOTEC Technology is to install a bryophytic cover on roofs and walls with types of vegetation adapted to difficult life conditions with minimum or no maintenance at all. " (Reference 1) With this procedure, the technology aims at re-populating plant species in accordance with natural processes - those which are perennial and which maintain biodiversity. (Reference 1)
Implementation activities
- creation of 186 sqm green roof (Reference 1)
Climate-focused activities
Climate change adaptation:
- Implement green walls or roofs to lower indoor temperature and provide insulation
- Increase the use of climate-resilient plant species (resistant to drought, fire, and pests)
Biodiversity conservation or restoration-focused activities
Biodiversity restoration:
- Other
Main beneficiaries
- Private sector/Corporate/Company
- Other
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 renovation of the office building of München RE was initiated by the insurance company itself. It asked the architect studio (Baumschlager Eberle Architekten) to provide an environmentally conscious design. The technology of the green roof was provided by a small French company whose researchers worked for ten years with mastering BRYOTEC Technology (Reference 3).
Project implemented in response to ...
... an EU policy or strategy?
Unknown
... a national policy or strategy?
Unknown
... a local policy or strategy?
Yes
(The intervention is in line with the city's strategy for sustainable urban development, the Munich: Future Perpective, being worked out in 1998. Among others the city set out the goal of urban development that is in accordance with solidarity, social equity and greening (Reference 6).
Munich has an aim to increase the green roofs since the 1990s. An international study on green roof policies wrote in 2011: "In particular, the obligation to landscape all suitable flat roofs with a surface area >100 m² over the past 14 years has led to making green roofs in Munich a recognised construction standard" (Reference 7).)
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
- Enhanced carbon sequestration
- Environmental quality
- Improved air quality
- Green space and habitat
- Increased green space area
- Other
Economic impacts
- Unknown
Socio-cultural impacts
- Unknown
Type of reported impacts
Expected 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. Source link. (2017). Munich Re Office Building. [online] Available at: Source link 28 Jul. 2002]
2. Chiaffredo, M. (2004). When Mosses Recreate the Landscape on the Roof. Greenroof. [online] (website not available in 2020)
3. Source link. (2017). Office Building Münchener Rückversicherung. [online] (website not available in 2020)
4. Chiaffredo, M. and Figureau, C. (1995). Substrate containing Cyanophycea and Bryophyte protonemas for producing vegetation on bare terrain. US 5441877 A. Available at: Source link [Accessed: 28 Jul. 2020]
5. Source link. (2017). Greenroof of Munich Re Office Building. [image] Available at: Source link 28 Jul. 2017]
6. Department of Urban Planning and Building Regulation. (1998). Munich: Future Perspective. Munich: Department of Urban Planning and Building Regulation.
7. Ansel, W. (2011). Green Roof News, 01/2011. Nuertingen: International Green Roof Association.
2. Chiaffredo, M. (2004). When Mosses Recreate the Landscape on the Roof. Greenroof. [online] (website not available in 2020)
3. Source link. (2017). Office Building Münchener Rückversicherung. [online] (website not available in 2020)
4. Chiaffredo, M. and Figureau, C. (1995). Substrate containing Cyanophycea and Bryophyte protonemas for producing vegetation on bare terrain. US 5441877 A. Available at: Source link [Accessed: 28 Jul. 2020]
5. Source link. (2017). Greenroof of Munich Re Office Building. [image] Available at: Source link 28 Jul. 2017]
6. Department of Urban Planning and Building Regulation. (1998). Munich: Future Perspective. Munich: Department of Urban Planning and Building Regulation.
7. Ansel, W. (2011). Green Roof News, 01/2011. Nuertingen: International Green Roof Association.