Project FABIKLI - Our first explanatory film has been produced!

In August 2021, we started our new school project FABIKLI. Together with TU Berlin, we are greening school façades in Berlin and scientifically evaluating the energy and material recycling potential of the vertically produced biomass. In this way, schools are making an active contribution to climate protection. We explain the project in our video:

Please not, that the video is in German and we didn’t upload English subtitles yet. 

Façade greening – an innovative approach for more urban greenery

Façade greening refers to the use of large building walls for vegetation. In urban regions, this type of vegetation can represent an innovative approach to urban greenery. This is because land for green spaces is becoming increasingly scarce. Green building façades have a proven positive impact on local temperature, air pollution, noise pollution and the human psyche. At the same time, green façades provide shelter for insects and other animals and thus support biodiversity at the site. In contrast to fossil fuels, plant biomass has the advantage that when biomass is used for energy, only the_{amount of CO2} that was previously stored during plant growth is released. The problem with biomass is that agricultural land is often used for the production of biomass, which competes with food production. In addition, transportation to the energy producers worsens the_{CO2 balance} of biomass.

FABIKLI at schools

In our project, we want to combine the advantages of facade greening with the benefits of utilizing biomass and are greening the facades of school buildings. For this purpose, climbing aids specially developed by the TU Berlin are used. In this way, the greenery can be harvested with little effort and the next growth can be prepared. It will be evaluated how the green waste can be used for heat and electricity production and how its composting is to be assessed from a climate change perspective. The green waste will also be examined as a source material for biochar production. The project combines façade greening for biomass production with a tailor-made educational package for schools. The tangible visual object on site illustrates the path of carbon using a concrete example. The façade greening is linked to topics from the framework curriculum in the classroom, incorporating UN sustainability goals such as “sustainable cities” and “climate protection measures” in order to supplement formal education with education for sustainable development. Measures and workshops to raise awareness and build capacity beyond the school curriculum are also being carried out for the broad spectrum of stakeholders in the school environment in order to initiate changes in behavior in the interests of climate protection. The project is being carried out by the Independent Institute for Environmental Issues (UfU) e.V. and the Technical University of Berlin (TUB) in cooperation with the district of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf. It is funded by the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) as part of the National Climate Initiative (NKI) and the district of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf.