ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Sustain.
Sec. Nature-Based Solutions
Volume 6 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/frsus.2025.1704207
This article is part of the Research TopicSustainable Water Use and Management in Urban AreasView all 9 articles
Basic aspects of caring for green facades in the city of Košice
Provisionally accepted
- Technical University of Košice, Košice, Slovakia
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Green façades are increasingly promoted as nature-based solutions for mitigating overheating, improving microclimate, and supporting biodiversity in cities. Yet their contribution to sustainable water management remains underexplored, especially in continental Central European climates where irrigation demand is highly variable. This pilot study evaluated the establishment and first year of operation of a modular green façade at the Technical University of Košice, Slovakia. Six ornamental species (N = 180) were tested under a gravity-driven irrigation system. Irrigation events were manually recorded between November 2024 and August 2025, while plant survival and vitality were assessed monthly and compared with meteorological data. Irrigation demand closely followed air temperature, with minimal watering during winter dormancy, increasing demand in spring, and a peak in June. The unusually cool July reduced irrigation despite full vegetation coverage. Overall plant survival reached ~90 %, with Carex morrowii and Hedera helix showing high resilience, while Heuchera proved more vulnerable to heat stress. The findings demonstrate that green façades in Central Europe require active management but can effectively support sustainable urban water strategies when irrigation is carefully scheduled and resilient species are selected. This locally grounded evidence contributes to the knowledge base linking vertical greenery with the European Green Deal and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Keywords: Green Façade, Irrigation management, water-use efficiency, plant survival, Continental climate, Urban sustainability
Received: 12 Sep 2025; Accepted: 13 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Vranayova, Kocurkova, Kaposztasova and Kozlovska. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Daniela Kaposztasova, daniela.kaposztasova@tuke.sk
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