4 ms·

The basic concept seems fairly obvious to me. At least on a small scale. My house is a masonry exterior with a mostly southern exposure. It soaks up the sun an

The basic concept seems fairly obvious to me. At least on a small scale. My house is a masonry exterior with a mostly southern exposure. It soaks up the sun and keeps the house very very warm late into the evening... which is not a helpful feature when it's 90F every day of the summer. My plan was to do basically what they described here. Setup some trellis 4 ft or so some the house, and plant some fast-growing vines. Anything to shade the house will obviously be beneficial from a cooling perspective. The vines are mostly to reduce the cost of shading and increase the aesthetics. Now what plants are the best balance of low water usage, high growth, low maintenance? That's a good question and I look forward to seeing what UCDavis comes up with.

abakker 3y ago
if you live in a climate that freezes, I'd recommend Hops. They grow like crazy and are quite beautiful in the fall.
- giantg2 3y ago
  Smells delicious
- darkclouds 3y ago
  And people would harvest hops and then hang them in their house, typically kitchen where they would dry out and be used to make beverages, typically beer. If you mess around with beta alanine and manganese (chloride), be prepared for an increase in olfactory sensing (smelling), and you'll soon discover the rotting smell of vegetation when things get damp, foggy or it rains amongst many other things. I pity our canine friends. I think humans wouldnt live in such damp environments if they could smell how bad it is, but as they cant normally/couldnt in the past, would explain the migration to damp conditions in human history, instead of mastering irrigation in arid environments. So whilst the growing of vines and other vegetation on buildings could work at absorbing the ultraviolet and infrared radiation spectrum to reduce urban cooling, is it such a thought out idea, or are we increasing a new bacterial attack vector into our immediate environment?
klooney 3y ago
The best (in terms of speed/low maintenance) are probably considered invasive weeds.

abakker 3y ago

if you live in a climate that freezes, I'd recommend Hops. They grow like crazy and are quite beautiful in the fall.

giantg2 3y ago
Smells delicious
darkclouds 3y ago
And people would harvest hops and then hang them in their house, typically kitchen where they would dry out and be used to make beverages, typically beer. If you mess around with beta alanine and manganese (chloride), be prepared for an increase in olfactory sensing (smelling), and you'll soon discover the rotting smell of vegetation when things get damp, foggy or it rains amongst many other things. I pity our canine friends. I think humans wouldnt live in such damp environments if they could smell how bad it is, but as they cant normally/couldnt in the past, would explain the migration to damp conditions in human history, instead of mastering irrigation in arid environments. So whilst the growing of vines and other vegetation on buildings could work at absorbing the ultraviolet and infrared radiation spectrum to reduce urban cooling, is it such a thought out idea, or are we increasing a new bacterial attack vector into our immediate environment?

klooney 3y ago

The best (in terms of speed/low maintenance) are probably considered invasive weeds.