**4.5 Very cold climate strategies**

Regions that lie in the cold climate zone are situated at high altitudes. The temperatures range between 20 and 30°C in summers, while in winters, it can range from −3°C to 8°C, or less.

Landscape design in a cold climate region has to consider the protection of the building from norther winds in winter. Windbreaks can be densely planted to prevent these cold winter winds. Overheating from the direct summer sun can be a problem and this can be avoided by providing shade to the south & west surfaces of the building. Dense evergreen shrubs can be planted at the northern sides of the building to create dead air spaces. This acts as insulation during the winter and summer. The speed of cold winter wind can be regulated by planting dense rows of evergreen trees and forming an earthen berm on the north & northwest sides. Low shrubs & grass should be applied in the southern windbreaker. Deciduous trees can be used in the south-west and south-east directions away from the building.

Earth sheltering is also an effective landscape tool in cold climates. It can be used if the building site is located on a south-facing slope that receives sufficient sunlight. Deciduous trees and shrubs can be used on the southern side of a building, as it helps to provide summer shading when required. It also allows low winter rays.

Advantages of using deciduous high canopy trees on the east & west sides are:

• It allows warm winter rays, provides summer shade, and maximize summer breezes.

A sunken terrace with light-colored reflective material can be incorporated into the southern side of the structure to further capture low winter sun & reflect its warmth to building interiors. Darker paving materials can be used around the building to capture warmth & promote snowmelt.

#### **4.6 Roof garden - an energy-efficient landscaping technique**

Lightweight soil medium is used in green roof gardens (**Figure 13**). A drainage layer & a high-quality impermeable membrane is provided beneath the soil medium to prevent the seepage of water. Plant species are selected that can withstand severe, dry roof temperature and resist short bursts from heavy rains [2].

#### **4.7 Swales - an energy-efficient landscaping technique**

Swales are constructed wetland systems. They are mainly used for managing storm-water runoff. These systems are used to maximize the removal of pollutants from the storm-water runoff and it is carried out through settling, uptake & filtering by proper vegetation planted. Some of the advantages of using swales are [3]:


## **5. Conclusion**

Plants are immensely useful in the heating, cooling, and lighting of buildings. Simple strategies utilizing landscape planting elements such as trees, shrubs,

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**Figure 13.**

**Author details**

Prashanti Rao and Janmejoy Gupta\*

provided the original work is properly cited.

Department of Architecture, School of Planning and Architecture, Vijayawada,

© 2020 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium,

groundcovers or vines in key locations and in proper quantities can greatly reduce energy consumption. In certain circumstances, carefully positioned trees and shrubs can save up to 25% of the energy a typical household uses. Appropriately utilized landscape elements and systems can deflect and diffuse sunlight or dissipate solar heat energy to moderate thermal loads and reduce requirements for mechanical cooling. Energy efficient landscaping has additional benefits such as

*Schematic cross section of a green roof. Source: Redrawn by Co-author, reference from American Wick Drain:* 

\*Address all correspondence to: janmejoygupta@spav.ac.in

lower maintenance costs, a reduction in water use, a cleaner air.

*https://www.awd-usa.com/drainage-applications/green-roof.*

*Energy-Efficient Landscape Design*

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.94904*
