As part of the conference "1st European Urban Green Infrastructure Conference" that will take place on 23rd and 24th November 2015 in Vienna, Austria, subordinated to the theme "Green Infrastructure and Ecosystem Services helping to adapt cities to climate change" will be presented by Eng. Paulo Palha (founder of ANCV-National Association of Green Roofs and CEO of Neoturf), in collaboration with a joint team of researchers from the Biotechnology Superior School – Portuguese Catholic University (Cristina Monteiro, Cristina Calheiros, Paula Castro) and the School of Engineering of the University of Porto (Sara de Freitas and Nuno Ramos), the work that has been developed in the area of landscaped roofs in an urban environment, namely, the effect of vegetation on the surface temperature of the roofs.

The construction of green roofs (use of vegetation on the top of buildings) has been increasing in recent years, as a way to overcome several environmental problems that started to be felt in urban areas caused, in particular, by the decrease of green spaces, being in the present a target of investment and legislation in several countries around the world. On the other hand, green roofs appear as a possible solution to reduce the temperature variations of the rooftops of buildings, presenting both economic advantages (which can contribute to energy efficiency and increase the useful life of the components) and environmental (contributing for water retention and decrease of the effect of the "heat island").

In the studies carried out on two pilot green roofs at the ESB facilities, different substrates and different species of autochthonous plants from the Mediterranean climate were tested, in order to evaluate their effect on the temperature of the cover, using infrared thermography. In addition to the potential for water retention already demonstrated, this new study demonstrates, through thermographic measurements, that the presence of vegetation on top of buildings exerts an influence on the surroundings, contributing to the reduction of surface temperature. This study contributes to the dissemination of this type of technology.