Street view, June 2023
There are currently considerable challenges in public spaces. Think heat, drought, decline in biodiversity and social challenges. Until now, there has been very little green data based on actual measurements in public spaces in the urban environment. Knowing and measuring what is really going on? Or rather see which interventions in outdoor green space are working or not? The GAES methodology and dashboards of Green as a Service offer insight into the true value of green.
The GAES method and dashboards
Green As A Service (GAES) measures an increasingly wide range of ecosystem services in real time with sensors,
linked to the SDGs; from heat stress to social cohesion and from biodiversity to even security. We integrate the outcomes, over short or longer periods of time, with the client’s or third parties’ already available data sources. Our
in-depth data analyses are the basis for our targeted advice on achieving targets and measures to be implemented, explains Wil Jacobs, manager of Green As A Service.
We look at public space design in a different way. We want to design it functionally and circularly based on data. So together with the client, we start looking at what ecosystem services we can realise in a particular place. For example, if you have a hot square, you can use certain ecosystem services to make it as
as much as possible so that it becomes a few degrees cooler. We do that with data that
available.
More and more static data are also becoming available, Jacobs continues. Think for instance of the Climate Atlas and GEO/GIS data from the client. We will also measure and monitor in real time what is happening in terms of heat stress, soil moisture, particulate matter, etc. This can be viewed on a dashboard.