Fast Fact Library

Filters

A 2014 study found that tanks with floating wetlands populated with Iris pseudacorus removed 54 times more nitrogen and 10 times more phosphorus from the water than a control tank with no vegetation.

Keizer-Vlek, Hanneke E., Piet FM Verdonschot, Ralf CM Verdonschot, and Dorine Dekkers. (2014). The contribution of plant uptake to nutrient removal by floating treatment wetlands. Ecological Engineering, 73, 684-690.

Children who play surrounded by elements like logs and flowers show increased levels of physical activity, according to a University of Tennessee study that looked at behavior before and after a traditional...

Coe, D. P., J. I. Flynn, D. L. Wolff, S. N. Scott, and S. Durham. (2014). Children’s Physical Activity Levels and Utilization of a Traditional versus Natural Playground. Children Youth and Environments, 24(3), 1-15.

More at: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/10/121011135036.htm

A study of 905 Massachusetts middle schools between 2006 and 2012 found that schools with greener surroundings, particularly in the spring, were correlated with higher school-wide performance on standardized English...

Wu, Chih-Da, Eileen McNeely, J. G. Cedeno-Laurent, Wen-Chi Pan, Gary Adamkiewicz, Francesca Dominici, Shih-Chun Candice Lung, Huey-Jen Su, and John D. Spengler. (2014). Linking student performance in Massachusetts elementary schools with the “greenness” of school surroundings using remote sensing.

Both physical street network connectivity and visual connectivity (longer sight lines) had positive impacts on pedestrian volumes on streets in Buffalo, New York, together with job density, population density, and...

Hajrasouliha, Amir, and Li Yin. (2014). The impact of street network connectivity on pedestrian volume. Urban Studies, 0042098014544763.

Bioretention can reduce the temperature of thermally charged stormwater runoff from an asphalt surface. In a Blacksburg, Virgina study, the average thermal pollution reduction was nearly 37 MJ/m3, although the...

Long, Daniel L., and Randel L. Dymond. (2014). Thermal pollution mitigation in cold water stream watersheds using Bioretention. Journal of the American Water Resources Association, 50(4), 977-987.

Green schoolyards can reduce stress, promote resilience, build competence, and promote focusing in students aged 6-18, as shown by this ethnographic study in Maryland and Colorado. The green schoolyards included a...

Chawla, Louise, Kelly Keena, Illène Pevec, and Emily Stanley. (2014). Green schoolyards as havens from stress and resources for resilience in childhood and adolescence. Health & place, 28, 1-13.

In a study of 427 children aged 10-11 in Bristol, UK, children who spent more time outdoors after school were more likely to be physically active. For every hour spent outside playing with friends, the children...

Pearce, Matthew, Angie S. Page, Tom P. Griffin, and Ashley R. Cooper. (2014) Who children spend time with after school: Associations with objectively recorded indoor and outdoor physical activity. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity. 11(1). 45. doi:10.1186/1479-5868-11-45

A 5-year longitudinal study in Great Britain found that moving to a greener area not only improves people's mental health, but that the effect is sustained for a long time. Individuals who moved to greener areas had...

Alcock, Ian, Mathew P. White, Benedict W. Wheeler, Lora E. Fleming, and Michael H. Depledge. (2014). Longitudinal effects on mental health of moving to greener and less green urban areas. Environmental Science & Technology, 48(2), 1247-1255.

An extensive visual preference study conducted with 274 Australian office workers found that any green roof is preferred over a concrete roof and taller, flowering, and/or grassy vegetation is preferred over lower...

Lee, Kate E., Kathryn J. H. Williams, Leisa D. Sargent, Claire Farrell, and Nicholas S. Williams. (2014). Living roof preference is influenced by plant characteristics and diversity. Landscape and Urban Planning, 122, 152-159.

The greening of three middle school schoolyards in Austria reduced students’ physiological stress levels and enhanced their psychological well-being. Students perceived the schoolyard to be more restorative...

Kelz, Christina, Gary W. Evans, and Kathrin Röderer. (2013). The restorative effects of redesigning the schoolyard: A multi-methodological, quasi-experimental study in rural Austrian middle schools. Environment and Behavior, 47(2), 119-139.

Fast Fact Library

Filter Fast Fact Library