• Katia Perini - katia.perini@unige.it

• Enrica Roccotiello - enrica.roccotiello@unige.it

Most urban areas are facing major problems, including poor air quality, the heat island phenomenon, extreme surfaces alteration (impermeables and with low albedo) and deterioration of water resources and ecosystems. Urban greening is a good strategy to mitigate these problems.

MosSkin consists of a lightweight, low-cost and low-maintenance system for the greening of outdoor building envelopes and other urban structures with specially selected and tested moss species, suitable for surfaces with different inclinations, heights and orientations.
The goal is to overcome several critical points of the green systems on the market which have high installation and maintenance costs, in the face of the environmental benefits in densely built cities. These costs limit their spread in cities.
Mosses, unlike most other plant species, are able to survive in unfavorable environmental conditions, require a small amount of water and are able to withstand numerous cycles of hydration and dehydration. According to some studies mosses are also able to reduce the surface temperatures of buildings, absorb atmospheric pollutants and have a modest maintenance cost.

MosSkin is a multilayer modular system consisting of: a moss paste (formulation in the patenting phase) that allows the growth of different moss species with a wide geographical spread, suitable for resisting to the abiotic and biotic stresses typical of the urban ecosystem; an environmentally friendly, flexible, light and economical support, acting as a substrate for mosses; a fine mesh (towards the outside) and a waterproof material (to protect the building structures). An irrigation system, specially designed to optimize the management of the water resource, is also integrated into the system.

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Katia Perini - Principal Investigator

Team members

Andrea Giachetta (DAD)
Paola Castellari (DAD)
Enrica Roccotiello (DISTAV)
Dario Gisotti (DISTAV)
Claudia Turcato (DISTAV)

Perini et al., 2020, Experiencing innovative biomaterials for buildings: Potentialities of mosses
10.1016/j.buildenv.2020.106708

S. Romeo, P. Castellari, K. Perini, A. Giachetta, C. Turcato, M.G. Mariotti, E. Roccotiello, “Screening of mosses for potential application in urban ecosystems”. Abstract accepted by the Italian Botanical Society, 114th Congress of the Italian Botanical Society with scientific committee.
ISBN 978-88-85915-23-7

114th Congress of the Italian Botanical Society, 4-7 September Poster entitled: “Screening of mosses for potential application in urban ecosystems”.
Authors: S. Romeo, P. Castellari, K. Perini, A. Giachetta, C. Turcato, M.G. Mariotti, E. Roccotiello.

Seminar “Sistemi innovativi per il verde verticale: outdoor moss wall”
Held by Paola Castellari on 20/05/2019 at the Department of Architecture and Design of the University of Genoa.

Participation in the scientific meeting “Piccolo è bello!”
Held by the Ligurian Botanical Society on 15/11/2019 with a speech entitled “Muschi e substrati: questione di feeling?” and text published in “Atti sull’Informatore Botanico”.