Abstract

Effects of highway traffic noise have recently emerged. Greenery has become an essential aspect in urban planning nowadays as an interesting way to improve the quality of life in urban environments. Applying road traffic noise-reducing-device envelope greening and at the same time tackling noise issues can therefore be considered as a highly sustainable goal. This work has the objective to develop a design for a modular vegetative unit as a noise-abatement wall envelope greening in a semiarid climate and determine fertigation management during plant canopy growth composed of the designed modules. The modular vegetative units are designed to provide appropriate noise mitigation in semiarid areas. These canopies could improve the aesthetic appearance of noise-abatement walls and require only moderate fertigation to complement scarce precipitation during the summer months in order to manage the green infrastructure to achieve lower noise levels. (C) 2016 American Society of Civil Engineers.