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The hot and arid climate in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) yields indoor temperatures much higher than the comfort zone, which poses unique challenges in improving energy performance through building construction systems. The study examines the introduction of green facades to reduce heat gain in indoor spaces as a strategy to lower cooling demand. A vegetative living wall was installed on a school building facades and experimentally studied. The experimental results showed that during day time in the peak summer month of July, the green facade can maintain on average a temperature that is 5 degrees C lower than a bare wall, consequently impacting building cooling load and improving energy performance. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.