Contemporary cities are more than ever committed to tackle environmental challenges such as the attenuation of the urban heat island phenomenon and the renovation of a large building stock characterized by low indoor comfort levels and increasing energy consumption caused by air conditioning. The presentation aims at contributing to the debate of Social Housing renovation in temperate areas, with a focus on the use of vegetation as a possible sustainable and cost-effective strategy. Through the analysis on a real case of Social Housing in the city of Palermo (Italy), a simulation based method for the design and assessment of the benefit of plants and BIV systems is presented.