Living Green Walls

ENVR-7007- Sustainable Practices 2

Tkachenko Olga

20 September 2016                                                

                                                                          Living Green Walls

        Living green walls, also called bio-walls are the healthy trends in interior and exterior design today. Improving air quality and controlling a healthy environment, green walls create a fresh living or work space. It is very effective way to add extra oxygen into space while making more productivity and well-being. Plants in green walls reduce noise pollution, protect buildings, increase productivity and save energy during the summer time.

        Fig. 1  shows the great example of living wall on an exterior. It is an university located in North Carolina. This incredible installation have many benefits such as protection of exterior finishes and improving air quality. Also It is a very creative exterior design.

Architect: LITTLE DIVERSIFIED ARCHITECTS

Plant Designer: AMBIUS

Location: Charlotte, North Carolina

Date of implementation: 2012

Size: 735 SQ FT

[pic 1]

Fig 1. (The DNA of a Green Wall, Campus Green Wall Installed - www.ambius.com)

        It is possible to create a customized pattern like we see at Fig.1. This unique pattern shows the DNA because it is Science Building. From the beginning of the project faculty wanted to show that this building was a place of science. To create this DNA plant designer used thirteen different plant species that were grown in Berrien Springs, Michigan. “It was important that the plant species were noninvasive, and we labeled plants as ‘red’ light, ‘yellow’ light as possible contenders and ‘green’ light as our top recommendations,” said Eichmann, one of the plant designers. Also, designers  were not  concerned that the plants were native to North Carolina. They wanted to have species that were able to tolerate unique conditions such as solar input (Eichmann). http://www.ambius.com/designers/denise-eichmann/case-studies/index.html

Green wall system:

Plant List:

BLUE WOOD SEDGE                                     VARIEGATED SEDGE

DWARF TICKSEED                                         LEATHERWOOD FERN

BOXWOOD EUONYMUS                                YELLOW JASMINE

LENTEN ROSE                                                PLUM PUDDING CORAL BELLS

ENGLISH LAVENDER                                     VIRGINIA CREEPER

CHRISTMAS FERN                                         ANGELINA STONECROP

BLUE SPRUCE STONECROP

 ("Queens University of Charlotte") http://www.gsky.com/project/queens-university-of-charlotte/

[pic 2]

Fig 2. Queen's University Green Wall. Installation steps  

        For this project plants were used to reduce noise level in classrooms. Green wall built on the exterior of the building reduce sound and dampen the noise of pollution of the city ("Green Over Grey Living Walls and Design"). This green wall provides insulation and natural cooling mechanisms to the university building in summer and winter time. Budget for this project depended on the size of this wall, location, types of plants were used, materials, maintenance and complexity of design ("Introduction to Green Walls Technology"). http://web.peralta.edu/das/files/2012/03/Green-Walls-Intro-908b_c2.pdf