Green walls
Green walls are vertical structures (walls) with vegetation attached. They are sometimes referred to as living walls or vertical gardens.
Green walls provide extra insulation for buildings, keeping them warm in winter and cooler in summers.
Other benefits of green walls
Green walls derive other benefits, providing sound insulation, reducing rainwater runoff, and creating habitats and ecosystems with benefits for wildlife and pollinators.
Green walls can be challenging to integrate into the built environment. They can be heavy and require irrigation systems, though technologies to facilitate green walls have advanced significantly in recent years. Some systems are attached to relatively metal frames anchored into the ground and being propped by buildings rather than relying on buildings for support. Green walls also require regular maintenance and replenishment throughout the year.
Local examples of green walls
Deansgate Metrolink (ansglobal) exterior living wall
The Deansgate Metrolink has a green wall. Consisting of sedum panels and wildflowers the wall is improving local biodiversity and providing a local ecological habitat.
Manchester Metropolitan University (IWantPlants) HYVERT living wall
A Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) between local biophilic design company I Want Plants and academics at MMU has installed a HYVERT living wall on the University’s All Saints building.
The team chose to install on this site to replicate the difficult design and installation challenges associated with retrofitting old buildings properties, allowing them to evaluate the potential performance benefits, in particular how the living wall can help improve local air quality, biodiversity and water quality.
Air: Continuous digital sensing is used to measure the plants capturing potential for fine particulate matter, additionally the plants are chemically profiled which enable the researchers to see if urban pollution can affect the lifespan of the plants and which species can act as a phytoremediator.
Biodiversity: A combination of digital sensors, machine learning and genetic testing are used to automatically monitor species which interact with the living wall, helping to evidence how the living walls are used as novel urban habitats.
Water: Net Zero Water trials are running to evaluate the optimal way to collect and reuse the campus’s water; with a suite of digital sensors monitoring the actual performance compared to predictive models. Aside from water reduction, water quality improvements are being evaluated by testing which plant species have the capacity to phyto-stabilise harmful chemicals which typically leach from roofing materials e.g zinc, cadmium, bitchumen etc, allowing the living wall system to mitigate the continuous chemical leaching from the building.
University of Manchester 50m2 Live Panel green wall
This 50m2 live panel green wall is at the Schuster Building at the University of Manchester, developed as part of the University’s sustainability and biodiversity plans. The wall is over seven meter high and contains 2,500 plants of various species.
Blue-green roof system - Bloc 17, Marble St, Manchester (Bruntwood)
A new living wall wraps the external façade of Bruntwood’s Bloc building transformation. A Manchester-first, the HYVERT living wall is made from 18,000 plants and was created by I Want Plants, in partnership with Manchester Metropolitan University. It uses sensors to monitor its biodiversity and record how the wall is absorbing gases like CO2 and NO2. An innovative grid of lights has also been embedded into the living wall by Artin Light, which brings Bloc to life at night with subtle waves of organic light. The ‘glowing’ wall will give the effect of delicately coloured blossoms within the greenery, contrasting with and softening the brutalist architecture of the building.
Green Wall, The Exchange, 3 New York St, Manchester M1 4HN (Bruntwood)
Another Bruntwood building – The Exchange – has a green wall system designed to regulate air temperature and improve air quality.
Green Wall, The Exchange - image reproduced with permission from Bruntwood
