Environmental Benefits Of Green Walls

This section will examine green walls in relation to aesthetics and community and environmental benefits, in order to understand how urban greening systems promote development and sustainability.

Green walls, also called vertical gardens, refer to all forms of vegetated wall surfaces as well as with plants either rooted into the ground, in the wall itself or in modular panels attached to the facade. They have different shapes and sizes depending on the wall’s scale, architectural design and the plants selected. Green walls display beauty, art and expression, and can be divided into two categories: green facades and living walls.

2.1 Green Facades

Green facades are a type of green wall system in which climbing plants are made to cover specially designed supporting structures. They can be fixed to existing walls or build as separate structures such as fences. An example of a self-climbing plant that has been used to create green facades includes English Ivy since the sucker root structure enables them to easily attach to a wall. Additionally, applying green facades to both new and existing buildings can provide multiple environmental benefits and can be a sustainable approach in terms of energy saving considering materials used, water needed and efficient preservation of edifices.

2.2 Living Walls

Living walls constitute vegetated panels, vertical modules or planted blankets that are fixed vertically to a structural frame or wall. The vegetated panels contain soil or artificial growing mediums such as perlite, foam or mineral wool, and require hydroponic cultures to provide part or all of the plant’s food and water requirements. Living wall systems usually use perennial plants such as small shrubs that do not grow vertic...

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...ronto designed a “green window shade” for a home, using scarlet runner beans, morning glories and sunflowers. Tests revealed that the surface temperatures of the plants were significantly cooler than the building wall, thereby reducing the need for air conditioners.

These benefits demonstrate the need for green walls in the Hamilton area is not only to promote community engagement, but also to improve environmental quality of the Hamilton area by moderating internal temperature variations in winter and summer, beautifying outdoor and indoor environments, and providing additional green space. Ultimately, the implication of implementing the Garden of Dreams project with the help of community members is that it will promote social justice amongst these community members, while promoting sustainability, economic success and urban development for the City of Hamilton.