Green Walls

The Cultivated Facade: Greenery on Buildings is gaining traction, but needs validation.

July 2016
Architectural Record

By Peter Fairley

Continuing Education

Use the following learning objectives to focus your study while reading this month’s Continuing Education article.

Learning Objectives - After reading this article, you will be able to:

  1. Outline the ecological benefits of green walls and other types of green infrastructure.
  2. Discuss the social, biophilic, and aesthetic benefits of green walls.
  3. Describe the different types of green walls, explain how each type is installed, and characterize their maintenance requirements.
  4. Summarize available data regarding the cost of green walls relative to potential property value appreciation and savings from energy conservation, storm-water retention, and other performance enhancements green walls can provide.

Facades are a building’s most visible element, and adding plants offers entirely new dimensions of texture, symbolism, and seasonal dynamism. Researchers, green-wall providers, and architects say the mainstreaming of planted roofs, marked growth in interior green walls, and accumulated insight from exterior projects to date are fueling interest in green walls.

Continues at architecturalrecord.com »


Photo of climbers on a wall with plantings.

Courtesy Rubens at the Palace Hotel

 

Originally published in Architectural Record