For some time, green walls have been a new and growing design trend. These living vertical gardens are as eye-catching as they are practical, so it’s no surprise that they’re growing more popular by the hour. Green walls are a canvas for creativity and serve as an attractive feature to any space.
But living walls aren’t becoming more desirable simply due to their aesthetic; they also offer a variety of benefits to your wellbeing, the environment, and even the economy!
One advantage of green walls is that they can be extremely visually appealing. Adding natural elements to the interior or exterior of a building is a great way to brighten up the surrounding area and immediately improve your mood.
When installed indoors, a living wall can make for a more relaxing, pleasant environment. Outdoors, it can greatly improve curb appeal, make a building eye-catching, and even hide unattractive parts, if any.
That’s just one of the reasons green walls are growing in popularity, bringing a lush and vibrant look to buildings all across the UK.
Most UK cities are not really meant to endure consistently high temperatures, and this makes sense if you think about it. After all, the UK is not known for its tropical beaches, is it? This design, combined with extreme climate change barreling towards us, can cause some trouble, especially in places with lots of concrete and little vegetation.
That’s why green walls can be a saving grace. Plants are better at absorbing sunlight than reflecting it, much unlike the hard surfaces that make up most cities. Increasing the amount of vegetation in urban areas often has a positive effect, significantly reducing the amount of trapped heat.
To expand on the previous benefit, studies show that exterior green walls can reduce surface temperatures by as much as 10°C! This means lower air conditioning costs in the summer, as less heat makes it indoors. This is valid for interior green walls, too.
In winter, green walls provide extra insulation, helping to keep the temperature indoors nice and toasty. And, just like in summer, this can reduce your energy bills, sometimes by as much as 20%!
Biodiversity is not a thing to be looked over when it comes to the wellbeing of our planet. It's essential for all flora and fauna to thrive. And that’s where vertical gardens come in.
Living walls can be extremely beneficial in encouraging insect and bird populations, especially in urban areas. Plus, their design means you won’t have to sacrifice tonnes of space in order to promote a sustainable, diverse environment.
This is just one of the benefits that green walls share with green roofs, too.
It’s a well-known fact that poor air quality can lead to numerous health issues, from eye irritation and a sore throat to fatigue and trouble breathing. Not to mention, it’s the number one reason why conditions like asthma worsen.
One of the most important green wall benefits is that they are an excellent way to fight air pollution since they act as a natural filter.
But how exactly do they work?
Plants convert the “undesirables” in the air, such as carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide, into oxygen. This significantly reduces the amounts of CO2 in the air, improving the air quality and the general wellbeing of people in the area.
Another common issue in large cities is the tonnes of dust all around. The dust particles themselves are fantastic at polluting the air and contributing to the worsening of respiratory illnesses. Vertical green walls can work wonders when it comes to air purification, so they’re a great investment for areas that tend to get dusty.
Have you ever been in a room full of people talking and felt like you can’t hear even your own thoughts? You might not have noticed, but the surfaces around you are often the reason. Sounds have a much easier time bouncing off hard walls, floors, and ceilings than plants.
That’s why green walls are a great noise reduction solution. Due to their absorption properties, plants can reduce noise levels nearly by half! This can create the perfect environment in an office, where people need to be able to focus, or at home, where you just want to relax.
Another one on the list of green wall benefits is that they make the interior or exterior of a building stand out. Living green walls are featured in (or on) hotels, restaurants, retail stores, spas, exclusive clubs, etc. more often nowadays.
Moreover, green walls are a fantastic marketing tool that can be implemented to promote a company’s eco-friendly and sustainable vision. A living wall can increase the value of both commercial and residential properties significantly. Studies show that simply having plants in and around a building can increase real estate values by up to 20%!
Some areas are at a higher risk of flooding, especially older ones where rainwater and wastewater end up in the same place.
Vertical green walls offer a solution to this problem, as they not only slow the rainwater down, they can also retain and evaporate some of it. Some systems even collect the excess rainwater for irrigation purposes, making green walls almost self-sufficient!
This is a result of all the other benefits of green walls combined. If you live in a highly urbanised city, like London, for example, you’re undoubtedly surrounded by concrete, asphalt, noise, and pollution. This can be detrimental to both your physical and mental wellbeing.
An abundance of vegetation in these kinds of concrete jungles can drastically improve your quality of life. From providing environmentally beneficial effects, like temperature control and air purification, to creating a calm and uplifting work, home, or outdoor space. Green walls do it all! They can even help in surprising ways, like boosting workplace productivity and patient recovery rates in hospitals!
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