Seminar: Design for Climate Resilience

Architecture for Sustainability, MsC – MASt

DESIGN THE CLIMATE RESILIENCY

Nature Based Solutions – Green Walls
and Living Wall Systems

Roberto Giordano
Environmental Technological Design
NATURE BASED SOLUTIONS

NBS are inspired and supported by nature,

simultaneously provide environmental, social
and economic benefits and help build resilience.
1.GREEN ROOF
Such solutions bring more, and more diverse,
nature and natural features and processes into Nanyang Technical University,
cities, through locally adapted, resource efficient Singapore
and systemic interventions.
Nature-based solutions must therefore benefit
biodiversity and support the delivery of a range
of ecosystem services
(European Commission).
2.GREEN WALL 3.RAIN GARDEN

Musée du quai Branly, Portland, Oregon

Parigi
NATURE BASED SOLUTIONS

1.GREEN ROOF
BENEFITS AND PERFORMANCES OF
Nanyang Technical University,
NATURE BASED SOLUTIONS Singapore

2.GREEN WALL 3.RAIN GARDEN

Musée du quai Branly, Portland, Oregon

Parigi
NATURE BASED SOLUTIONS

BENEFITS AND PERFORMANCES

Climate Resilience: Nature-based solutions can
enhance resilience to the impacts of climate change
by providing ecosystem services

NBS’s can:
• Remove carbon via storage in vegetation and/or
soil
• Contribute to reduced greenhouse gas emissions
through reduced energy consumption in buildings
by passive cooling and/or insulating
• Reduce local temperatures, providing relief from
heatwaves and urban heat islands
NATURE BASED SOLUTIONS

BENEFITS AND PERFORMANCES

Water Management:
Nature-based solutions can be used to address
both water quality and quantity (flooding, storm
runoff) issues.
Some of the water management benefits that
nature-based solutions can provide include:
• Reduced surface runoff following rain events
• Increased surface water storage and/or
groundwater recharge
• Improved water quality, including reduced
pollutant loads
NATURE BASED SOLUTIONS

BENEFITS AND PERFORMANCES

Air Quality:
Nature-based Solutions play a relevant role in
removing air pollutants.
Some of the air quality benefits offered by
nature-based solutions are:
• Improvement of air quality in the proximity of
the nature-based solution, including airborne
particulate matter, ground-level ozone,
nitrogen and sulphur dioxides, carbon
monoxide and polycyclic aromatic
hydrocarbons
• Reduction in the proportion of the
population exposed to ambient air pollution
GREEN WALLS & LIVING WALL SYSTEMS

Classification Vertical Greenery Systems classification. (Ottelle, 2011)

GREEN WALLS

Climbing
GREEN WALLS

Climbing

EX DUCATI, Rimini, Mario Cucinella

Architects, 2005
EX DUCATI, Rimini,
Mario Cucinella
Architects, 2005
GREEN WALLS

TOWER FLOWER
Paris 1999/2004,
Edouard Fracois

25 VERDE ORGANIC BUILDING

Torino, 2011, Ôsaka 1993,
Luciano Pia Gaetano Pesce
LIVING WALL SYSTEMS

Living Wall Systems (LWSs)

LWSs or green walls are self sufficient
vertical gardens that are attached to the
exterior or interior of a building.
They differ from green walls in that the
plants root in a structural support which is
fastened to the wall itself.
The plants receive water and nutrients from
within the vertical support instead of from
the ground.
LIVING WALL SYSTEMS

Indoor
Outdoor
LIVING WALL SYSTEMS

Continuous systems
Modular systems
Lightweight systems
Linear Green Walls (Heavy systems)
LIVING WALL SYSTEMS
LIVING WALL SYSTEMS

Musée du quai Branly, Paris L'oasis d'Aboukir, Paris

LIVING WALL SYSTEMS

CaixaForum Madrid
Patrick Blanc 2007
GREEN WALLS & LIVING WALL SYSTEMS

https://www.verticalgardenpatrickblanc.com/
LIVING WALL SYSTEMS

Continuous systems
LIVING WALL SYSTEMS
GREEN WALLS & LIVING WALL SYSTEMS

Modular systems
LIVING WALL SYSTEMS

USA Pavillion
Milan EXPO 2015
LIVING WALL SYSTEMS
LIVING WALL SYSTEMS

Living Wall System

Growing Green
Sempergreen® VERTISS®

G-SKY VersiWall® GM
Green Wall
LIVING WALL SYSTEMS
BENEFITS AND PERFORMANCES OF
GREEN WALLS AND LIVING WALL
SYSTEMS
GREEN WALLS & LIVING WALL SYSTEMS

Climate Resilience
Plants use solar radiation to evaporate water from the
growing media and transpire (the absorption of water
through a plants roots and release of it through its
leaves as a vapor) moisture from the plants.
This evapotranspiration process lowers the
temperature on the wall by using heat from the air to
evaporate water.

Candelari E., Giordano R., Serra V. (2014). “Vertical

Greening Systems as a strategy to mitigate Urban Heat
Island: result form experimental campaign”. In
Proceeding of the 3rd International Conference on
Countermeasures to Urban Heat Island, October 13-
15, Venice (I)
GREEN WALLS & LIVING WALL SYSTEMS

Improvement of building acoustic

comfort

Green Walls could help cut the

amount of noise that enters buildings.

A study has found in lab. tests, that a modular

green wall system reduced sound levels by 15
decibels (dB).

Source:
https://ec.europa.eu/environment/integration
/research/newsalert/pdf/Green_walls_show_pr
omise_as_sound_barriers_for_buildings_403na3
_en.pdf
GREEN WALLS & LIVING WALL SYSTEMS

Green wall as a screen against solar radiation Consorcio Building, Santiago

GREEN WALLS & LIVING WALL SYSTEMS

Air Quality
GREEN WALLS & LIVING WALL SYSTEMS
GREEN WALLS & LIVING WALL SYSTEMS

GRE_EN_S was the acronym of GREen_ENvelope_System: an EU funded research project (2010-2013) aimed at designing, manufacturing
and monitoring an advanced VGS, shaped by modular boxes covered with vegetation and made up of green materials.
GREen_Envelope_System

GRE_EN_S is a LWS
developed as:
1) Hydropic systems
2) Modular box systems

A modular box is essentially

made up by a recycled
metal container:
1) filled with rigid plastic
geogrid and growing
medium
2) covered by double felts
coupled
GREen_Envelope_System

Four modular boxes make one

square meter

Six pockets are hand-cut on the

outer layer of every modular
box
GREen_Envelope_System
Turin (I); Latitude: 45°04′13″ N
Measurements carried out in reverberation chamber and by
standing waves tube have shown a very high performance of the
tested LWS in terms of sound absorption. (Source: GRE_EN_S
Research Project)
Absorption coefficient of different prototypes of
GRE_EN_S modular boxes.

LWS is highly performing even at low frequencies,

which demonstrates the high potential in reducing
traffic noise
Casa Capriolo, Turin (2014)
GREEN WALLS & LIVING WALL SYSTEMS

Cassa Risparmio Asti (Bank), Asti (2015)

GREEN WALLS & LIVING WALL SYSTEMS

Cassa Risparmio Asti (Bank), Asti (2015)

GREEN WALLS & LIVING WALL SYSTEMS

House in province of Alessandria, (2016)

REFERENCES

See the Polito Web portal