Architectural Green Infrastructure

Living walls can improve building envelope performance and contribute to human well-being; however, their value to native biodiversity is often not considered in their design or the study of their performance. Native biodiversity is essential for ecosystem health and the provision of ecosystem services that support human well-being and foster climate adaptation.

 

This research aims to quantify and assess the biodiversity and cooling effects of native living walls on building façades in Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand. Light and temperature data were collected from two types of felt-pocket living walls over six months. The living walls provided up to 89% more shade than bare walls. Temperature impacts were most notable during the hottest part of the day, with the living walls recording substrate air temperatures that were 0.8 – 1.3°C (5-8%) cooler than bare walls. The living walls with smaller, denser plant pockets supported more native plant biodiversity and had higher leaf coverages and cooling effects than those with larger pockets.

 

This research demonstrates a potential alignment between biodiversity and thermal performance outcomes for living walls, which could help inform the design of living walls that optimise cooling effects while providing diverse plant communities for local, native biodiversity in warming cities.

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The conference proceedings can be accessed at: https://www.utas.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/1696451/_Compressed_24-02-13-FULL-PROCEEDINGS.pdf

 

Reference

 

MacKinnon, M., Pedersen Zari, M., Brown, D.K. (2023). Architectural green infrastructure: Native living wall impacts on building façade microclimates, in M.Dewsbury, D. Tanton, Z. Al-shamma, J. Tans (eds) Architectural Science and User Experience: Sustainability and Health: the nexus of carbon neutral architecture and well-being, 56th International Conference of the Architectural Science Association 2023, pp. 104-116, 29 Nov – 2 Dec 2023, University of Tasmania, Launceston, Australia.

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