Living Walls always tend to improve air pollutants especially in case of indoor air pollutants, as it is 5 times more when compared to outdoor air pollutants. This shows that indoor air is high in environmental health risk. The reason behind it is due to the off gassing of Volatile Organic Compound (VOC’s) from paints, carpets, upholstery and other products around us.

Living Wall do not require much work, only thing they need is soil or mats that can be placed on the wall itself to improve Indoor air quality. The green walls save a lot of energy, heat from the sun and protect the building, reduce noise and also provide a beautiful architecture and design. We can make this more useful by growing herbal or medicinal plants and food.

They are two types of living walls: one with a substrate and other without. The most used substrate is peat moss as these plants tend to grow in any size. This method has been followed in European countries from a long time but now it’s been everywhere around the globe. People tend to have vertical gardens to improve their environment and gain more mental peace.

When we say Vertical Garden improves the air pollutant, most of us want to know how it is done? Well, the living walls use CO2 that is present around them removing VOC’s from the air. Living walls absorb CO2 and emit oxygen thus improving the air quality. Once the quality of air is improved we have a calming effect on humans thus allowing them to improve their work efficiency. Living Walls show a positive impact on humans that can be measured from their mood improvement and calmness.

Other Benefits:

We can save a lot of energy by using Living Walls methods such as:

1) Heat reduction from buildings as the plants absorb the heat from the exterior walls thus maintaining good temperature inside the buildings which indeed reduces the need of air conditioning.

2) By using Living walls method there will be less use of cooling demands, less energy is used and less GHG’s are emitted.

3) Living Walls also absorb sound waves, this helps us fro m reducing the havoc noises from the city.

4) Living Walls also absorb rain

5) Buildings can be protected from acid rains, ultra violet rays, expansion and contraction of building materials by using living walls.

6) One more important thing about Living wall is that it creates microorganisms, insects etc., thus increasing urban biodiversity and urban food production.

Air quality is improved by a biological process called bio filtration. Air can be forced past the plants and the soil medium containing microbes, which removes VOC’s dust and dirt particles from the air. The pollutants are absorbed into a liquid phase and consumed by the microbes. The microbes use the pollutants as an energy source and convert them to CO2 and water. The air is redistributed into the building. Thus, by using bio filtration 65 to 90% of VOC’s have been removed from the air.

They also reduce costs as the shading from the plants on the wall reduces the amount of sunlight to fall directly on the structure. The energy is absorbed by the plants and converted into sugars through photosynthesis without reflecting the heat back. Indoor living walls can maintain good temperature than outdoor plants.

How are Living walls Made:

For any plant to grow indoor we need good structure. Some plants require a lot of space to flourish and others need very little. Second important thing is water and moist soil, which are not found on dry walls. So, the best way is to have little cubbies or containers to place the soil and plants on the wall upwards vertically.

Different kinds of Living Walls:

We have number of choices for living walls:

1) Living wall can be made from Pallets.

2) Biofelt system can be used where plants are fitted onto felt pockets and attached to a waterproofed backing (drip irrigation system) connected to building backside.

3) We can make a pot at home by using jute mat and potting soil.

4) We can use PVC pots attached to a Metal frames, a thin PVC sheet, felt polyamide layer attached to the PVC.

5) Containers, which allow the plants to grow and climb onto trellises.

Types of Plants: We can use any plant on Living walls depending on how much space is needed, amount of sunlight, water etc. You can choose from vegetables to fruits or herbal plants but also keep in mind that we must control the moisture to avoid mold growth. If we have indoor plants we will have insects. Never choose plants that release pollen in excess. Plants that we use should always be maintained, watered, trimmed when necessary and taken good care.