Roofs aren’t the only thing that can hold vegetation and benefits to occupants. A new study shows that vegetated walls are an attractive option to improve biodiversity, control rainwater, and dampen noise within buildings. The walls are created by inserting plants into polyurethane boxes and maintaining them with organic irrigation.
Evaluation of Green Walls as a Passive Acoustic Insulation System for Buildings notes that the walls showed a weighted sound reduction index of 15 db as opposed to conventional walls, with the research also demonstrating that they provided a weighted sound absorption coefficient of 0.40. While the acoustic benefits are exciting, the researchers are quick to note that the systems to install and maintain green walls are expensive right now and thus are not appropriate for every type of building.
Moving forward, the scientists from the UPV/EHU-University of the Basque Country are now looking to conduct thermal studies to ascertain whether or not the vegetated walls provide temperature benefits as well as reducing noise within buildings
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