Vegetating a wall inside a house, a restaurant, a swimming pool, or an office building is quite possible. Thanks to numerous installation systems, a green wall can be installed in any interior.
Contrary to popular belief, the plant wall does not provide additional moisture or insects. It is not messy, not noisy, and installs in just a few hours.
The size of the interior green wall and its composition should be decided in agreement with a professional according to several criteria: brightness of the room, relative humidity, rendering desired. Different types of green walls exist, with different bases and supports: horticultural felt, sphagnum or assembly of potted plants, everything is possible.
To define the type of wall that best suits each client, landscapers work with serious design offices accustomed to this type of plant service.
Clean indoor air with plant walls
It is not a myth or a false advertisement. Even if it is not enough to completely purify the indoor air as some people may promise, an indoor plant wall acts. Placed indoors, it helps improve air quality.
We then speak of phytoremediation or Phytol-purification. The absorption of pollutants contained in the air, combined with the rejection of oxygen, contributes well to the improvement of air quality.
Change the air but also change your ideas
The main benefits of interior plant walls are to be sought, not on the body directly, but on the mind. In our cities of concrete and metal, all green places become havens of peace, breaths of oxygen. Like reminders: “Nature is our most precious thing”.
The green wall present within a building brings a real breath of fresh air to its occupants. It is halfway between design, technological progress, plant scenography, and interior decoration.
Green walls built inside a building have only advantages. And whether it is a house, an inn, offices or a large public place. The cost of its realization can give rise to a real return on investment. It is then enough to consider, in addition to its phonic and thermal qualities, the well-being that it brings to all the occupants of the place.
Wall Plant inside the house
In addition to the aesthetic aspect, an interior plant wall brings humidity to the ambient air. It is also presented as a means of cleaning the air in the house, which is true but must be put into perspective.
What conditions are ideal for an interior green wall?
Several criteria must be met to properly choose your interior green wall:
- A contribution of light sufficient is the main condition. In addition, the lighting must come from above, at the risk of seeing the plants grow in an anarchic way;
- The species must be well chosen, in particular, according to the lighting available. Climbing plants, such as ivy, are of course possible, but different devices allow you to install potted plants, of tropical origin in particular. Florists are the first advisers to consult;
- Choose suitable support. There are different types, offered by specialized companies: horticultural felt (in which you can dig small cavities to house the plants), sphagnum (a foam that retains water, but whose acidification effect is not suitable not to all plants) and assemblies of plastic parts, even with magnetic fixings.
- Watering can be ensured by automated systems consisting of a water tank at the foot of the wall, a pump and a drip system in the upper part.
Soundproofing
The interior green wall is an excellent sound insulator, attenuating outside noise but also echoes. The interior plant walls also allow better living comfort. It becomes an important element of the soundproofing of a place and reduces the phenomenon of resonance of a room, whatever its size.
Present in a dining room, a large hall, it becomes a beautiful and effective building material. In periods of high heat, plants and therefore the interior plant walls also help to lower the temperature. And this, by the rejection of water vapor.
A green wall works as a sound barrier around your building. It absorbs noise at 41%, compared to a traditional facade and brings more calm in the environment, both in your building and outside. This provides 8dB noise reduction, reducing surrounding noise in half.
Thermal effect of the interior green wall
The plants give off water vapor, thus cooling the interior atmosphere, which is pleasant in hot weather.
Plants in the plant wall absorb sunlight. This is absorbed by 50% and reflected at 30%. A cooler and more pleasant climate is thus created. For the indoor climate, this means that the air conditioning must operate 33% less, which saves energy.
An outdoor green wall also has an additional positive effect on the urban heat island in the city. A temperature drop of 3 ° C can thus be achieved in the city.
Healthy indoor climate
A green environment promotes a healthy indoor climate. Disorders such as irritated eyes, headache, dry throat, and fatigue decrease. In offices with plants, there is a decrease in absenteeism due to illness.
Increases productivity at work
A green work environment increases work productivity by 15%. The plants in a plant will have a positive effect on people, as is reflected in employee satisfaction.
Effects on air quality
The promoters of indoor air purification by plants are most often commercial signs offering equipment or services around green walls. Scientific studies exist on the effectiveness of this phytoremediation – it is the term, also used for the de-pollution of water and grounds, but they are rare.
In the 1970s, NASA became interested in the issue of controlling the quality of the air confined to a spacecraft. The indoor pollutants studied are VOCs (volatile organic compounds), which are very common in habitats, such as benzene, as well as formaldehyde.
Especially used in carpet glues, and carbon monoxide. We now know that most of this sanitation is not to be credited to the plant itself, but to the microorganisms present in the earth.
However, a team from the University of Georgia (United States) demonstrated that ivy, crimson and asparagus plantations were the best VOC absorbers.
Under real housing conditions, the remediation effect is extremely weak. It is better and varies widely, to act on the sources of pollution (carpet, smoke, etc.) and, above all, ventilate the house frequently.
In addition, the absorption of carbon dioxide (CO2), due to photosynthesis, is also very low, especially since green plants also breathe. At night, they consume oxygen (but there too, negligibly for us).
Note: Make sure that the rear wall of the plant wall is watertight, at the risk of seeing mold appear.
Conclusion
A green wall offers many advantages, economically, ecologically and socially. It thus ensures air purification, water retention, a lower surrounding temperature, thermal regulation and biodiversity in the city.
A green wall can be made outside (as a vertical garden) or inside a building and is, therefore, a flexible and versatile solution. In addition, humans feel better in a green environment than a gray one. In this article, you will find below all the advantages.