Green Walls

When you think of LEED's "heat island effect" for "non-roof" most people just think of the ground. But what about the walls? Just because a wall is vertical doesn't mean there isn't significant heat gain. And if a nice green roof or ground level garden can offer us other benefits like insulation, mitigating water runoff and absorbing CO2, why can't a wall?

A green wall popped up a block away from my jobsite up on 86th and 3rd, covering the PURE YOGA studio. At first I though it was just a greenwashing gimmick but as I thought about it more, I realized that, most principles applied to a roof can somehow be utilized by a wall as well. AND you can see it!

This morning I found an article in treehugger.com, which is not my favorite website, but regardless...

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/09/11-buildings-wrapped-in-green-walls.php

The company gsky is the biggest manufacturer thus far. And once again I was disgusted to find that, even though these are fairly new in the US, Europe already has a ton of them....

http://www.verticalgardenpatrickblanc.com/

Regarding the inside green wall, are there any methods in place for insect mitigation? That's the only concern I would have. I had a bunch of plants in my office and one of my succulents was attracting these little flies.

The MillionTreesNYC project is pretty extensive, welcoming the efforts of other charities as well. I spent a day out in Kissena Park in Queens with the NYCares program doing just that. Random community residents also joined in throughout the day. It was pretty powerful.