Green Walls 101: Systems Overview and Design (2nd Ed.)

Did you know there is a Green Walls 101 Course offered? Consider taking it today and learn the latest in green wall technology! (PS: It was written with contributions from Plant Connection (G-02™)!

This updated version of our Green Walls 101: Introduction to Systems and Design course discusses design and construction best practices for green facades and living walls, as well as the most current research findings on the environmental benefits of these technologies.

• Determine major functions and components of green walls;
• Describe characteristics and assess various advantages of different green wall systems;
• Understand market drivers encouraging green wall implementation in North America;
• Understand how to design green walls for maximum benefits and LEED™ points.

For more information, visit Green Roofs for Healthy Cities:
http://grhc.sclivelearningcenter.com/index.aspx

Evidence suggests that green spaces can help children with ADHD

New studies show that children with ADHD who regularly play in outdoor settings with lots of green spaces have milder symptoms than those who play indoors or in built outdoor environments.

Read more about it below:

For kids with ADHD, regular 'green time' is linked to milder symptoms

Philly Goes for Green Roofs for Clean Water

The City of Philadelphia has just signed a plan to spend $2billion to help clean and prevent runoff into their sewer system.

The plan uses techniques including permeable pavement and green roof technology to help capture and clean stormwater runoff in the city limits. The ultimate goal is to prevent close to 90% of the polluted runoff now entering their overtaxed sewer system.

Read more about it here:
http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/681e1f09728d434b82b153842c61099a/PA--Philadelphia-Water/

Green walls can get kids to eat green — and greens

A GRO₂ GroWall is installed in a school cafeteria where they plan to grow herbs for the children’s lunches.

Kent Denver School has added to its campus an object of practical beauty and groundbreaking efficiency at a reasonable price; a space that's inviting, well-considered and righteously self-conscious. It is a model of environmental smarts, and on track to become the first school dining facility to be certified green at the highest level — known as LEED platinum, and coveted widely — from the U.S. Green Building Council.

Built for $4.5 million, the now 20,000-square-foot cafeteria aims to educate while it feeds. Students get healthy meals, but they also get a glimpse into the circular process of food production, consumption and waste recycling. There's something particularly green, and wholly appropriate, in the fact that students who pay $20,000 a year for tuition scrape their own dirty dishes into composting bins.

The lunchroom is a quarter-mile from the nearest classroom building, a considerable walk, especially in winter that is meant to force students to take a mental break during the school day. There are rewards when they arrive, including a new, healthy-options salad bar that has proven popular in the few weeks the cafeteria has been open.

Just ahead from that is an indoor “living wall," a 14-by-18 foot vertical garden where the school's chefs grow herbs used in cooking. Semple Brown Design’s Dru Schwyhart describes it as a psychic center of the room, a contemporary equivalent to the traditional hearth that mirrors the "cultural values of a new generation."

The plan calls for the planting of 100 fruit trees in the backyard. Students will tend to the trees themselves, fertilize them with compost from the lunchroom, and then harvest the apples and apricots for meals. Eat and repeat, kids.

Everything from the plumbing to the landscaping is water-efficient. And so that no one forgets all the efficiency, energy use stats will be projected in real-time on a TV monitor. It's a braggy move, but teaching requires a bit of show and tell to sink in.

The building's merits go beyond its environmental sensitivities and its abilities to serve up, in quantity, menu items such as shrimp scampi with baby carrots, Cantonese stir-fry with snow peas or mutter paneer with tofu. And they go beyond the behavior it has inspired, things like an updated, campus-wide recycling program and getting rid of lunch trays for that large reduction in landfill waste.

This content is an excerpt from The Denver Post, by Ray Mark Rinaldi. Read the full article and view photos here: www.denverpost.com/entertainment/ci_17797338

Can Green Walls qualify for LEED points?

Sustainable Sites Credit 7.1: Landscape Design That Reduces Urban Heat Islands, Non-Roof (1 pt)
Exterior green walls reduce the solar reflectance of a structure, thus reducing the urban heat island effect.

Water Efficiency Credits 1.1, 1.2: Water Efficient Landscaping (1 to 2 pts)
Buildings can incorporate a stormwater collection system for irrigation of the green walls and other landscape features. Using only captured, recycled, or nonpotable water may enable the project to achieve this credit.

Water Efficiency Credit 2: Innovative Wastewater Technologies (1 pt)
Green walls can be utilized as wastewater treatment media for gray water. Other features, such as the incorporation of compost tea from a composting toilet, is another way for green walls to aid in the reduction of wastewater.

Energy and Atmosphere Credit 1: Optimize Energy Performance (1 to 10 pts)
Green walls can provide additional insulation and natural cooling, which reduces a building's reliance on mechanical systems.

Innovation in Design Credits 1-4: Innovation in Design (1 to 4 pts)
Green walls may contribute to innovative wastewater or ventilation systems.