Living Walls: Varieties, Benefits and Global Distribution
Open Access
- Author:
- DiLauro, Alyce Anne
- Area of Honors:
- Elective Area of Honors - Science, Technology, and Society
- Degree:
- Bachelor of Arts
- Document Type:
- Thesis
- Thesis Supervisors:
- Laura Guertin, Thesis Supervisor
Laura Guertin, Thesis Supervisor
Andrew Scott Lau, Faculty Reader
Laura Guertin, Thesis Honors Advisor - Keywords:
- Living walls
Green roofs
Environmental and Social benefits
Penn State 2009 Solar Decathlon
Google Earth - Abstract:
- Today, “going green” has become a salient issue in the United States and across the globe. One of the green initiatives growing in popularity is the practice of green construction. Commercial, educational, and government buildings have increased their use of sustainable construction materials and environmentally-friendly designs with the addition of green roofs and living walls. Green roofs either partially or completely cover the roof of a building with vegetation for environmental and economic benefits. Living walls are similar to the design, construction and function of green roofs, yet these walls exist indoors or outdoors as a vertical arrangement of plants. One example of a living wall is an indoor herb wall constructed by Penn State. In Penn State’s entry to the 2009 Solar Decathlon competition, the Natural Fusion house contains planter boxes with herbs used for cooking that hang in the kitchen on boards of horizontal poplar. This indoor living herb wall receives sunlight from three skylights and water from the house occupants. Despite the green construction efforts in the United States, living walls are more popular and common in Europe than the rest of the globe. To address the lack of accessible information on the locations and benefits of living walls, a customized interface has been designed in Google Earth to display the global, geographic distribution of living walls. This Google Earth file helps to publicize and spread awareness about not only the existence of living walls but their environmental and social benefits. Finally, ideas are proposed as to the construction of an outdoor living wall at the University Park campus of Penn State University.