Green walls: a sustainable approach to climate change, a case study of London

ABSTRACT

The aim of the research is to evaluate and examine the thermal performance of vegetation on building façades and whether they can be considered as a possible method for mitigating the climate change impact in London. The first objective is to quantify the cooling potential of green walls during summer and understand how it modifies the microclimate in London. The second objective aims to evaluate its perceived benefits and provide insight into its occupant's thermal comfort levels. iButtons were installed during summer on living wall systems (LWS) of three buildings located in London. The study quantifies and demonstrates that a vegetated façade can reduce the exterior surface temperature by up to 12°C. The results of the case studies demonstrate the LWS can reduce the ambient air temperature between 0.5°C and 4.1°C compared to a distance of 2 m away. Wind speed can be decreased by up to 0.7 m s⁻¹ in front of a green façade.

KEYWORDS:

• Living wall system
• thermal performance
• evapo-transpiration
• shading
• urban heat island effect
• climate change adaption

Acknowledgements

This research work was carried out as part of the dissertation thesis study at Oxford Brookes University. The author is grateful to Fergus Nicol and Paola Sassi for their support and guide to this study as well as to the Madeleine Velupillai and Land Securities for providing the facilities for the experimental research.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

Maricruz Solera Jimenez http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2653-8832