17. November 2021

Green walls as natural air conditioning

Green facades create quality of life in urban areas. Against the background of rising temperatures due to climate change and building densification, their effect of natural cooling and air purification is predominant.

Green walls are often considered only as aesthetic elements for the design of interior and exterior spaces. However, a well-designed green wall does much more. The benefits are many: green walls prevent graffiti, they create new habitats for insects and birds, they clean the air by absorbing carbon dioxide, they release oxygen and bind pollutants. In addition, green walls help reduce the impact of urban heat islands. An urban heat island is an urban area where temperatures rise compared to surrounding rural areas due to human activities such as replacing foliage with bricks and asphalt.

 

Buildings today are better insulated than ever before thanks to improved construction techniques and building materials. In winter, that's an advantage. But what happens in summer? In warm months, building interiors increasingly heat up. Add to this rising temperatures due to climate change and urban heat islands, and this leads to unbearably warm situations in modern buildings during the summer. Current climate forecasts predict further increases in temperatures. So this problem could get worse.

Insulation of buildings remains necessary in view of the winter months. However, the development of other options must be added to solve the heat problem of the summer months. One effective way to reduce rising temperatures is through urban greening, particularly greening on the facades of buildings.

Recent studies show how greening can contribute to the natural cooling of buildings during the summer months. In addition, it has been proven how greened walls can eliminate the need for air conditioning by keeping wall temperatures significantly lower than ungreened walls. Jakob Rope Systems has been solving these issues for 20 years with projects in Switzerland, Europe, America and Asia. A particularly vivid example of this is our Green Factory in Saigon. Here, green facades replace energy-intensive artificial building cooling.

We develop and install greening systems for buildings and urban spaces. Our systems consist of stainless steel ropes, support elements and Webnet systems. These are used to create individual climbing structures for plants on building facades, along which they can grow vertically or horizontally. Our specialists and planners will be happy to advise you on this.

(This article is published in collaboration with: MMA Architectural Systems)

Downloads

Catalog Green Solutions G2 References (PDF)

The program is presented in two parts. In the GreenSolutions reference brochure, you will find many real-world applications that show you the potential of greening.

desktop-monitor-download Download
Catalog GreenSolutions G2 Technical (PDF)

The program is presented in two parts. The catalog GreenSolutions Technical contains all wire rope products with their technical information for your greening project.

desktop-monitor-download Download