Vertical greening systems, a process tree for green façades and living walls

This study shows that greening the building envelope with vertical greening systems such as climbing plants or living wall systems provides ecological and environmental benefits. Contemporary architecture in fact is increasingly focusing on vertical greening systems as a means to restore the environmental integrity of urban areas, biodiversity and sustainability. Applying green façades, which is an established feature of contemporary urban design, can offer multiple environmental benefits on both new and existing buildings and can be a sustainable approach in terms of energy saving considering materials used, nutrients and water needed and efficient preservation of edifices. To provide a full perspective and a viable case study on vertical greening systems a process tree is developed throughout this research. Elaborating the process tree has proved to be a useful methodology to analyse main parameters as climate and building characteristics, avoid damages and maintenance problems caused by inappropriate design, and compare different elements such as technologies, materials, durability, dimensions, and plant species employed.