THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY SCHREYER HONORS COLLEGE COLLEGES OF ENGINEERING AND THE LIBERAL ARTS LIVING WALLS: VARIETIES, BENEFITS AND GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION ALYCE DILAURO Spring 2010 A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a baccalaureate degree in Public Relations with honors in Science, Technology, and Society Reviewed and approved* by the following: Laura Guertin Associate Professor of Earth Sciences Thesis Supervisor and Honors Adviser Andrew Lau Associate Professor of Engineering Design Thesis Reader * Signatures are on file in the Schreyer Honors College. i 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. Keywords: Living walls • Green Roofs • Environmental and Social Benefits • Penn State 2009 Solar Decathlon • Google Earth ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract…………………………………………………………………………………............i List of Figures…………………………………………………………………………….……iii Acknowledgements……………………………………………………………………….........vi Chapter 1 BACKGROUND AND RESEARCH OBJECTIVES ............................................. 1 The Green Movement ...................................................................................................... 1 Climate Change ........................................................................................................ 4 Green Roofs ..................................................................................................................... 8 Types of Green Roofs .............................................................................................. 12 Living Walls ..................................................................................................................... 17 Hydroponic Living Walls ......................................................................................... 22 Plants Used for Living Walls ................................................................................... 25 Food Walls ............................................................................................................... 27 Spreading the Word ......................................................................................................... 28 Chapter 2 BENEFITS OF LIVING WALLS ........................................................................... 32 Chapter 3 METHODOLOGY .................................................................................................. 37 The Penn State 2009 Solar Decathlon Living Wall ......................................................... 37 Documenting Living Walls in Google Earth ................................................................... 39 Chapter 3 INTERNATIONAL TOUR ..................................................................................... 41 Solar Decathlon Living Wall ........................................................................................... 41 Google Earth: Living Walls Documented ........................................................................ 50 Chapter 4 PENN STATE LANDSCAPES AND LIVING WALLS ....................................... 72 Gardens and Green Façades at Penn State ....................................................................... 72 Penn State Greenhouse Living Walls ............................................................................... 77 Possibility of Implementing a Living Wall on Penn State’s Campus .............................. 81 CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................................ 85 REFERENCES ........................................................................................................................ 86 Academic Vitae……………………………………………………………………………....93 iii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1-1: City Hall's Green Roof in Chicago ....................................................................... 11 Figure 1-2: Ford Motor Company's Green Roof in Dearborn, Michigan ................................ 12 Figure 1-3: Ecoroof in Portland, Oregon ................................................................................. 13 Figure 1-4: EcoCathedral Mildam. .......................................................................................... 18 Figure 1-5: Louis LeRoy in EcoCathedral ............................................................................... 19 Figure 1-6: Gabions at the Chester Zoo. .................................................................................. 20 Figure 1-7: Jean Nouvel Fondation Cartier, Paris France. ....................................................... 23 Figure 1-8: Sedum oreganum ................................................................................................... 26 Figure 4-1: Rendering of the Natural Fusion home. ................................................................ 41 Figure 4-2: Penn State 2009 Solar Decathlon green roof. ....................................................... 42 Figure 4-3: Rendering of north façade. .................................................................................... 43 Figure 4-4: Rendering of bathroom living wall. ...................................................................... 43 Figure 4-5: Rendering of kitchen and south doors ................................................................... 44 Figure 4-6: Rendering of kitchen with living wall ................................................................... 44 Figure 4-7: Penn State 2009 Solar Decathlon living walls. ..................................................... 46 Figure 4-8: Natural Fusion's Interior living wall. .................................................................... 47 Figure 4-9: Natural Fusion's living wall - Close Up ................................................................ 48 Figure 4-10: Bayer MaterialScience, Natural Fusion home, Pittsburgh, PA ........................... 49 Figure 4-11: Sydney International Airport ............................................................................... 51 Figure 4-12: Medical Building at the University of Windsor. ................................................. 52 Figure 4-13: Brantford Chiropractic, Canada. ......................................................................... 53 Figure 4-14: University of Guelph-Humber. ........................................................................... 54 Figure 4-15: Vancouver Aquarium .......................................................................................... 55 Figure 4-16: BHV Homme in Paris, France ............................................................................ 56 iv Figure 4-17: Flower Tower, Paris, France ............................................................................... 57 Figure 4-18: Jean Nouvel Fondation Cartier, Paris France ...................................................... 58 Figure 4-19: Musee du Quai Branly, Paris, France .................................................................. 59 Figure 4-20: Pershing Hall Hotel in Paris, France. .................................................................. 60 Figure 4-21: Marche de Halles in Avignon, France ................................................................. 61 Figure 4-22: ACROS Fukuoka Prefecctural International Hall, Japan .................................... 62 Figure 4-23: Marui department store in Shinjuku, Japan. ........................................................ 63 Figure 4-24: El Japonez restaurant in Mexico. ........................................................................ 64 Figure 4-25: Changi International Airport, Singapore. ............................................................ 65 Figure 4-26: Horticulture Park, Singapore. .............................................................................. 66 Figure 4-27: Ciaxa Forum Museum, Madrid, Spain. ............................................................... 67 Figure 4-28: Siam Paragon Shopping