Mitigating the effects of urbanization requires integrated sustainable practices in buildings and urban space. Incorporating vegetation on buildings has many benefits, including improved biodiversity, air quality, thermal comfort, health, and well-being. Green façade systems (GFS) can help restore a city’s composition for future habitats - both human and nonhuman.
How can we co-create with nature to develop designs for climate adaptation?
Buildings can play a pivotal role in creating a high-quality sustainable future if designed and built properly. Mitigating the effects of urbanization requires integrated sustainable practices in buildings and urban space.
Bio-inspiration has stimulated progress in the fields of biology and engineering, leading to innovative designs. Incorporating bio-inspired green wall designs on buildings provides numerous benefits such as improved biodiversity, air quality, thermal comfort, health, and well-being. A bio-inspired green wall design can help restore a city’s vitality and provide a solution for climate adaptation.
Using a research-through-design (RTD) methodology, we created a bioinspired prototype: “Plant Pixel”. The prototype, built in Germany, comprised 500 modules and 500 plants. The Plant Pixel prototype is modular, cost effective, and has low-embodied carbon; it was developed within a circular economy framework. The selected materials, substrate, and fixing system lowered the costs and the Plant Pixel prototype’s embodied carbon is comparable to that of other products.
Additionally, this prototype results in lower summer temperatures, improving outdoor thermal comfort.
The design, inspired by steep rock walls, promotes movement and versatility in facades. The plant pixel prototype adapts to building facades with a single module of different lengths. The modular square profiles create a unique spatial structure in which the irregularities supply shelter and a microclimate capable of growing numerous plant species.
Impact
The Plant Pixel prototype provides designers with a bio-inspired, low-embodied carbon, cost effective green wall. Additionally, Plant Pixel acts as a tool for designers to mitigate the negative impacts of urbanization. Incorporating low-carbon and cost-effective solutions into design practices will contribute to a high-quality sustainable future.
