Green architecture has many versatile advantages. Green buildings consume less power, last longer and it is healthier to live in them rather than conventional houses. Their construction requires less material and they are usually self-sustainable. Of course, they also have a smaller negative impact on the environment.
The investment in green home is investment in your health. How productive are you when you have a headache or you are under stress? You can get a headache or be stressed because of harmful vapours from low quality materials used for construction of your home, poor lighting, constant noise, etc. Less energy is consumed when we have good natural light and quality insulation. When you live in a green house you have more money to spend on things you like, because you have lower costs for doctors, repairs, heating and cooling, maintenance, etc. You can make your home greener by installing green walls and roof.
How to make a green wall?
Green wall, or an indoor vertical garden, consists of fixed or movable supporting structure, space to accommodate the plants and irrigation system (pump, tank for nutrition and water, a timer and a dropper).
Plants for the green wall are grown in containers with special fibres that concentrate the root in one place and they are usually in regular geometric shape (cube or rectangle). Attach metal construction that will carry your new vertical garden on the wall and along the construction conduct watering system. Make sure that every plant gets access to the water. You will also need a waterproof layer that will insulate your regular wall from moisture. After that, stack the plants next to each other and make a plant mosaic.
Plants that are recommended for green walls are creeping philodendron, dracaena, ivy, scindapsus, ferns, Spathiphyllum, aglaonema and plants with small root system.
How to make a green roof?
The construction of the green roof and its layers depend on the purpose of the roof. All green roofs have one thing in common and that is that they must contain certain layers so their ecosystem could live.
The layers of the green roof are:
- Supporting structure – its purpose is to withstand the roof load and it represents the support for the other layers.
Waterproof layer – which is intended to retain the rain water and its channelling towards the sewer or to a system for storing the rain water. - Layer which prevents the penetration of roots in the supporting layer – this layer prevents the roots penetration in depth. The most commonly used material for this layer is geotextile.
Drainage layer – this layer that is intended to retain the water that plants can use for nutrition during drought periods. - Layer for filtration – which prevents the penetration of higher layers and roots in the drainage layer but allows the water come through.
- Sand or small rocks – are used to help drain the soil, they are porous so they provide an excellent basis for application of the soil.
- Soil – or any other substrate that enables plants to grow.
There are other layers that you can use for green roof construction but these are the most commonly applied. If you want to grow something other than grass and small plants on your roof you have to apply thicker layer of soil and stronger supporting construction so the plants can grow undisturbed.
By building green you invest in your health, reduce the impact of construction on the environment, improve the quality of your living space and reduce the costs associated with the using of the building. There are more and more people on our planet and less and less resources. We have to be more responsible when we build so the next generations don’t end up left without necessary resources.
