Wonderwalls.

Context: In our increasingly dense urban environment, there is a growing need for green spaces. As there is little space left to integrate this vegetation in a traditional way, alternative solutions are needed. Where green roofs are increasingly used today, vertical building surfaces remain largely unused. However, the available vertical façade area in cities is large. Both ground-bound green façades and living wall systems have enormous market potential. In addition to the economic opportunities they offer, they go hand in hand with a positive ecological, social and urban planning impact. They offer a cost and space-efficient way to increase the liveability and climate resilience of cities, they filter pollution and CO2 from the air, they increase biodiversity and they have a positive impact on people's productivity. Goals: The latent potential of green façades is almost ready to be monetized in terms of positive economic, ecological, social and urban planning impacts. To this end, knowledge that is concentrated in research institutes and in the manufacturing industry needs to be prepared for dissemination to the field and translated into practical tools and guidelines. In order to achieve a breakthrough in vertical façade greening and stimulate new innovations, this TETRA project will therefore focus on: (1) Developing an objective assessment framework to evaluate the performance of green façades. This will include environmental, economic and building physics elements. The systems will be assessed on the basis of their performance during their entire life cycle. (2) The elaboration of practical and reliable decision tools to help the various actors within the construction sector (e.g. architects, contractors, building owners, authorities) in the judicious prescription and application of green façades. Attention will be paid to the various elements that can influence the final choice, including the installation and maintenance of the various systems (e.g. whether or not they are ground-bound). (3) Targeted product innovations and testing in demo applications, such as evaluating and optimizing the efficiency of growth limiters. (4) Disseminating the knowledge to the various target groups by means of demos, workshops, ... Particular attention will be paid to the flow of knowledge and experience to education (e.g. students of architecture and industrial engineering, as well as practical training in construction and landscaping). Output: - www.gevelgroen.be - Buildwise Innovation paper "Begroende Gevels" (November 2022) - Wetenschappelijk Eindrapport WonderWalls (November 2022) Scientific Publications: A1: Is the sustainability potential of vertical greening systems deeply rooted? Establishing uniform outlines for environmental impact assessment of VGS Rowe, Timothy; Poppe, Jan; Buyle, Matthias; Belmans, Bert; Audenaert, Amaryllis Renewable and sustainable energy reviews - ISSN 1364-0321 - 162(2022), p.1-12 A1 (Under review) A review on the Leaf Area Index (LAI) in vertical greening systems. De Bock, A., Belmans, B., Vanlanduit S., Blom J., Alvarado-Alvarado A. Audenaert, A. Building and Environment, 34 p. Modeling the hygrothermal benefits of green walls using COMSOL Multiphysics ® Alvarado-Alvarado A., De Bock, A. , Belmans, B., Denys S. Sustainable Cities and Societies (SCS) P1 Conference proceedings with peer review: What's under the canopy of current LCA studies on vertical greening systems? – a SWOT analysis Timothy Rowe, Anouk De Bock, Matthias Buyle, Bert Belmans and Amaryllis Audenaert Proceedings of the 2022 International Conference on Green Building Stockholm, Sweden, 6 p. SWOT Analysis of an LWS as a replacement for the outer cavity leaf. M. Adriaenssen, W. Meeusen, T. Rowe, B. Belmans, A. Audenaert Proceedings 2022 International Conference on Green Energy and Environmental Technology (GEET-22) July 2022, Rome, Italy, ISSN: 2695-804X, 6 p.

Keywords:LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT, CONSTRUCTION, GREEN SPACES, COMPUTATIONAL MODELING

Disciplines:Sustainable building, Architectural sciences and technology, Building physics, Energy in buildings and built environments, Sustainable buildings and cities, Life cycle analysis of construction materials, Landscape architecture sciences and technology, Environmental engineering modelling, Sustainable development

Project type:Collaboration project