Vertical Greenery Systems (VGS) as passive tool for energy savings and
acoustic insulation in buildingsInternational Conference on Living Walls and Ecosystem
Services6-8th July 2015
University of Greenwich, UK
PhD candidate Julià Coma Dr. Gabriel Pérez
Dr. Luisa F. Cabeza
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Contents
• Introduction• Objectives and methodology• Energy savings in buildings• Acoustic insulation in buildings• Conclusions• Acknowledgements
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• Vertical Greenery Systems contribution to Ecosystem Services in the built environment take place at two scales:– Building scale
• Thermal regulation and energy savings• Acoustic insulation• Materials protection• Aesthetics (party walls and back facades)• Food production (permaculture)
Introduction
Barcelona
Mollerusa. Spain
Mora d’Ebre. SpainBarcelona. Spain
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• Vertical Greenery Systems contribution to Ecosystem Services in the built environment take place at two scales:– Urban scale
• Urban environment improvement– Heat island effect reduction– Relative humidity increment– Retention of dust and suspended particles– Capture of CO2
• Noise reduction• Aesthetics-landscape• Increment of biomass • Support to biodiversity• Profit for the mental health• Economics (jobs creation, food production,…)
Introduction
Barcelona. Spain
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Objectives and Methodology
• GREA research group objectives for Green Infrastructure:– To study the potential of Green Roofs and Vertical Greenery Systems to
provide Ecosystem Services in the urban built environment:• Passive energy savings • Acoustic insulation
– To design new constructive systems following sustainable construction criteria
• The methodology is based on to compare identical cubicles, in which the only difference is the constructive system under study (roof, facade, etc.)
Experimental installation (21 cubicles). Puigverd de Lleida. Spain
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• The classification of VGS must be considered for energy savings insulation purposes
Energy savings in buildings
Extensive systems Intensive systems
Traditional
Modular trellis
Wired Double-skin
Mesh
Green f açades
Perimeter flowerpots
Panels Living walls
Geotextile felt
Pérez G. et al. Green vertical systems for buildings as passive systems for energy savings. Applied Energy2011;88:4854-4859
Pérez G. et al. Behaviour of green façades in Mediterranean Continental climate. Energy Conversion and Management 2011;52:1861-1867
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Extensive systems Intensive systems
Traditional
Modular trellis
Wired Double-skin
Mesh
Green f açades
Perimeter flowerpots
Panels Living walls
Geotextile felt
• The classification of VGS must be considered for energy savings insulation purposes
Energy savings in buildings
• Plant sp. Climbing plant Deciduous/perennial
• Light support structure
• Plant sp. Shrubs
• Heavy support structure• Substrate/geotextil felts
Lleida. Spain
Lleida. Spain
Barcelona. Spain
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• The most influential parameters for energy savings purpose design of VGS are:
Energy savings in buildings
Pérez G. et al. Vertical Greenery Systems (VGS) for energy saving in buildings: a review. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews (2014) pp. 139-165
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Energy savings in buildings
• The accumulated energy savings of three identical cubicles was compared, with the only difference on the façades (east, south and west)– Reference cubicle
10International Conference on Living Walls and EESS 6-8th July 2015 University of Greenwich, UK
Energy savings in buildings
• The accumulated energy savings of three identical cubicles was compared, with the only difference on the façades (east, south and west)– Reference cubicle– Green façade cubicle: Double-skin green façade made by means
wire mesh as lightweight support and Boston Ivy (Parthenocissus tricuspidata) as deciduous climber plant
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Energy savings in buildings
• The plant growth was appropriate (summer 2015)
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Energy savings in buildings
• The accumulated energy savings of three identical cubicles was compared, with the only difference on the façades (east, south and west)– Reference cubicle– Green façade cubicle– Green wall cubicle: Pre-cultivated modular-based green wall
system, and perennial bushes Helichrysum stoechas and Rosmarinus officinalis
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Energy savings in buildings
• The plant growth was appropriate (summer 2015)
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Energy savings in buildings
• The results showed a great shade effect due to the VGS, with interesting reductions on the external surface temperatures (summer 2014)
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Energy savings in buildings
• And, energy consumption reductions during the coolingperiod up to 50% (summer 2014, Indoor set-point 24 ºC)
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Energy savings in buildings
• During the heating period, the Green Wall provides a slight thermal insulation (winter 2015, indoor set-point 21 ºC)
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Acoustic insulation in buildings
• From previous studies (green belts in roads) it is said that vegetation can provide acoustic insulation by means of three ways:– Sound diffraction (reflexion and scattering) by plant elements
(trunks, branches and leaves)– Sound absorption by vegetation– Sound level reduction due to the destructive interference between
the direct contribution from the source to the receiver and the reflected sound waves (e.g. from the ground)
• In this cases vegetation is attributed with some acoustic noise reduction up to 8 dB, and occasionally more
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Acoustic insulation in buildings
• For VGS, again the systems classification must be considered: green walls vs green facades
• The main parameters that can influence are:
Traditional Green Facades
Double-skin Green Facades
Green Walls
Species used x x x
Foliage thickness (or coverage %)
x x x
Support structure x x
Substrate thickness and composition
x
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Acoustic insulation in buildings
• For the acoustic insulation characterization of our VGS the ISO standards was followed:
– UNE-EN ISO 140-5 Acoustics. Measurement of sound insulation in buildings and building elements. Part 5: Field measurements of airborne sound insulation of façade elements and façades
– Standardized Levels Difference (D2m,nT,w) is the main parameter, which is the value used to express the acoustic insulation between a room and outdoors
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Acoustic insulation in buildings
• Different behaviour was observed
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Acoustic insulation in buildings
• Different behaviour was observed
Substrate(absorption)
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Acoustic insulation in buildings
• Different behaviour was observed
Vegetation (diffraction)
Substrate(absorption)
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Conclusions
• Energy savings in buildings– Good performance during cooling period with energy consumption reductions up to 50%, both for Green Façade and for Green Wall (shade effect)– Neutral contribution during heating period for Green Façade (deciduous plants) and interesting slight contribution of Green Wall to thermal insulation (substrate layer and perennial shrubs)
• Acoustic insulation in buildings– Some differences between GW and GF were observed – The contributions to the acoustic insulation of the substrate layer on the middle frequencies and from the vegetation layer on the high frequencies were confirmed
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Acknowledgements
• To the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant
agreement n° PIRSES-GA-2013-610692 (INNOSTORAGE) and from the European Union’s
Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 657466
(INPATH-TES)
• To the Spanish government (ENE2011-28269-C03-01, ENE2011-28269-C03-02, ENE2011-
28269-C03-03 and ULLE10-4E-1305)
• To the Catalan Government for the quality accreditation given to their research group
(2014 SGR 123)
• To Department of Vegetal Production, University of Almería (Almería), the company
Buresinnova S.A (Barcelona) and with the City Hall of Puigverd de Lleida
• Julià Coma wants to thank the Departament d'Universitats, Recerca i Societat de la
Informació de la Generalitat de Catalunya for her research fellowship
• To all co-authors of this work
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Thank you for your [email protected]@diei.udl.cat
