Earth Equity News

Green Walls Taking Root on Buildings. By Dan Nephin, AP, October 12, 2009. "The next big thing in green building design might be to turn an existing idea on its side. Pittsburgh's PNC Financial Services Group Inc. recently installed a green wall the size of two tennis courts on one side of its headquarters. Like green roofs -- their perpendicular counterparts -- green walls are covered in vegetation and provide the benefits of natural insulation and removal of air pollutants. PNC, which provides banking and wealth management services, estimates it will be 25% cooler behind the wall than the ambient summer temperatures. Green walls also can be visually engaging. The PNC wall features more than 15,000 ferns, sedums, brass buttons and other plants that create a swirling pattern of varying hues of green above the company's logo. They are divided among hundreds of 2-by-2-foot aluminum panels that were anchored onto the building's frame after part of the granite facade was removed... Steven Peck, president of Green Roofs for Healthy Cities, a Toronto industry association, said interest in green walls is growing, though the group does not keep statistics. He estimates green roof installations have increased at about 30% a year over five years. Green Living Technologies, of Rochester, N.Y., designed the wall at PNC. Chief Executive George Irwin said the company also has installed walls in New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago and Seattle."