Green rooms: Creating an indoor vertical wetland

A project at The University of Queensland’s Global Change Institute deployed a team of registered horticulturists to improve the campus’s built environment.

Registered horticulturist Mark Paul, owner and founder of The Greenwall Company, designed and installed a paneled green wall over indoor airconditioning vents at The University of Queensland’s Global Change Institute.

Designed to filter air through plants in order to reduce dust and volatile organic compounds, the 70-square-metre walls biologically treat the air in the building and add significant visual amenity. The installation requires minimal maintenance, will become self-sustaining, and can be considered a step in the greater movement toward building models that contribute to the restoration and regeneration of the environment.

The building’s existing pond presented Paul with a sustainability challenge: its small size required that a separate recycled water system be used to irrigate the green walls’ upper reaches. The irrigation and nutrient system Paul designed enables pond water to be recirculated down the vertical wetland, so native rainbow fish and water plant waste provide nutrients for the green wall.

Paul said the green wall approach could improve the aesthetics of concrete building facades and have positive impacts on the environment, including biodiversity. “We aim to manufacture our green wall components in an environmentally responsible manner and to minimize the carbon footprint of each project,” he said. “This means sourcing plant material, inorganic media and the labour used to build our green walls as close to point of use as we can.”

The Australian Institute of Horticulture (AIH) has represented horticulturally trained professionals in Australia and Singapore for more than 60 years. The Registered Horticulturist program is an accredited and audited program that represents some of Australia’s best horticulturists working in a broad range of occupations, from horticultural consultants and landscape contractors to landscape architects, nursery staff and gardeners.

For more information: E info@aih.org.au W www.aih.org.au P (02) 8001 6198

02 — The pond at the green wall’s base provides nutrients in the form of fish and plant waste to sustain the green wall. Photo: The Greenwall Company 02

01 01 — Designed by registered horticulturist Mark Paul, a green wall at The University of Queensland’s Global Change Institute building filters air. Photo: The Greenwall Company