The major innovation of vertical plantscapes is fast becoming a pivotal tool for new and existing building owners to embrace environmentally sustainable development. The social, economic, and environmental value that vertical plantscapes  developments has upon the urban environment is significant.

It is well established that plants provide a positive physical surrounding in which it is more comfortable to live and work by removing pollutants from the air, moderating temperatures through shade and wind blocks, reducing glare and noise, adding aromas, and screening unattractive sights.

Vertical plantscapes have now evolved as an important discipline to deal with sustainability issues in our built environment. The application of vertical green walls, espaliered vertical gardens, arbours, and suspended sky gardens has considerable potential as mechanisms of remedial urban greening:

• Improving building energy performance by reducing energy consumption

• Improving air quality through pollution adsorption and oxygen generation

• Mitigating the urban heat island effect

• Improving visual amenity and increasing a buildings profile

• Improving building lifespan

• Cooling down temperatures inside and outside a building

• Restoring a diverse ecology to urban areas

• Recycling storm water and grey water

• High frequency noise abatement

• Improving the psychosocial health of a buildings occupants and the general public

• Addressing the aesthetics of sustainability

Improving energy consumption

Designing buildings to incorporate facade shading and biofiltration with green biomass has considerable economic value. Vegetation acts as an effective barrier to solar radiation and also acts to insulate the building from external cooling. Additionally a greenwall installed as a biofilter can substantially reduce the need to duct in air from the outdoors by generating clean air indoors.

In this way, it is estimated that the application of a greenwall matrix can significantly reduce ongoing heating and cooling energy costs of a building.

Reducing air pollution

A greenwall offers immediate environmental advances in reducing existing greenhouse and other volatile organic compounds from our polluted cities. Plants act as bio-purifiers and can play a dramatic role in improving the quality of city air through a number of biochemical processes by removing and breaking down airborne contaminants from both inside and outside a building. When combined with plant photosynthesis, which produces clean, oxygen rich air, it becomes easy to see the value of employing living plants as bio-purifiers in polluted urban environments.

Increased property values and public profile

Plants are one of the fastest, most cost effective agents for rectifying negative perceptions of an area, enhancing a buildings public profile and significantly improving the visual amenity, economic, and social conditions of the city. The application of vertical gardens is shown to increase property values by dramatically increasing the amenity of buildings, and establishing higher public acclaim, transforming them into recognisable landmarks.

**this article was copied from a discussion on vertical greening from the internet