Indoor vertical greening for regulating building microclimate

The integration of vegetation in buildings can increase the environmental sustainability of urban contexts as well as produce other relevant unquantifiable effects. Vegetation can be applied both on the exterior side of the buildings’ envelope and inside, in different ways and layouts. Green façades are a specific kind of vertical greening for buildings consisting of plants covering vertical walls of buildings. The presence of vegetation on the envelope positively affects the building’s thermal and acoustic performance, air quality, aesthetics, with relevant consequences in terms of energy and cost savings and human wellbeing. Until now, research has focused mainly on vertical greening systems applied to the exterior side of the buildings, but indoor applications deserve attention as well. This is the reason behind the present research: assessing the physical functioning of an indoor green façade. To this end, an experimental prototype of an indoor greening system was designed and realized to be monitored, at the University of Bari. The prototype consists of a sealed chamber, with evergreen plants, properly equipped with sensors for collecting air, soil and plant parameters, needed for studying the system functioning. The database created with the collected data enables investigations of the green façade behaviour and effects. A better understanding of this green technology, allowing for informed design and knowledge of induced effects, can promote the spread of indoor green façades.