SMARTWORKS-M AGILE
Category:
GREEN WALLS
Project general details
Nominator
Investor
Supplier
Architect
ECOGREEN LANDSCAPE TECHNOLOGIES INDIA PVT LTD
GIRIRAJ ENTERPRISE, MALPANI GROPU
DSP Design Associates Pvt Ltd
ECOGREEN LANDSCAPE TECHNOLOGIES INDIA PVT LTD
Location (City)
GPS
Country
Region
Year of nomination
PUNE
data
India
Asia
2024
Project specifications
This Green wall is not just the tallest in Pune spanning 23 M height, starting from 2nd floor of the building but also one of the largest Green wall in Pune with vegetative area of 1500 SqM, surrounding all the 4 sides of the building. Green wall has blended seamlessly in the building facade. It’s a symbol of dialogue between nature & application. The outer skin of the building was designed to act as a shading device, to provide enough natural light & ventilation to the parking floors. Microclimate creation was achieved by integrating this green wall in the building facade. Air gets cooled as it passes through the green wall. Efforts were taken right from onset of the project to integrate & achieve the greenery with emphasis on sustainability. Trials & mock ups were carried out before finalizing all the details. Detailed planning of project phasing, specifications, plant selection, execution & maintenance strategy was done keeping in mind working at heights.
Object type
Green wall area (m2)
Year of completion
Project in operation?
Commercial buildings
1500
2023
YES
Green wall specification
Method of establishment of vegetation
Thorough planning, comprehensive Approach & site assessment played key role in establishing plants in this Green wall. After finalising Plant Varieties, saplings grown in Soilless media were planted in Biowall modules. These Pre-grown modules were installed at site. The intention of pre-growing planted modules was to ensure plants are fully grown well in advance before actual installation at site. It took us about 12 weeks to propagate, grow & establish the Plants in Green wall Modules. Irrigation for the Green wall is done using 16mm dripline with 1 Lph PC Drippers for uniform distribution of water within Green wall.Water soluble fertilisers & pesticides,fungicides are applied through Drip irrigation. Preventive insecticide sprays are taken at regular intervals. Trimming is done periodically to establish consistent greenery. Post DLP of 1 year, maintenance is taken up by ELT India. For Maintenance access Cradle is being used. Removing Windborne weeds is the crucial part of maintenance
Vegetation
As all the Green walls are seen prominently from main road, Consultants had given very clear Design intent of Uniform Greenery round the year, with minimal maintenance requirements. Pune has 3 distinct seasons with average temperature ranging between 19 °C to 40 °C. Considering this & Sun Path, Plant varieties chosen are Schefflera arboricola mini, Schefflera arboricola, Schefflera variegated, Pleomele reflexa variegated, Syngonium podophyllum Butterfly & Asparagus springeri. To break the monotony, the Green Bands of Schefflera are interspersed with variegated varieties & Pleomele is used as border of the bands. This also helps in protecting Schefflera from heat generated from metal façade. Asparagus adds the fresh green colour & hides drain trays at the base of the Bands.
Vegetation layer
Plant Palette was chosen considering the unique location, usage of the building, visibility throughout the year & Height of the Green wall, climatic conditions of site. There are rhythmic Vertical Bands of varying widths of Greenery spread across on all 4 Fascia of the Building. One can see this Green wall even from a distance. ELT Growth media provides the anchorage to the vegetation & required nutrients are provided through Irrigation system at regular interval. There are about 80000 plants of 6 different varieties in this green wall. The list of plants was finalised after detailed analysis of the site conditions, experiences, photo period, shade-path , access, visibility, container size of Biowall module, expected effect and availability, maintenance access & requirement. All the plants were propagated, grown in our Pune facility & later on transferred to Bio-wall modules. Pre-planted modules were installed at site thus giving almost ready look on day 1.
Retention layer
No separate Retention layer is used for this Green wall. ELT OMNIGREEN BIO WALL MODULE together with Growth Media & Geotextile at the base functions as Retention layer. The water reservoir provided at the base, is capable of holding more than 85 ml of water per planting cavity. Peat, Perlite, Coco-chips from the Growth media retain moisture. Air gaps in expanded clay granules, Grit, charcoal, etc hold water when irrigated. This has reduced irrigation frequency to twice a week, with each irrigation cycle of total 105 Minutes for entire Green wall thus bringing down the overall water requirement during summer & once a week during rains & winter.
Filtration layer
A piece of Non-woven Geotextile made of 350 GSM Bio-blanket having upto 40% organic fibers & 60% recycled synthetic fibres is placed at the base of each Pot, below Growth media. It acts as Filtration layer, as it retains growth media, allows water to pass through without clogging of drain.
Drainage layer
No separate Drainage layer is used for this project. ELT OMNIGREEN BIO WALL MODULE has built-in reservoir with drain opening provided at the base. This opening drains excess water into the module below it. It can be further controlled by connecting this drain using 16 mm sleeve which opens into the module below. Growth media is mix of materials of various sizes which allows movement of water through the media ensuring efficient drainage of excess water, facilitates aeration & promotes white root growth. There is no stagnation of water in the Growth Media, rather particle size permits easy drainage of excess water. Overflow of water if any is collected in the drain trays provided at intervals & at the base of each strip. These drain trays are further connected to the drain point provided by Client. All this together ensure healthy & stable growth of plants.
Separate layer
ELT OMNIGREEN BIO WALL MODULE prevents growth of roots into green wall structure. It contains growth media within each Pot, it prevents spillage & leakage of water. A piece of Non-woven Geotextile made of 350 GSM Bioblanket having upto 40% organic fibers & 60% recycled synthetic fibres is placed at the base of each Pot. This allows water to pass through but prevents washing out of media and clogging of drain, retains moisture & provides root anchorage.
Protective layer
Client had provided waterproofed surface. ELT OMNIGREEN BIO WALL MODULE are installed on frame which is 2” away from the wall, thus there is no chance of moisture getting trapped behind the Green wall. Each module provides drainage, controls washing & blowing away of growth media, retains water, holds growth media and vegetation, provide root anchoring. PPCP made module ensures that plant roots do not penetrate & damage the structure. Dripline is held in place and sits in the notch provided, so there is no spillage of water. Excess water is drained directly into the lower module thus there is 100% control over the irrigated water. The angular curvature of the pot is designed to provide extra space for white roots in upper area and also provide shadow on lower facia during hot hours of the day. Modules are installed using Tongue & Groove joinery to ensure secure installation, to enable sustenance to high wind velocity, shocks & enabling secured installations at such height.
Root layer
ELT OMNIGREEN BIO WALL SYSTEM,(Patent No. 201721031762) a modular Green wall system is used for this project. Each pot contain enough space to hold engineered growth media and to sustain water supply to the roots, maintaining a healthy and growing plant without replacement for longer periods. Soilless Growth media used is combination of ingredients which are inorganic, inert materials as well as small qty of selected organic materials. It is a careful and research supported recipe consisting mix of Wood Charcoal waste, Grit, expanded clay granules, Peat, Perlite, vermiculite, Cocochips, treated organic manure & oil cakes & slow release fertilizers. Mix is treated with fungicide & insecticide to avoid any contamination. The life of the media when under best ELT practices is more than 10 years. The weight per cft when fully saturated with water is less than 18 kg. More importance is given to long term sustainability than just making light in weight.
Project video
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