Green Walls, Sustainable Design, and the Built Environment

The American Institute of Architects Pasadena + Foothill Chapter
Presents its First Friday Forum for April:

Green Walls, Sustainable Design, and the Built Environment:
Aesthetics, Noise Reduction, Energy Efficiency, and Improved Air Quality
One (1) AIA CEU, HSW Sustainability

When + Where + Register
April's "First Friday Form" will be on
Friday, April 9th, 2010 (7:30 AM to 9:00 AM)
The Assistance League of Pasadena
820 East California Boulevard
Pasadena, CA 91106

A Five-Dollar ($5.00) donation for a Continental Breakfast, will be appreciated so we can accommodate everyone who wishes to attend, please register at: www.aiapf.org

Or, please e-mail Scott Young at:
Please Put into the Subject Line: Green Walls

Our speaker will be Reuben Freed:
Mr. Freed is the Director of Research at Green Screen, as well as, chair of The Green Wall Group, which is an industry trade group that funds research on green walls, living walls, and hybrid green wall systems. Reuben Freed is a trained architect, who studied architecture at Technikon Witwatersrand, now University of Johannesburg. His architectural experience has included urban design in England, branch design manager for the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce Development Corporation in Toronto, along with extensive work in the Canadian and US film industry.

Green Walls, Sustainable Design, and the Built Environment:
There is some debate, amongst scholars, as to whether the Hanging Gardens of Babylon ever existed. Of those scholars who do agree to their once having existed, there still is some debate as to how they were constructed, as well as, if they were even erected in Babylon, itself. Whether this Wonder of the Ancient World ever existed, or how it was constructed, its influence on the imaginations of architects since - is not debated. An example of this influence, on an architect's imagination, is the inclusion of seven 250-foot tall Vegetated Fins (see above photo), on the west side of the Edith Green-Wendell Wyatt Federal Building, in Portland, Oregon. More than just an aesthetic attribute in the design program, the vegetative fins are intended to serve multiple functions, such as a sunscreen, provide insulation, filter and/or absorb air pollution, as well as, reduce the heat island effect. In themselves, they are but one of the many sustainable design components incorporated into this $135M remodeling project.

Obviously green walls are not new, nor are their inclusion as an architectural feature on buildings, either. What is new though (recently) is detailed research and documentation of the numerous benefits of green walls, beyond aesthetics. Empirically our ancestors understood the benefits of vegetation on an individual's well-being. University studies in Europe, Canada, Asia, and America are now quantifying these benefits, as to how vegetation, in particular, green walls, are able to achieve this "well-being effect". Besides improved metal health and faster recovery for surgical patients, research has also documented improved air quality through the absorption of air pollution, sound attenuation, reduced energy consumption, and the extension of the useful life of a building's exterior components.

Please join the Pasadena + Foothill AIA in welcoming this month's speaker, Reuben Freed, of Green Screen, for a discussion about research into the benefits of green walls, and how, their incorporation into a sustainable design program can benefit not only the built environment, but more importantly, the environment, itself.

Last Updated: March 30, 2010