A green wall is a fairly novel architectural concept that encourages sustainability and environment friendliness in commercial spaces. It is a greening typology in which plants are grown on vertical walls or surfaces with the help of specialized structures. While improving the green quotient in a space, these green walls also provide extra insulation by ensuring a layer of air between the plants and the walls. It is in fact, a great way of adding life to an architectural project and in turn, has gained immense popularity in recent times.
However, growing plants on vertical surfaces is not enough. Green walls require a specialized and controlled environment that assists the growth of plants. For instance, they need appropriate customized lighting solutions, especially when grown in indoor environments.
Green plants grow, survive, and thrive due to a natural phenomenon known as photosynthesis. It is a process during which the plants convert light energy into chemical energy. They capture light energy and use it for converting water, carbon dioxide, and minerals into oxygen and energy-rich organic compounds.
Moreover, plants also need light to produce chlorophyll – a pigment that assists the photosynthesis process. Interestingly, plants require light in the orange-red part of the spectrum (around 640-660nm) for producing chlorophyll and the blue part of the spectrum (around 430-400nm) for the photosynthesis process. Thus, they should be equipped with full-spectrum light sources that generate white light.
Typically, sunlight does all the work for green walls. However, when green walls are designed in indoor spaces, LED lighting solutions serve as the best option.
LED luminaires produce appropriate white light and assist growth of plants in the absence of sunlight. They also have the best CRI and colour temperature (after sunlight) which eventually makes sure that the original colours of plants are clearly visible to human eyes.
Moreover, a temperature of 4000k is considered highly appropriate; given it furnishes a balanced warm light that compliments the green walls. Fortunately, LEDs can adhere to almost all the lighting requirements that your green wall needs. For instance, many commercial buildings, retail stores, art galleries etc. that comprise of green walls are equipped with LED spotlights or LED floodlights for the same reasons.
Meanwhile, green walls in outdoor environments don’t require any specialized lighting given they’re exposed to sunlight. However, they can still be integrated with outdoor landscape luminaires like low-voltage led lighting for enhancing their overall aesthetics.
