Emergy based evaluation of environmental performances of Living Wall and Grass Wall systems

Vertical Greenery Systems (VGS) are relatively new structures for architectural green cladding that embed a curtain of plants (Living Wall – hereafter LW) or grass (Grass Wall – hereafter GW) fixed on building facades and nurtured by an automated watering system. An eMergy evaluation (EE) of both LW and GW was performed aimed at assessing potential ‘environmental costs’ relative to their manufacturing chain, from plants–grass nursery to the assembling of structural elements, until their sustenance in time.