Our Conclusion

The decision we as a group made to construct a green wall came with it's own hardships, which persisted throughout the duration of the project. During the beginning of the project, we had difficulty deciding on a construction method after exploring various solutions that arose from our research, which all provided their own set of positives and negatives which we debated over.  In the end cost and a preference for recycled materials one the battle.

The collaborative decision to build our wall in Churchill VIC, at the house of one of our group members, despite being the most distant, ended up the most rational and practical decision; the location provided resources such as power tools, an open work space, and various flora which were to be used in the green wall (even if it did end up adding extra carbon emission use due to transport albeit carpooling and public transport) 

The state of the wall after the 2 minute water/rainfall simulation.

Here is the video of our green wall simulating rainfall for 2 minutes: Green wall 2 minute rainfall simulation | YouTube.

Upon finishing the construction, our 'green wall' did not fully realise our expectations of what we wanted to achieve at the beginning of this project; which was to have greenery covering the entire wall and having a smaller cavity in which the air, sound and light particles are impeded from travelling through to the building wall. 

This green wall will be kept by one of our members in her backyard in Churchill and maintained to continue and support the growth of the plants within the green wall system. With a bit of time and effort to maintain the wall, this 'modular green wall' could act as a facade for an existing wall and act as an extra insulation for that wall.

The green wall build was largely successful, but certainly could be improved.

Successes :-

• Wall was stable and structurally sound.
• Pots and plants successfully held and drained well.
• With maintenance, wall will support and grow plant life filling out the greenery and becoming more successful.
• Awning window opened and was not impeded by the wall, and enables the cooler air behind the wall and the smell of the plants into the building.

Room for improvement :-

• Water proofing and water management were key concerns throughout the project
• Drainage could be improved with larger or more holes and a mesh in base of pots to retain growing medium
• System drainage or a recirculating water reservoir with irrigation would improve watering efficiency and maintenance.
• Additional waterproof membranes or surfaces could be introduced to extend lifespan of pallet.
• Alternate potting arrangements could be considered
• Alternate plant varieties could be considered including native grasses and drought hardy plantings dependent on wall location.
• Alternate fixings and additional support mechanisms would be required in an are affected by wind or high traffic. To improve stability legs on the bottom could be added or fixings to the wall itself could be introduced.
• Rear wall construction (whilst only representative of an existing wall in our project), we were aware that better cladding, additional flashing and better construction methods would have been required for a more permanent and successful solution to the rear wall. The recycled pallet did provide a strong and stable base for the window, which led us to believe that pallets could be a viable option for a structural wall.

(written by Aaron, Arneth, Billy and Daniel.)