Sept. 20, 2011, Breslau, Ont. — NEDLAW Living Walls has completed the
installation of the largest known active living wall in the United
States.
Sept. 20, 2011, Breslau, Ont. — NEDLAW Living Walls has completed the installation of the largest known active living wall in the United States. The 1570-plus-square-foot structure is located at Drexel University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and was designed and installed as part of the new Papadakis Integrated Sciences Building.
According to Dr. Alan Darlington, president of NEDLAW Living Walls, more than 1,100 individual plants and 20-plus different plant types were used to fill the wall. "The active living wall at Drexel University is some 70 feet tall and over 22 feet wide," says Darlington, noting that the wall, which incorporates the patented NEDLAW Living Walls biofilter system, is capable of generating between 16,000 and 30,000 cubic feet of “virtual” outside air per minute.
The Drexel University wall was designed by NEDLAW Living Walls in collaboration with Toronto-based Diamond and Schmitt Architects as a key component of the sustainable design features of the Papadakis Integrated Sciences Building, which is targeting LEED designation for energy efficiency.
The six-storey, 150,000 square-foot building will house 44 research and teaching laboratories for biomedical engineering, biology and organic chemistry, and a fossil preparation lab.
Principal architect, Donald Schmitt, says the goal of incorporating the five-storey active living wall is to "set a new standard of architectural and sustainable design excellence, one that will engage students and faculty alike in an interactive environment for learning and research."
According to Dr. Donna Murasko, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Drexel University, "the living wall not only improves the overall learning environment, but also creates an opportunity for further research into even higher quality living walls in the future."
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| More than 1,100 plants are part of the active living wall installed at Drexel University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (CNW Group/NEDLAW Living Walls). |
Darlington notes that the benefits of an active living wall extend well beyond its aesthetic contribution to the space it inhabits.
"Traditionally, air quality systems in buildings replace used, 'dirty' indoor air with new outside air. In the summer, this new air must be cooled and in the winter it must be heated before being distributed. This conditioning of the new air represents a substantial portion of the energy costs of a building. An active living wall supplies the same quality air as what you would get outside, at a fraction of the energy cost."
The patented biofilter system, which appears as a plant wall, is also effective at removing a number of airborne gaseous pollutants that negatively impact indoor air quality. It does this by connecting to the building's air handling system that is used to draw “dirty” indoor air over the rootzone of the plants. As part of this process, the beneficial micro-organisms that make their home in the rootzone of the plants use the airborne pollutants as food and break them down into water and carbon dioxide.
ABOUT NEDLAW LIVING WALLS
NEDLAW's patented living wall biofilters utilize green plants and beneficial microbes to produce high quality indoor air and beautiful plantscapes. They are the only living walls that act as both biofilters and plantscapes to actively remove chemicals, dust and spores from indoor air, returning fresh air to the living environment. For more information about NEDLAW Living Walls, visit us at www.naturaire.com.
ABOUT DIAMOND AND SCHMITT ARCHITECTS
Diamond and Schmitt Architects (www.dsai.ca) is known for design excellence through unremitting attention to user needs and innovative and sustainable design solutions. The Toronto-based firm works worldwide designing academic buildings, medical and research facilities, performing arts centers, mixed-use and commercial buildings. Current projects include the Mariinsky Opera House in St. Petersburg, Russia, the Global Innovation Exchange at Wilfrid Laurier University, and the SickKids Hospital Research Tower in Toronto.
ABOUT DREXEL UNIVERSITY
Founded in 1891 in Philadelphia, Drexel is the 14th largest private university in the United States and ranked second among national universities in the U.S. News list of "Up-and-Comers." Drexel is widely recognized for its focus on experiential learning through its co-operative education program and translational research initiatives.
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