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      Assessment of the Cooling Potential of an Indoor Living Wall using Different Substrates in a Warm Climate

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          Abstract

          The use of vertical greenery systems in buildings is becoming very popular as they provide several benefits. In this work, the influence of an indoor living wall on the temperature and humidity in a hall inside the School of Agricultural Engineering (University of Seville) was studied. Four different substrates, Geotextile, Epiweb, Xaxim and coconut fibre, were used to grow the plants in order to assess their performance. Several parameters such as temperature, humidity, plant growth or water consumption were monitored and analyzed during a 4-month period. The cooling effect of the living wall was proven, with an average reduction of 4°C over the room temperature though maximum decrements of 6°C have been observed in warmer conditions. Higher air humidity levels were experienced near the living wall, increasing the overall humidity in the room. All the substrates tested were suitable for plant growing and their behaviour was similar. Geotextile showed the best cooling capacity but higher water consumption, coconut fibre presented degradation problems and Epiweb performance was the poorest. Therefore, these systems have been proven to be very useful and interesting for warm indoor environments due to the cooling effect observed in addition to their bio-filtration capacity and the aesthetic component.

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          Thermal evaluation of vertical greenery systems for building walls

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            Green facades—a view back and some visions

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              Physico-chemical and chemical properties of some coconut coir dusts for use as a peat substitute for containerised ornamental plants.

              Selected physico-chemical and chemical characteristics of 13 coconut coir dust (mesocarp pithy tissue plus short-length fibres) samples from Asia, America and Africa were evaluated as peat alternatives. All properties studied differed significantly between and within sources, and from the control Sphagnum peat. pH of coir dust was slightly acidic, whereas salinity varied dramatically between 39 and 597 mS m(-1) in the saturated media extract. The cation exchange capacity and carbon/nitrogen (C/N) ratio ranged from 31.7 to 95.4 cmol(c) kg(-1) and from 75 to 186, respectively. Most carbon was found as lignin and cellulose. The concentrations of available nitrogen, calcium, magnesium and micro-elements were low, while those of phosphorus and potassium were remarkably high (0.28-2.81 mol m(-3) and 2.97-52.66 mol m(-3) for P and K, respectively). Saline ion concentrations, especially chloride and sodium, were also high.
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                Author and article information

                Journal
                Indoor and Built Environment
                Indoor and Built Environment
                SAGE Publications
                1420-326X
                1423-0070
                October 2012
                September 26 2011
                October 2012
                : 21
                : 5
                : 642-650
                Affiliations
                [1 ]Department of Agroforestry Sciences, School of Agricultural Engineering, University of Seville, Carretera de Utrera, km 1, 41013, Sevilla, Spain
                [2 ]Area of Agro-forestry engineering, School of Agricultural Engineering, University of Seville, Carretera de Utrera, km 1, 41013, Sevilla, Spain
                Article
                10.1177/1420326X11420457
                e4a657fc-d471-48b1-ac17-f319fcbeeb6a
                © 2012

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