FACTORS CONCERNING MAINTAINABILITY OF GREEN WALLS IN INDUSTRIAL ESTATES

Abstract

Due to rising Urban Heat Island effect, there are increasing greening efforts in Singapore. Green Wall System(GWS) are beneficial for use on vertical facades. However, there is little information on maintainability of GWS.

The objective of this study is to identify variables affecting maintainability of the GWS and provide suggestions to guide future maintainable designs by conducting a case study on an industrial building with green walls.

Firstly, literature review of the initial GWS and a site visit was done to understand its past and current status. Secondly, 42 sensors were installed over 4 levels of the GWS at the north and south facades at Clean Tech 1(CT1) over 92 days for a field measurement. Plant coverage for both GWS was quantified through the use of software. Lastly, an interview was conducted with the Facility Manager to understand maintenance issues and past changes made.

Results show that there is no significant difference in plant coverage resulting from the difference in solar radiation exposure for the GWS at both façades. Maintainability of the plants was severely affected by other building systems and insufficient designing of accessibility for plant maintenance. Initial plants combination and soil mix resulted in maintenance issues and this suggests the unsuitability of plant selection for this environment.

Thus, recommendations such as designing for maintainability and integration of building systems at the design stage were provided. Use of a resident technical officer could help to coordinate between stakeholders throughout the GWS lifecycle and ensure compliance to design during construction.