With space crunch in the world, the cities are growing vertically; this has resulted in people having a small-confined place both for work and home with limited or no space for greenery. This problem of lacking a garden can be solved with Vertical Garden. Many commercial buildings, apartment blocks and residential areas with vertical structures are engaging in creating Vertical Gardens. In 2016 Heathrow International Airport introduced a Vertical Garden for the passengers to relax. These Green Walls have immense benefit and helps in improving one’s health. Here are some pointers that showcase how Vertical Gardens can help bolstering one’s health.
- Smog along withUrban Heat Island (UHI) effect is significantly reduced. When human activity and traffic causes a city or metropolitan area to have higher temperature than the rural areas surrounding the city, it is said t have UHI effect.
- Reduces the carbon footprint by cleaning the air polluting agents of both outside and home caused by fuel emission and human beings.
- Plants on Vertical Garden removes or reduces toxins that are hazardous to health like Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), formaldehyde and benzene, thereby improving the air quality.
- Vertical Gardens reduce stress and improves physical well-being of people. Various studies have revealed that people who have presence of plants are 12% more productive and less stressed. In post-operative scenario, studies have shown that people who have presence of plants at home or hospitals have faster recovery than those without.
- Vertical Gardens helps in creating microclimate for one’s home or office. The Green Walls does not only reduce air pollution but also noise and helps in regulating the temperature of the home by providing a cooling and shaded area.
- Green Walls also helps in reducing fire hazards by propagation of fire.
- Reduces consumption of air conditions thereby intake of polluted air as the building itself becomes cooler.
- Provides both acoustic and visual insulation.
- Production of oxygen increases in the environment hence limiting inhaling of carbon dioxide.
- Taking care of Vertical Garden is more convenient for people with back problem and arthritis.
- Focus increases with greenery, so in a limited space, where gardening is not possible, vertical garden can provide the person with same experience. A study written on Washington Post mentioned that a group of students were given a task to be completed twice. During a short break in-between the task a group was shown pictures of flowers another group was shown images of city buildings. The group that saw the pictures of flowers and greenery performed the task better than the other group.
All these factors proves that despite having limited spaces Vertical Gardens are quite beneficial for people living the cities and metropolitan areas in high-rises. Green Walls are beneficial to people aesthetically, economically, physiologically and psychologically. The importance of Green Walls are now being recognized by Indian governments also, there is one in Chennai Airport, Bangalore’s Electronics City Flyover and Delhi’s Metro pillars are also going to turn green with Vertical Gardens.
So no longer one has go either to a park or has to plan a day out in some forest to enjoy a little bit of natural soothing greenery.
