Episode 88: The green wall
Next to the entrance (ground floor) of the Mechanical Engineering building I, at Técnico – Alameda campus, a wall has changed colour over the last few years. It was born from an idea, in 2017, and turned green because it can house a great diversity of plant species.
This modular wall, with a total of 2 square metres, in addition to adding well-being to the community, presents another strong point: its watering is done by reusing the water from the building’s sinks, the so-called greywater. Apart from not needing potable water to maintain its plants, this wall is also able to treat excess water that is added to it, which will then be available for other uses such as washing floors or watering gardens. It also gave rise to ongoing research projects, which aim to study the quality of the surrounding air and to analyse the green wall as a thermal barrier to control the building’s temperature.
- Acknowledgements:
Ana Galvão
Cristina Matos Silva
Episode only available in Portuguese in: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Anchor.fm
Further reading and additional audio in the Portuguese version of this webpage.