Every urban green gain counts

Early this summer, Brent Council unveiled its £90m new headquarters. Boasting a BREEAM rating of ‘outstanding’, the civic centre has a plethora of green features ranging from a clever natural ventilation system to wildlife friendly measures like bat boxes. It also features no less than 200 of our green screens as part of its landscaping scheme.

It’s an ambitious building. Brent has demonstrated what can be achieved when there are substantial upfront resources available. But valuable energy and sustainability gains can be made with far more modest means and, deployed in volume, can have a major beneficial impact on our the environment, our finances and our quality of life.

Across the board, public bodies are increasingly thinking more creatively about ways to create marginal green gains alongside grander greening schemes like, for example, congestion charging. Consider Bristol City Council which is set to save £500,000 per year on its energy bills by simply replacing high-pressure sodium lamps with ceramic metal halide lamps.

Urban greening is one instant and cost-effective method of boosting the sustainability credentials of both existing buildings and new build. For example, housing association Eastland Homes recently commissioned a 44m high living wall as part of the refurbishment of an apartment block in Manchester. It’s the highest living wall we’ve yet created.

Other public bodies such as Enfield Borough Council are using ‘living’ hoardings to help offset the carbon footprint of new developments – and enhance the locality. Enfield has installed a total of 70 sq m of ivy screens around a major regeneration site in Ponders End.

But the full potential of green screens as a tool to benefit the environment is yet to be tapped. Wherever there is a bare wall, there is an opportunity to reduce pollution, boost biodiversity levels and enhance the appearance of a locality.

If we are to truly tackle the big issues of climate change, excessive energy consumption, pollution and carbon emissions then no stone can be left unturned. We do need the grand gestures like Brent’s new civic centre – they act as a beacon of best practice. But we also need the relatively smaller scale measures like the judicious use of greenery and low energy lighting to ensure that every opportunity to create even a marginal gain for the environment is seized.  

Mobilane living wall at the Library of Birmingham

GREEN FACELIFT FOR MANCHESTER APARTMENT BLOCK

A block of flats owned by Eastlands Homes housing association in east Manchester has been given a green facelift with a Mobilane living wall that runs up the full height of the nine-storey building. The installation is one of our tallest installations yet.

The ivy WallPlanters will help to insulate the flats at Worsley Court in Rusholme as well as enhancing the look of the block, which was built in the 60s and is in the process of being refurbished by Eastlands Homes.

Importantly, the ‘green wall’ will also help to reduce pollution levels near the flats; Worsley Court is located on Wilmslow Road, a busy bus corridor with high pollutant levels. In total, nine ivy WallPlanters have been installed by Hedera Screens to cover 100 sq m of the building. The plants will remove the same number of pollutant particulates from the air as four to five average-sized trees, but take up a fraction of the space.

Despite being 44 meters tall, the WallPlanters will be easy to maintain because of a special root zone in the planters that has been designed to give the plants an ideal environment in which to grow. A sophisticated irrigation system supplies water and nutrients as required.

It was installed as part of a project to revamp the apartment block, which forms part of a project of three multi-storey blocks owned by Eastlands Homes.  One of the key priorities in refurbishing this building was to improve the insulation of the flats. The ivy will help to reduce heat loss from the building in winter, while in the summer months it will help to shield the building from the sun’s rays and keep the interior cool.

The finishing touches are added to Mobilane WallPlanters at Worsley Court, Rusholme.

Plight of the bumblebee and other pollinators

The Government’s launch in June of an urgent review of the crisis facing bees and other pollinators in the UK was heartening news. But in its pledge to introduce a national pollinator strategy, it will be vital that the Government thinks creatively and deploys every weapon in its arsenal to protect pollinators and the essential work they do.

Living walls, green screens and other forms of vertical planting can dramatically boost biodiversity levels in restricted spaces and urban areas because they take up just a fraction of the space required by traditional green areas. With the right selection of plant species, living walls can offer a vital source of nectar for pollinating insects, and provide a network of green corridors that better link built-up areas to the surrounding countryside.

Mobilane’s LivingWall for Waitrose in Bracknell, Berkshire (pictured below) is just one example of a vertical planting scheme created with the specific aim of attracting bees and other wildlife into an urban site. The results have been spectacular – an attractive wall with year-round interest that also supports local biodiversity.

Of course, the Government is right to review the use of pesticides and consider how to properly protect pollinators’ usual habitats like wildflower meadows. Existing government initiatives include 12 new Nature Improvement Areas and the promotion and funding of the sowing of nectar flower mixes on farmland. More drastically, in April the European Union suspended the use of three neonicotinoid pesticides linked to serious harm in bees - despite the opposition of the UK ministers. But the scale of the problem is epic.

In the UK, wild honey bees are nearly extinct, solitary bees are declining in more than half the areas studied and some species of bumblebee have been lost altogether. This trend is repeating worldwide, yet bees and other pollinators fertilise three-quarters of global food crops - their monetary value to world agriculture runs into billion of pounds.

Experts are calling on the Government to enhance the food and nesting sites available to pollinators including flies, butterflies, moths, wasps and beetles, as well as bees. Put simply, we need to plant more flowering plants; the UK alone lost a whopping 97% of our flower-rich meadows between 1930 and 1984.

The challenge is huge but wherever there is bare wall surface, we have an opportunity to help create a habitat and food for pollinators. Each and every additional square meter of flowering vertical planting helps to restore the odds in bees’ favour and this benefits us all.

Mobilane's LivingWall for Waitrose in Bracknell, Berkshire

Bumblebee visiting the LivingWall

Green gong for Mobilane

We are really excited to announce that a social housing project featuring a Mobilane green screen has been endorsed by the Green Organisation, a UK based group dedicated to recognising environmental best practice around the world.The Houghton Street project in Widnes, Cheshire for Halton Housing Group scooped a Silver Green Apple Environment Award for its strong green credentials.

Designed by architectural practice Denovo Design, the aim of the residential development was to create green homes with a contemporary edge.  In order to foster a sense of community and to ensure that people could keep an eye on one another’s properties, the various homes were designed so they were inward-looking. This resulted in the rear gardens of two bungalows facing on to a main road. Rather than erect a timber fence or brick wall, which could fall foul of vandalism or graffiti, Denovo Design opted for a Mobilane ‘living’ screen.

Installed by Lovell and measuring 180cm in height and 51m in length, the screen provides a striking first impression to people visiting the new build development. It also sets the tone for a host of environmentally friendly features that have been incorporated into the affordable housing development and helped contribute towards valuable points in the project’s Code for Sustainable Homes Assessment.

As well as it deterring potential graffiti artists, the architects chose the green screen because it provides a natural habitat for wild birds and insects, and is low-maintenance. Another feature of the green screen is that it absorbs harmful microscopic particles that are generated by motor vehicles.

The Green Apple Award was presented to Denovo Design by Doreen Lawrence at a ceremony held at the National Self Build and Renovation Centre in Swindon on 24 July. 

Mobilane launches a 'picture' worth a thousand breaths

We are breathing fresh air indoors and out with the launch of our latest innovation, LivePicture – a framed arrangement of plants that can be hung on either interior or exterior walls. The living ‘picture’ creates a striking, space-saving focal point, as well as offering a natural way to improve air quality.
 

We have created it to meet the increasing demand for inventive ways to use plants, which have long been valued for the health benefits and sense of wellbeing they bring but which, in traditionally planted schemes, can take up valuable space

Each of our LivePictures feature a specially developed nutritionally balanced mineral substrate able to support a wide variety of plant types, depending on available lighting and level of maintenance needed. Measuring 112cm wide (plus 0.5cm for the frame), by 72cm (plus 0.5cm for the frame), the frame is 10cm deep and incorporates a built-in reservoir. The picture, which weighs around 30kg, is attached to the wall with three bolts; it requires no power, no water supply or drainage system, and only needs watering once a month.

For a compact product, the health benefits of our LivePicture are broad. Inadequate air conditioning, ventilation, emissions from computers, printers and paint all contribute towards indoor levels of carbon dioxide and particulate pollutants, while outdoor levels of pollution can be exceptionally high in urban areas.  To counteract this, plants can provide a pleasant humidity; remove carbon dioxide and particulate pollutants. In addition, research has shown that plants can reduce stress, improve mood and, in the case of indoor planting,  increase productivity in the workplace. 

For more information about Mobilane’s products, please visit www.mobilane.co.uk

Greenbuild Expo 2013 – The Air We Breathe

It was, roughly speaking, in the mid 1990s that someone, most likely in the US, thought to put together the words ‘green’ and ‘infrastructure’. Roll on to 2013 and the concept of green infrastructure is still a relatively unfamiliar concept outside the green sector, but it is one that is increasingly set to take centre stage. Though exact definitions of green infrastructure may vary, the consensus is that its key purpose is to produce cleaner air. And that’s a matter that concerns every one of us.

I had the opportunity to speak on the issues, practical challenges and solutions involved with greening our urban environments at this year’s Greenbuild Expo. The challenge is stark. World-wide, more and more people are living in urban environments with limited access to green space, while – at the same time – in many parts of the world pollution levels are increasing. In Europe alone, a 10% increase in urbanisation is expected between 2000 and 2015, while 45 million people already have limited access to green space. There is a huge body of research that links poor air quality to higher asthma rates, lung problems and even stunted lung growth in children.

There’s also a growing body of research evidence to link greenery in the form of trees, plants and other vegetation to a happier, healthier urban living experience. Among their many virtues, plants breathe out oxygen and remove pollutant matter or dust – called PM10s – from the air. In addition, greenery also encourages bio-diversity in cities, offers shade, promotes a feeling of wellbeing and can even help reduce crime levels.

At Mobilane, we are working in partnership with Staffordshire University to explore more fully the range of benefits offered by green infrastructure. It was my pleasure to present at Greenbuild alongside John Dover, Professor of Ecology at the university, who talked about the meaning of green infrastructure and the potential for integrating greenery into urban areas.

A creative approach will certainly be needed to ramp up the green volume in our cities. Trees take up huge amounts of space and require relatively high levels of maintenance. Our living screens and Living Walls offer a vertical way to green up space that produces immediate results both in terms of aesthetics and PM10 reduction. We also have a range of temporary green screens such as Living Hoardings that can boost greenery levels around construction sites – and help offset building projects’ carbon footprint.

If green, living structures are to become an integrated feature of urban landscapes, our notion of how greenery is used will need to become far broader. But the results will be well worth it – cleaner air for everyone.

For more information about Mobilane’s green screens, Living Walls and other products, please visit our website www.mobilane.co.uk

Professor John Dover of Staffordshire University and  me at the Greenbuild Expo in Manchester. 

Mobilane CPD seminars with DCE

This year we are again running a host of seminars in conjunction with DCE at a number of locations around the country, details of which and the joining instructions can be found in the links below.

Our seminars will be focusing on building a greener environment, focusing on how our products can help to create environments that are more environmentally friendly from installation. As all of our products are installed fully grown their impact on the environment starts from installation.

As focus is turning to air pollution and ways in which to reduce it in a number of cities across the country, and indeed the world, installing products that help to improve the air quality is something a number of councils are starting to look at. With our green screens being a fine example of a way in which to easily reduce the number of air pollutants, namely PM10s and PM2.5 which are absorbed by such products.

It has been proven that greening up the built up environment has a positive effect on communities thanks to the multitude of health benefits.  Introducing green spaces into inner city areas helps to reduce the temperature of the localised area as well as helping to increase biodiversity and help to make it more aesthetically pleasing. It can be used to help prevent graffiti thus making the area more inviting and welcoming.

More recently we have introduced the Living Hoardings product which is being leased out to construction companies. The Living Hoardings cover existing wooden hoardings to help companies give back to the surrounding area by the benefits of the living hoardings such as absorbing much of the dust particles in the air that are increased surrounding a construction site as well as to help keep the site looking more aesthetically pleasing as they work and, as previously mentioned as a graffiti preventative. These Living Hoardings are being leased so that they can be maintained appropriately so that when the need comes to take the hoardings down, they can be dismantled and redeployed elsewhere.

To find out more details of this and to hear more about the products that we sell and all of their uses, come and join one of the CPD sessions. Follow the links below to find out further details on the joining instructions. Alternatively contact us direct through the website at www.mobilane.co.uk or via phone on 07711 895261

Leedsregistration link (18th September 2013)

Chorleyregistration link (26th November 2013)

2013 'A Year of Air'

Europe – in particular the European Union – is very much in the news at the moment. David Cameron stated earlier this week on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that he is looking to seek a ‘fresh settlement’ with Europe and is due to make a much-anticipated speech on the issue on Friday. 

Whatever your views on Britain’s involvement with Europe, 2013 looks like it will be an important year when it comes to the formulation of EU air pollution policy. This year is the EU’s Year of Air. For those unfamiliar with this initiative, it is a time when EU air pollution policy will be revised.

With a recent survey by Eurobarometer, the EU’s public opinion poll analysts informing us that the majority of EU citizens do not think their governments do enough to tackle harmful pollutants, now is a good a time as any to join together and push for appropriate legislation to be put in place across the entire region to create standards that will drastically reduce the level of pollutants in the air and so decrease the public health consequences.

Only last year the EU ruled that the UK is already in breach of its air quality directive and that 16 areas of the UK will not meet the legal NO2 limits by 2015.  But what is government putting in place to help resolve this?

Introducing more greenery into the inner city areas where the PM10 and other pollutant levels are at their highest is a quick and easy step to begin improving air quality. Encouragingly, a number of local councils and the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, are beginning the process of introducing living walls and green screens in order to absorb pollutants. 

Why use living walls and green screens? Well, planting trees is all very well, however time is needed for them to establish themselves in their new home and grow.  Green screens, such as ours, are a more convenient choice as they can begin to work on reducing the levels immediately. We have seen a growth in interest for these and now even sell screens that are as high as 3 meters. 

Local authorities should be held more responsible and be given further support in reducing the air pollutants in their areas. With some co-ordinated thinking, hopefully the EU’s Year of Air can help them achieve this – for the sake of everyone’s lungs.

Work with researchers and clients undertaken to highlight benefits of welI designed green spaces

We have started a pioneering partnership with academics from Staffordshire University which we believe will help both our existing and future customers better understand how well-managed green planted spaces can enhance wellbeing and help to solve social and environmental problems.

From improving mental health and reducing crime to improving air quality, the issues that the installation of a well-designed green space can resolve are diverse. In order to put these benefits on a more scientific footing, we, along with Staffordshire University, are asking clients – whether from the private or public sector – to come up with suggestions of what areas they would like investigating. Scientists from the university will then work with the client and us to research the precise benefits that these intelligently designed green spaces can bring to a particular area, for example building insulation, employee attendance rates or an improvement in general human well-being.

Clients will then have some scientific data that will enable them to fully grasp the problems that green spaces can help them solve.

Research by Staffordshire University is already under way and scientists are conducting a study which is investigating how successfully carefully designed green spaces influence biodiversity, improve building insulation and capture microscopic pollutants, thereby improving air quality and human health.

The current research being completed at Staffordshire University will help to provide more information on how pollutants known as PM10s – particulate matter that is less than 10 microns in diameter – are absorbed by plants. The reduction of PM10 levels is a focus of policy for the Department for Transport and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

The three-year research study, which is in its final year, is being carried out by PhD student under the supervision of two Professors at the University.  A variety of sophisticated scientific techniques and instruments are being used to understand the nature of a green space’s interaction with particulate matter, including an environmental scanning electron microscope, which is used to establish the size of particles that are trapped by plants. Once complete, the research is due to be published in a number of international peer-reviewed journals.

Through an on-going partnership with the university, we hope we will bring similar scientific rigour to research into the other benefits of carefully planned and maintained green spaces.