Living Walls at Home: The Complete Guide

How Much Do Living Walls Cost?

The benefits of installing a living wall and incorporating smart technology to eliminate most maintenance make living walls an attractive option for homes and offices. The price, however, can be prohibitive. Depending on the type and complexity of the living wall system you install, you can expect to pay between $95 and $165 per square foot for a living wall complete with plants and an irrigation system.

While you can cut costs by building your living wall from recycled plastic bottles, several reasonably price companies offer professional, attractive, and durable options.

Is a Living Walls Easy to Maintain?

It is essential to differentiate living walls from facades. The ivy planted on south-facing exterior walls climbing beautifully over the brick siding of your home is considered a façade, not a living wall because the plants are rooted in the ground. Living walls incorporate a growing medium directly onto the wall and most often have automatic irrigation systems connected to the growing medium. The most common growing mediums include bags, small pots, or boxes, which eventually are covered up by the plant's growth. The bags, pots, or bags don’t need soil (which could cause a cleaning nightmare) because they often are made from a type of fiber, which allows the plants to root into the pot or bag itself directly. The plants then receive their nutrients from liquid fertilizers, which are included in the automated irrigation system.

While you could install a living wall on your own, which you manually water daily, this usually amounts to more maintenance work than people want to take on. “Smart” green walls incorporate automated irrigation and fertilization schedules. But, of course, these systems consume energy since they are plugged in and pulling power throughout the day.

Do Living Walls Increase Indoor Air Quality?

Plants breathe in carbon dioxide and exhale oxygen. Incorporating a living wall into an indoor space, then, will increase the oxygen levels. Today, most homes contain a handful of harmful chemical products that release VOCs and even cancer-causing chemicals such as formaldehyde. Many living wall plants metabolize some harmful chemicals that affect the indoor air quality, making the air we breathe inside safer and less toxic.

Do Living Walls Act As a Sound Barrier

Living walls can act as an acoustic buffer inside homes. Highways and interstates usually have trees planted on either side of the road because these plants help reduce noise from continual traffic. Living walls build off the same concept, as they can block high-frequency sounds while also offering improved acoustics in homes.

Do Living Walls Increase Home Energy Efficiency?

Some studies suggest that a functioning living wall will also reduce the amount of energy a building uses through the natural process of evapotranspiration. Plant respiration help to cool warm summer air limiting the intensive use of energy-inefficient air conditioners. During the winter, living walls add an extra layer of natural insulation, increasing home heating's energy efficiency.