Sydney Becomes a Greener City
Since 2011, the City of Sydney has been promoting and working towards making Sydney city a greener city through trial installations of greenroofs and greenwalls in the CBD. The City of Sydney has recently adopted the first ever greenroof and walls policy for Australia, which is an exciting leap forward for Sydney CBD.
The greening strategy saw the council approach The Greenwall Company to partake in the greenwall trials program, which was installed on the Goulburn Street Car Parking Station building earlier this year.
Mark Paul, founder of The Greenwall Company and current Horticulturist of the year says, “We have been involved from the very early days to help green Sydney, starting with the installation of our greenwalls at Customs House for the Sustainable Sydney 2030 Conference in 2006. Over the past couple of years, people have become more environmentally conscious and are moving towards green living.
“The latest project for the City of Sydney on Goulburn Street saw the first stage of design, construction and installation of our greenwall planters in 2012. Earlier this year we finalised the trial installation with three different types of greenwalls, which have now fully grown in and are looking healthier and more beautiful than ever,” expressed Mark.
There will be three different types of greenwalls that were installed on the building. •A climbing greenwall screen: There is in-ground plantings of climbing species with a growing frame installed to help support and encourage the growth of the plants. This is
located on the southern side of the building on Elizabeth Street. •A modular greenwall: The modular greenwall featured on the building is made from 9
panels sized 2m high x 1m wide, has been installed on the northern side of the building
on Castlereagh Street. •Pots with trailing native plectranthus plants, which cascade down the façade of the car
park, stemming several levels of the car park. The greenwall installation includes species grown in the greenhouse gathered both locally and internationally. The plants are drought tolerant and flowering plants, which helps contribute to the sustainability of urban ecosystems, providing food and shelter for birds and animals.
Moreover, the benefits of greenwalls and greenroofs go beyond their beauty. Some of the major benefits of installing a greenwall include improved air quality, insulation, energy cost reductions and the lowering of the urban heat island effects.
Over the past 25 years Mark has tested, designed, re-designed, and mastered his greenwalls to ensure they will last the lifetime of the building on which they are installed. The Greenwall Company builds its walls from 94 per cent of recyclable materials that would otherwise be destined for Australian landfill, taking the benefit of their greenwalls even further.
“My ultimate goal and vision for The Greenwall Company has always been to reclaim the built environment by clothing the facades of buildings with epiphytic and lithophytic planting to create a living, breathing architectural function to every building” said Mark.
The Greenwall Company has now installed their greenwalls systems in over 200 projects and will continue to work towards they goal of reclaiming the built environment.
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