[Greenbuilding] suggestions for outdoor wall?

[Chris Green]

Don Jennings wrote:
> A local non-profit charter school in my area is planning to enclose a 
> grassy area as a place for kids to play.<snip>  We are currently 
> investigating rammed earth 
As requested, some suggestions on other types of walls:

-Earthbag covered with your choice of plasters as would be suitable for 
your location. Basically a different type of rammed earth or stabilized 
rammed earth. There is a lot of room for more free-form and artistic 
designs if using earthbags. Benches and nooks can be built as part of 
the walls.

-Straw Bale on top of a sound concrete or earthbag footing, with an 
appropriate plaster.

-A living-,  or green wall system. For a playground area, I would prefer 
this, especially for certain urban environments which have a shortage of 
green spaces.

Some examples:
See photos with these articles: 
http://www.businessedge.ca/article.cfm/newsID/10042.cfm
http://www.fes.uwaterloo.ca/faculty/green/details.html
http://www.readingt.readingcities.com/index.php/toronto/comments/the_writing_is_on_the_living_wall/
Normally these are designed to purify the air inside buildings, but can 
also work outside, as is shown by the photos of a living wall in Paris, 
France (the two jpegs at the bottom of this page.)
http://www.sustainablebuildingcentre.com/blog/jessica_woolliams_2

Building such a wall can become a neighbourhood or community activity 
and is one which the kids and others who will be using the playground 
can participate in--they can plant some of the greenery.

The Folkewall system:
http://www.holon.se/folke/projects/openliw/openlev_en.shtml
Note that this type of wall requires specially shaped interlocking 
concrete blocks, and that all similar living wall systems require drip 
irrigation set-up of some kind. However, the plants and bacterial 
systems in the soil go a long ways to clean up the air surrounding them.
A real plus is that these walls shouldn't attract graffiti 
artists....there's nothing to spray paint onto... :-)


A Reference book (There may be more available now...):
Planting Green Roofs and Living Walls,
by Nigel Dunnett and Noël Kingsbury, 2004
Timber Press, Portland, OR

You can also mix and match some of these different solutions, say 
combining a rammed earth and/ or earthbag wall segments with a living 
wall sections. You could even grow food plants in parts of the living 
wall, and harvest it.

Cheers,

Chris Green.