'Breathing Wall' removes toxins from the air

Green walls — a familiar feature of many Australian offices — are known for their ability to remove the harmful airborne chemicals found in modern workspaces. Now, University of Technology Sydney (UTS) researchers have found that a new green wall system delivers significantly improved results.

Plant scientists led by Dr Fraser Torpy were tasked with testing the Breathing Wall from infrastructure specialist Junglefy — an active, modular green wall system that is said to combine nature with technology. According to Junglefy founder Jock Gammon, the Breathing Wall is the result of years of research and testing.

The UTS researchers measured how well the new system removed toxic pollutants, including volatile organic compounds, carbon dioxide and particulate matter, out of the air. Apart from laboratory tests, field trials were held in places workers or the public typically spend time, including offices and sealed rooms. The results were then compared with how well typical indoor plant systems fared.

“Our research has shown that the new approach taken by Junglefy delivers some of the highest photosynthetic carbon dioxide removal rates observed in research to date,” Dr Torpy said, with three papers based on his team’s studies currently awaiting publication.

Findings of the UTS research, based on a 10 m² Breathing Wall in a 100 m² office, included:

• Carbon dioxide reduction: Plants in the wall can process 24.2 L of pure CO₂ per hour.
• Volatile organic compound (VOC) removal: The wall removes VOCs 1.5 times faster than equivalent volume pot plants.
• Particulate matter (<PM₁₀) filtration: The wall can remove 95% of all <PM₁₀ from starting concentrations, allowing the air to be returned to safe breathing levels within 60 min.
• Acoustics and energy efficiency: The Breathing Wall acts as a sound barrier, improving acoustics while cooling the surrounding air temperature — potentially resulting in energy efficiency and reduced air-conditioning costs.

“The promising results indicate that further research into the health-giving effects of plants in green wall systems would be valuable, given how many of us are spending hours every day in offices and other enclosed spaces,” said Dr Torpy.

“Given the results of our research, such a system could vastly improve the wellbeing of workers in offices — certainly less stuffy, less noisy, cooler and certainly healthier. Hundreds of pot plants or a much larger green wall system within an office would be needed to achieve similar results.”

The Breathing Wall will be installed for the first time in a major Sydney development this month.

Image caption: Dr Fraser Torpy (right) and Jock Gammon in the UTS Plants and Environmental Quality Research Lab. Picture by Chris Walsh.