Are you looking for a sustainable option for your façade renovation or refurbishment? Then a green façade cladding in the form of a SemperGreenwall is an excellent choice for your project. The eye-catcher has many benefits for the environment and the building.
Why choose a green facade for facade renovation?
With a SemperGreenwall, you are opting for sustainable cladding. This is because this innovative green wall system is certified with a Cradle-to-Cradle certificate. Within this design philosophy, raw materials are not thrown away but infinitely recycled. As a result, this bio-based facade cladding can also earn every project LEED and BREEAM points. Other advantages of cladding with a green wall are:
Promoting biodiversity: a SemperGreenwall incorporates 78 plants per square meter. This makes the green wall an oasis for bees, butterflies and other insects. Birds are also regularly spotted in our living walls. Especially in the urban environment, this is a valuable addition to local biodiversity.
Pleasant living and working environment: the SemperGreenwall is a pleasant environment, not only for animals. The presence of greenery cheers people up, too. Plants offer relaxation, a higher productivity, cleaner air and a dampening effect on environmental noise. Thus, the SemperGreenwall has a positive effect on people’s health and well-being.
Indoor and outdoor temperature regulation: the plants in the SemperGreenwall absorb and reflect light. This has the advantage that heat from outside comes in less quickly and the indoor climate is more pleasant. The air conditioning doesn’t have to work as hard during hot summers. A green facade also has a positive effect on the outdoor climate. In the petrified environment of a city, plants provide a 3°C reduction in the outside temperature.
Building value increase: the green and sustainable appearance, the reduction in energy costs and good insulation of a green facade increase the value of a property. The presence of green elements in a building increases its economic value by 4 to 12%.
Saving on renovation costs: did you know that the material for the external wall can be omitted because the SemperGreenwall can also be mounted directly on insulation? This is because the back of the Flexipanel is water-resistant. That in turn saves costs!
Green wall is a fire-safe facade cladding
Besides the Cradle to Cradle sustainability certificate, Sempergreen’s living wall system also has a fire safety certificate in the highest fire classification standard. This means that a SemperGreenwall can also be used for project applications, at high altitudes and in escape routes.
Read more about SemperGreenwall’s certifications and awards here
What should I pay attention to when renovating a facade with a living wall?
Good news: a SemperGreenwall can be installed seamlessly on any background – be it stone, wood, sandwich panels or other insulation material. The only condition is, that the wall can support a weight of 45 kg/m².
A great advantage of the SemperGreenwall, is that the back of the Flexipanels is both water- and root-resistant. So, the wall does not need to be waterproofed first, before the green wall is installed. The green wall system can be applied directly to hard or soft insulation, without any roots being able to affect the insulation layer. Moreover, the insulating effect is maintained. It is therefore an optimal solution for renovation projects, where facade insulation is also applied. Want to know more? Read this article on the back wall of a green facade.
Architectural renewal: these inspiring renovation projects already opted for a green facade
Wondering what the transformation of a building looks like, after a renovation with a green wall system? Here are some examples of inspiring projects, where a facade renovation with a SemperGreenwall led to a sustainable result.
Hotel Gilbert – Vienna – Austria
In Vienna, Hotel Gilbert is considered a pioneering project in sustainable construction. This new hotel was opened in an existing building. Prior to the opening, the building was completely renovated in a sustainable and environmentally friendly way, with the green outer facade being an integral part of the architecture. The result: a green oasis in Vienna’s petrified city centre.
Rotterdam District Court – The Netherlands
The Court of Rotterdam has undergone an impressive facade renovation. The installed green wall is part of the new reception area ‘Galleria’, designed by Fokkema & Partners Architects. The entire wall is fitted with a SemperGreenwall. Main reason: to create more environmental peace in this busy entrance area. And that succeeded, the great amount of plants in the wall resulted in a noise reduction of 41%.
Water board Limburg – Roermond – The Netherlands
In the Dutch province of Limburg, people know better than anyone else how important climate-proof construction is, because of the huge floods they experienced. So, when the building of the Limburg Water Board had to be renovated, it was inevitable that the transformation had to take place with sustainability in mind. This is reflected in all aspects of the living wall designed by MVD architecture. For instance, rainwater is collected and re-used for the irrigation of the plants in the SemperGreenwall. By applying a green facade, the Water Board also wants to be an inspiration for other renovation projects.
Photos: Bart van Gestel, bureau FRANKEN
Mundus College – Amsterdam – The Netherlands
In Amsterdam, the Mundus College was renovated with an eye-catching SemperGreenwall. The old facade panels were no longer in good condition. The foil of the trespa panels was coming loose and there was wood rot. Salverda Bouw was commissioned to completely renovate the facade. It was important to Mundus College that the facade be renovated in a 100% circular way, reusing the cladding if possible. The money saved by reusing existing materials was used to provide part of the facade with a green wall by Sempergreen. With this, Mundus College wants to contribute to a greener environment in the busy city of Amsterdam and provide living space for bees, butterflies, birds and bats.
Intersport – Ljubljana – Slovenia
What a difference in appearance! That’s what you see when you look at the before and after photos of the Intersport shop in Ljubljana. The sports chain’s new flagship store pays a lot of attention to sustainability. It was the client’s wish for the shop to exude the connection with nature, to interest both intensive and recreational athletes of all ages in a healthier lifestyle.
Greenhouse Antwerp – Belgium
Greenhouse Antwerp is a paragon of sustainability. A vertical garden with as many as 50,000 plants was chosen for the renovation of the facade. The living wall was also a first for the city of Antwerp. It was no surprise that CONIX RDBM Architects opted for this solution, as they value sustainability in their designs. This is because they want to reduce the use of energy and materials. In addition, this green facade makes an important contribution to the local climate and creates a pleasant working environment in the office building itself.
You can find pictures of these renovation projects here or on our website www.sempergreen.com and www.sempergreenwall.com
Do you have any further questions? The Sempergreen experts will be present at DACH & HOLZ in Hall 8, Stand 103 and will be happy to answer your questions. Every day from 16:00-18:00, Sempergreen will also be hosting the industry get-together. You are welcome to drop by!
Would you like to make an appointment in advance? Then please click here.
