Pandemic Stimulates Diverse Interior Green Wall Market
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Last year, the pandemic changed how we live, both at home and at the workplace. Many people, being cooped up for so long, have found a welcome reprieve in exploring their local parks and green spaces and becoming much more connected to their local surroundings, while keeping socially distanced. Many companies continued to operate by moving their business on-line and becoming expert “zoomers”. But as the vaccinations roll out and the number of new Covid-19 cases start to decline in North America, an opportunity to change our home and workplace surroundings is emerging.
Nature has been the star of our recovery from the pandemic. People feel renewed and comforted when they’re out in nature. We gravitate toward biophilic design elements. Bringing life-giving greenery inside – into our homes and business – can help soothe us and provide us with the many benefits that only nature offers, even while we’re indoors.
As restaurants, cafes, hotels and offices slowly begin to re-open, proprietors and business leaders are faced with ensuring public safety and social distancing. Spatial needs are changing. Distances between customers or employees are being re-thought. Indoor air quality remains a concern. Being able to easily move barriers between spaces is becoming more important. This is where mobile green walls can really shine.
Ginkgo Sustainability, Greenscreen, GSky Plant Systems and New Earth Solutions are four companies that offer a variety of mobile green wall systems. Here is a quick overview of these systems.
Ginkgo’s mobile living wall
Ginkgo Sustainability
Ginkgo offers a mobile, hydroponic system that displays 104 plants. Their product is made in South Korea and is offered exclusively by Ginkgo in North America. Their product includes a water system set to circulate for 20 minutes a day with a filter fan. It uses a standard wall plug and needs a monthly tank refill. Ginkgo offers plant design, maintenance and installation as part of their service model. The price is less than three thousand dollars. According to sales representative Andrew DeJong, “the Ginkgo system has attracted a lot of interest during the pandemic, but not many sales yet, as businesses are waiting to see whether office workers will return to their workspaces”.
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greenscreen® fiberglass planter and trellis panel installed indoors
greenscreen®
greenscreen® produces a number of different types of green walls. The fiberglass planters and greenscreen® trellis panels can be placed anywhere indoors with direct or bright indirect sunlight to add distance, beauty and create healthy spaces with greenery. Their products come in a range of colors, finishes, and sizes including those with benches. The planter, manufactured in California, comes with a built-in watertight irrigation reservoir that has a watering cycle of two to four weeks with fertilizer included in the tank. greenscreen® does not offer a full range of design and maintenance services, but can provide recommendations on plants for a local contractor. According to greenscreen®’s Vice-President, Rachael Stauffer, the company has been in the greening business developing green walls for over 25 years. The cost of this system ranges from between $2500-$3000.
GSky Plant Systems
GSky’s Versa Wall
GSky has been in the greening business for over 17 years and offers both stationary and mobile green walls. Their mobile product, the Versa Wall, “brings all the benefits of plants while providing social distancing, privacy, and sound absorption”, says Director of Business Development, Jean-Pierre Sijmons. This product can be designed with plants on two sides or for added office functionality, can be purchased with a whiteboard, a corkboard or cloth on one side. The two-sided aluminum model made in the USA, contains 192 plants, has a self-circulating water system with a two-to-four week tank capacity, and locking swivel casters for easy mobility. GSky’s system retails for $7995 and includes plants irrigation, smart controller and lights.
New Earth Solutions
New Earth Solutions' Respira mobile living wall
When the Covid-19 pandemic hit in 2020, New Earth Solutions Co-founder Dylan Robertson says their company reacted quickly. “Under the product name, Respira, we had been building living walls for three years and when Covid hit we pivoted into the mobile living wall space. We wanted to develop something that people could enjoy at home and that's exactly the intention with Respira”, he said. Almost 700 units have sold in the last six months. Respira is a hydroponic system in a manufactured frame on a stand, consisting of 13 tropical plants. The company does not offer a service plan but the system comes with an app that will alert the owner to the system’s needs for water, light and nutrients. The most mobile model costs around $1000. The company is considering an option on wheels.
All the mobile green walls featured use light weight growing medium, have an electrical connection and are hydroponic. Mobile green walls come in different sizes for different uses. All of them help bring the beauty and serenity of nature indoors regardless of specific surroundings.
Joyce McLean is an associate editor of the Living Architecture Monitor and a freelance journalist.