Living Green Walls Installed at Washington School

WASHINGTON — M.V. Leckie Elementary School in Washington, D.C., recently received eight LiveFence living green walls to install inside the school. USGBC’s Center for Green Schools worked with Suite Plants, based in Cornwall-on-Hudson, to arrange the installation, according to a statement.

The ivy plant walls were previously used at the USGBC’s Greenbuild International Conference and Expo as decoration in an educational room. To reduce the company’s carbon footprint, USGBC suggested that instead of shipping the walls back to Suite Plant’s greenhouse, the company should find a local use for the green solution. Students, teachers and staff from Leckie Elementary as well as volunteers came together to install the walls in a community-building project.

The living walls act as a natural air purification system by filtering out airborne contaminants, pumping out oxygen to revitalize the air and regulating humidity levels in the facility, according to USGBC. “Installing the living walls brought life and better air into our school. They improved the sterile and industrial environment at Leckie,” Atasha James, Leckie Elementary School principal said in a statement.

The new walls also have a positive effect on those within the building by increasing productivity, improving air quality, reducing stress levels, improving cognitive functions and increasing creativity, according to multiple studies. Not only does the living wall create a more productive space, but it also creates a warm and welcoming environment and connects students with nature.

The Biophilic design concept suggests that humans crave a connection to nature and perform better when surrounded by natural elements similar to those found outside, according to a statement. This concept has started being incorporated in many different buildings for large organizations such as Google and Whole Foods, according to Suite Plants.

“It’s wonderful that we have this opportunity to install these living walls at Leckie Elementary and give the same benefits to these students,” Eric Westerduin of Suite Plants said in a statement. “We want to make sure that these students get to experience and appreciate nature even though they are in an urban setting.”.