What Are the Benefits of Living Walls in Urban Spaces?

By 2050, 70% of us will be living in cities. Urban areas are under pressure!  

Cities were not designed with biodiversity in mind. They were densely built, and many older or infill developments lack sufficient green space. Hard surfaces, including concrete, tarmac, and brick, dominate, which leads to a myriad of problems:

Poor air quality, heat retention, less habitat for wildlife and increased stress for people.

Living walls (also known as green walls or vertical greenery) offer a practical, aesthetic and multi-benefit solution. They do not take up ground space, which is used for buildings, pavements and roads.

Green walls can be installed on exteriors or interiors, retrofitted into existing buildings or incorporated into new ones. They help with environmental resilience, improve wellbeing, save energy and enhance the value and appeal of buildings.

In this article, we’ll explore the many benefits of green walls. They are so much more than decoration and make a difference to communities, to business bottom lines, to biodiversity and to people.

Table of Contents

• Environmental Benefits of Living Walls
• Health & Mental Wellbeing Benefits of Living Walls
• Aesthetic Benefits of Living Walls
• Economic Benefits of Living Walls
• Benefits of Living Walls for Businesses

Environmental Benefits of Living Walls

Improves Air Quality

• Living walls trap particulate matter, filter volatile organic compounds (VOCs), capture dust, release oxygen and help reduce air pollutants. Read our primary school case study here.
• In city streets, green walls can act as a filter between the external environment and the building interior as a result of the street canyon effect. The re-circulating air passes through the green wall. The denser the foliage, the more efficient the filtration and sequestration of pollutants

Mitigates the Urban Heat Island Effect (UHI)

• Cities can be significantly warmer than their rural surroundings because buildings, roads and pavements absorb heat and re-emit it. Green walls help by providing shading, insulation, and evaporative cooling.
• Studies and systematic reviews report that green walls, especially when used in narrow, high-rise street canyons, can deliver local cooling effects of up to ~8°C through shading, evapotranspiration and added insulation

Reduces Heat Loss & Energy Use

• A key study we carried out in 2021 with the University of Plymouth on a pre-1970s masonry cavity wall building, retrofitting an external living wall façade reduced heat loss through the wall by 31.4% compared with the same bare wall. This means less energy is needed for heating and cooling.
• Other work carried out by Reading University found that walls with vegetation lost 21-37% less heat than bare brick walls; under extreme weather (wind, rain), energy efficiency gains of 40-50% were reported.

M&S Food, Outdoor Living Wall

Enhances Biodiversity & Wildlife

• Green walls and Living Pillars provide vertical habitat for insects, birds, spiders, and a variety of plant species, acting as “green corridors” in highly built-up areas. It is good practice to include bird and insect boxes in living walls and living pillars.
• In a recent study in Singapore & Utrecht, walls covered in plants hosted significantly more species than non-vegetated walls.

Health & Mental Wellbeing Benefits of Living Walls

Reduces Stress & Anxiety

• Multiple studies show that proximity to plants and greenery improves mood and reduces stress and anxiety, from classic clinical experiments showing faster recovery with views of trees to randomised trials and meta-analyses linking greening to lower depression scores.

Improves Indoor Environmental Quality

• Green walls help filter indoor air, reducing pollutants.
• They help moderate humidity and temperature fluctuations, reducing extremes (hot/cold), which can affect comfort and health.

Ikea, Indoor Living Wall

Reduces Noise Pollution

• Plants and their substrate combine to absorb or deflect sound, especially in noisy urban streets, helping reduce noise intrusion into buildings.

Acoustic Benefits of Green Infrastructure Report

Boosts Productivity & Cognitive Function

• Studies show that workplaces with more biophilic design (natural elements) see enhanced concentration, less mental fatigue, and more creativity.
• Also, exposure to greenery correlates with better cognitive function in some studies. 

Aesthetic Benefits of Living Walls

Visual Appeal & Biophilic Design

• Green walls add life, colour, texture and softness to otherwise hard surfaces. They align with biophilic design principles (bringing nature into built environments).

Improved Engagement & Attraction

• Buildings, shops, restaurants, and offices with green facades or living walls are more attractive to passers-by, customers, and clients. They send a message of environmental awareness, care, and higher quality.

Tourist & Community Appeal

• Attractive green infrastructure enhances footfall, improves perception of the area and increases leisure visits.

Carnaby Street Before

Carnaby Street After

Economic Benefits of Living Walls

Reduced Energy Costs

• Less heat loss in winter, less heat gain in summer, and lower heating and cooling bills. Over time, this saving can help offset installation and maintenance costs 31.4% reduction in heat loss through walls retrofitted with a living wall façade for a pre-1970s building.

Jaguar Land Rover, London. Indoor Living Wall

Low-Carbon Economic Growth

• Green infrastructure is part of sustainable development, helping cities meet net-zero targets, potentially unlocking grants, subsidies, or incentives.

Increases Property Value

• Buildings with modern eco enhancements often command higher market value, better occupancy rates, and more appeal.

Longer Material Lifespan

• Vegetation can protect building facades from UV, rain, and extreme temperature swings thus reducing maintenance on surfaces.

Webber Street. Office Living Wall

Planning Permission

• Planning permission is more likely to be granted if the building can deliver additional biodiversity.

Benefits of Living Walls for Businesses 

Helps Meet Biodiversity Net Gain & Urban Greening Factor Regulatory Requirements

• With many planning policies requiring biodiversity improvements, living walls offer a practical tool.

Improves Employee Health & Wellbeing

• Less stress and better indoor environment can reduce absenteeism and increase staff satisfaction.

Branding & Customer Perception

• Being seen to invest in sustainability can improve brand image, attract eco-conscious clients, tenants.

Attract Footfall & Retention

• Shops, cafés, and offices with green walls outside / inside tend to draw people in, improve dwell time, and contribute to visitor loyalty.

ASICS. Indoor Living Wall Installation

Contact Scotscape for your Living Wall Solutions

It makes sense to install more planting where we live and work. If we are unable to find horizontal space to plant in our cities, we need to be innovative and use vertical structures

If you’re ready to bring the benefits of green walls to your business or property, Scotscape can help you through every step. 

We use the latest irrigation and substrate systems to maximise benefits and reduce maintenance costs. Internal or external, new build or retrofit, we design for your climate, your building, your budget.

Breathe new life into your surroundings. Contact Scotscape today to explore how our living wall solutions can improve energy efficiency, boost wellbeing, enhance aesthetics, and support sustainability in your community.

Private Residence London