Research Proposal :

Parametric Modular Pattern on Biofilter Green Wall

in Relation to Indoor Air Quality and Thermal Comfort

Afifah Bintang Umarizka Azzahra 1

1Undergraduate Student, Department of Architecture and Planning, Universitas Gadjah Mada

1. Introduction
Air pollution is a threat to our health, both outdoor and household air pollution.
It’s a silent killer that causes around 7 million deaths a year worldwide according to WHO.
As the indoor generation we spend around 22 hours inside building everyday, where the
concentrations of some pollutants are often 2 to 5 times higher than typical outdoor
concentrations. Especially in urban areas exposure to indoor air pollution has increased
due to the construction of rapid building, the use of synthetic materials for building
furnishing, the use of artificial HVAC system and the use of chemical household products.
Nowadays the use of green wall as air purifier to reduce the concentrate of pollutants are
common in urban area. There are many kind of green wall system, one of current green
wall system is Biofilter Green Wall. It has the same method as Japan’s ecoplanter which
use Phytoremediation principle to remove indoor air pollutions through a rootlevel
circulation system. Green Wall usually installed with modular pattern to make the
fabrication of each part easier.

2. Problem Statement
The use of Biofilter Green Wall in urban area are becoming increasingly common.
Modular boxes system tend to be the green wall technology most widely used especially
for temporary installations, it’s easy to install, replace and remove panel by panel. But
with these system the space available for root development is limited to a few cubic
centimeters and tends to be boxy and not mimicking nature. This limitations lead to small
variety of plants to install.

3. Objectives
The recent availability of design and production techniques is changing the
development of building details, including façade. Parametric design and digital
fabrication might offer potential to expand the boundaries of conventional construction.
This research project will explore particular kinds of Biofilter Green Wall modular pattern
using parametric design to reach optimum pollutant filtration and thermal comfort.

4. Preliminary Literature Review

Numerous kind of Biofilter Green Wall are already developed. Research on the
consequences of this shift has focused on objective measure of plants variety, but there
has been little work exploring the modular pattern of Biofilter Green Wall and it’s relation
to pollutant filtration and thermal comfort.

5. Methodology
The primary research method for this study is experimental study followed by
prototyping and feasibility study. This study will first identified various plants behavior
in green walls and their characteristic. Based on this understanding, some parametric
modular pattern will be developed. In the second stage of this study, prototyping models
of modular pattern will be produced and followed by feasibility study.
References :

“Ventilation Goes Vegetal : CASE’s Plant-Based Air Filtration System”

https://urbanomnibus.net/2015/11/ventilation-goes-vegetal-cases-plant-based-air-
filtration-system/ (accessed October 12, 2019)

Weinmaster, Mike (2010) “Journal of Green Building : ARE GREEN WALLS AS “GREEN” AS THEY
LOOK? An Introduction to the Various Technologies and Ecological Benefits of Green Walls. ”
2010. (accessed October 15, 2019)

Zarei, Yasser (2012) “The Challenges of Parametric Design in Architecture Today: Mapping the
Design Practice.