Mobilane, the leading supplier of living systems for exterior and interior use, has partnered with the University of Greenwich Green Roofs & Living Walls Centre on a year-long research project that explores and measures the health and wellbeing effects of interior living walls and other similar systems in a classroom environment.

Mobilane LiveDivider and LivePicture systems, which use the same cassette technology as the LivePanel living wall system, have been installed in Windrush Primary School and Royal Greenwich University Technical College, both of which are within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The big idea behind the installations is to monitor and assess the effects of the living walls on students.

As Dr Benz Kotzen and Shelley Mosco of the Department of Architecture and Landscape, University of Greenwich explain “Children and students are especially sensitive to indoor air quality problems that may be alleviated through the use of plants, and because their performance and behaviour during study is so closely monitored and recorded, school and college classrooms provide an ideal testing ground.

“The research will build on previous studies which have shown that plants provide an effective method of regulating environmental conditions within buildings by improving air quality through the removal of impurities or through the increase of humidity, temperature control and abatement of noise. Indoor plants have also been shown to result in an increase in performance and creativity of employees and students, and to reduce levels of aggression and stress. A scientific investigation of this type of installation has the potential added value of incorporating the research process and results into the educational curriculum in science, biology, chemistry and maths. The students and staff will be tasked with maintaining the systems and daily collection of temperature, humidity and other data.”

The Mobilane LiveDividers and LivePictures have been installed in a library and one classroom, and the grades and behaviour of the students using those classrooms will be monitored over the course of the summer term in order to see whether there is a significant improvement compared with the period before the wall was installed. It is intended that the walls will be reintroduced in the new school year to collect more data.

The living systems have been installed by Darren Stobbart of The Plantman, who described the initial response by staff as extremely positive. “The staff at both the school and college were clearly delighted with the systems and keen to help with the research programme. The children at Windrush Primary School will certainly benefit from a better understanding of plants and their role in air purification, so there are additional benefits beyond the research outcomes.”