IMPACT OF GREEN WALLS ON INDOOR AIR HUMIDITY

Abstract: This thesis presents a case study of an indoor Green Wall (GW) installed in an office building in Malmö, Sweden. The study analyzed the effect of the GW on air humidity during low temperature and dry moisture outdoor conditions. The objective was to determine the green wall's indoor humidity contribution while enabling an adequate comparison before and after the GW installation, which requires defining an appropriate space to evaluate. Regarding temperature, humidity, and airflow variations, the office performs as a controlled system that employs an air handling unit (AHU) with an efficiency of up to 90% of humidity recovery (HR). The measurements began in September 2021 and ended 27 weeks later, in April 2022. The data was collected and recorded using sensors previously installed at different points of the office, which were also helpful in identifying the humidity variations according to the proximity of the measuring devices to the GW installation. Subsequently, an analysis was carried out in different phases using Excel. One week of data-record represents the case conditions before, while three weeks represent the conditions after the installation. By establishing a similar scenario to compare, the measurements before and after GW installation were compared, conducting a further discussion. In addition, a brief assessment focused on Carbon Dioxide (CO2) emissions was carried out to suggest a potential environmental reduction in a real-life building. The accuracy of the measurements was assessed by installing additional sensors in the office and AHU to compare the data collected from the ventilation sensors already found in the site study. Even though a few limitations were identified and described in this thesis, the results suggested that the GW installation positively impacts indoor humidity. The conclusions from this study are expected to lead us beyond further analysis in favor of indoor moisture content and building occupants' well-being.