Climbing plants filter fine dust as well as trees, says KU Leuven researcher
A Master’s researcher at KU Leuven has discovered that climbing plants on the sides of buildings have a remarkable capacity to filter pollution and should be put to much better use
Bad reputation
For his Master’s thesis, Franz analysed leaves from climbing vines on the sides of 72 houses in Leuven. He was able to calculate how much fine particles the entire plant was able to filter from the air per year. The larger the leaves on the plant, the more fine dust it can filter.
The filtering capacity of climbing plants is good news, according to the young biologist. “Cities are increasingly expanding and becoming more dense, so there is less and less place for plants and trees,” he said. “Climbing plants are the ideal solution.”
Still, few houses in the cities have climbing vines on their facades. Franz said that he thinks that’s due to the negative reputation of ivy, which can cause some damage to building infrastructure.
“But there are thousands of other kinds of climbing plants,” he said. “If you match the plant to the kind of wall and the environment, you won’t experience disadvantages.”
Franz called on local governments to inform residents about the potential of such “green walls”, through campaigns or workshops.
