Egypt isn’t exactly renowned for its vast green spaces and pioneering environmental policies. Its capital is the biggest city in the Middle East and it’s also one of the most densely populated in the world. Cairo is famous for being full of people, buildings and traffic – not plants or trees. But recently projects aiming to green the city have been sprouting up all over the urban metropolis.

Living walls are just one effort to turn Cairo into a better urban environment – both aesthetically and ecologically. We’ve covered them before in Lebanon and Kuwait, and now it’s Egypt’s turn.

The walls – also referred to as vertical gardens, green walls and vertical vegetation  – use  a system that can be attached to either free-standing structures or walls. They utilize space by turning walls into green spaces.The plants are cultivated both vertically and hydroponically, meaning the vegetation is planted in an environment without soil.

Green Studios is a landscape technology and design firm that has taken living wall projects across the MENA region. One of its recent projects was the HS residence in Cairo. Lacking outdoor space, planting vertically was the only viable option left to green the exterior of the private dwelling. The idea was to have the main characteristics of a garden – without having an actual garden. And it looks fantastic!

Wanting to keep it creative and unique, but still garden-like, abstract shapes of  trees and shrubs were used on the 120 square meter wall. These were outlined by stainless steel frames held by wooden branches acting as trunks. These trunks diffuse indirect lighting through the entire canvas providing the necessary mood at night. “It portrays how design and hydroponic technology, combined together can create remarkable additions to a space,” Pamela Haydamous, a landscape designer at Green Studios said.

But although the walls are easy to create, issues can crop up. The challenges for living walls usually vary with every site.  The main challenge is the fact that the plants are planted in a soilless medium and need a way to adapt to their surroundings.

The technology the company uses allows the plant roots to spread and grow in a healthy environment, and adapt to new system of  nutrition, irrigation , drainage and light exposure. In this way even shrubs and trees can grow normally. The Green studios ‘skin, patented in Lebanon and US patent pending, is tested for extreme weather conditions and temperature variations, and also forms an isolation layer to protect the plant roots. It also has a high water retention capacity, is flexible, strong and UV resistant .
And it’s not only private properties in Cairo greening their spaces. The Green Wall in Cairo’s Galleria mall is injecting some well-needed green into public space. The 12 meters high by 100 meters long wall features a vertical garden and waterfall.

The idea was to have a living wall interlocked with modules of grey and beige tiles. This wall is on the main indoor façade of the mall , containing a water feature and is the main area where most of the restaurants are located. It means you can enjoy your coffee in a garden-like environment without even having to venture outdoors!

And the benefits? Apart from looking good, they’re said to improve air quality by removing harmful toxins from the air, are sustainable and can even reduce stress!

According to Indjy Shawket, a lecturer from the Architecture Department at Cairo University, “Urban greening can help dealing with the environmental challenges arising from climate change, such as global warming. Living walls can be a part of this.”

So it seems that living walls are becoming a bit of a phenomenon across the Middle East. Let’s hope they continue to do so!

The post Cairo is growing green with living walls on the up! appeared first on Green Prophet.

Vertical gardens can be complicated hydroponic set ups with pumps and sensors or as simple as pockets made from old plastic signage that contain soil.

Ma ze? What’s that? the guy asks.

On a sunny day last week Green Prophet spotted these pockets filled with soil and plants pushing up into the warm winter Middle East sun. Make your own or call the number to buy them – if you are local.

These simple pockets, probably mispelled as pokets, were found on Salame Street in South Tel Aviv last week. It’s an area heavily populated by African refugees and working class people.

We caught a couple locals checking out the pockets as we took pictures of these easy to do vertical gardens hanging from a small corner bar patio.

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Is there anything worse than being in a hot city with cars idling, kicking up heat and pollution? We don’t think so, and apparently Erick van Egeraat agrees. The city of Unaizah has approved Egeraat’s plans to build a massive ring road around the city, as well as an underground street.

Erick van Egeraat submitted a plan to build a ring road that encircles the 58-hectare city center. This is a one-way road that has four lanes of traffic. The diameter of the East/West route is 800 meters while the North/South route comprises a diameter of 920 meters.

And this is where it gets interesting. The master plan includes an underground street that travels North/South and links, along with the ring road, to an underground parking lot. With this, the design team hopes to limit the aboveground vehicular traffic and ensure easier pedestrian access to the city.

Work has already commenced on the ring road construction, and Egeraat is finalizing the master plan and other building projects.

Related: Saudi Arabia sinks $26 billion in green buildings

Included in the city’s upgrade is a push to grow more palm trees inside the city center to reference those that have historically grown just outside the city. Plus this creates an environment that is more conducive to social engagement than one without any green spaces, and provides much needed shade in the brutal heat.

Also on the docket are more retail facilities, residential quarters, a mosque, and a mall. The latter will be decked out with vertical gardens and perhaps even waterworks (we hope they use reclaimed water.)

:: WAN

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Another hot summer is now upon us and most people in the Middle East that have them are running their air conditioning units at full blast. Many people may not realize that their AC units are also producing large amounts of “run off” water that can be used to flush their toilets, mop their floors, and be used as a source of fresh water for house plants and gardens. Don’t let it go down the drain or evaporate in the sand!

The resulting water from air cons is very similar to rain water, which is produced by evaporation of water from the earth’s surface and later returned to earth when the water vapor forms into clouds that later turns to rain.

Buckets of fresh water from one small AC unit!

The cleanliness of AC water depends on whether it runs off directly when created, via a drainage hose; or allowed to collect underneath an older window type of unit that allows harmful bacteria to grow. The idea of creating water from the air is being studied by a number of people, including the military, where devices are now being used to utilize the run off water of air conditioners in military vehicles in places like Afghanistan.

The technology behind devices used for creating needed water for field troops is now being developed for devices that can be used for non-military uses as well.

I personally obtain as much as 10 to 12 liters a day from a small 1 hp AC unit, and use this water for plants as well as mopping the floor. A new shopping mall nearby is now using AC run off water for watering its outside landscaping.

One thing for sure is that most of the water created by condensation from AC units is still going to waste. If properly utilized, this water might eventually be able to provide for as much as 10 -15% of a community’s fresh water needs in the hot summer months.

How can you collect this water? Run a pipe from the air con run off pipe, and collect the water in a bucket for later use. Or if outdoors, let it irrigate your thirsty plants directly. Start a vertical garden: If you have no plants, plant some. Start with some herbs and then move on to bigger ideas, like trees, once you’ve committed to the idea.

Read more on utilizing Air Conditioner run off water:

Time to Drink Water From AC Units
Tap Into Auxiliary Water Supplies With Your AC
The Eco Army of Cyprus

Images by Maurice Picow

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