Glossary
Glossary of green building terms
The words we use for green walls, facades, roofs, planters and plant care, defined in a line each.
- Biophilic design
- Designing buildings and interiors to connect people with nature through plants, daylight, natural materials and views.
- Green wall
- A vertical surface covered with plants. Called a living wall or vertical garden when the plants are real.
- Living wall
- A green wall of real plants rooted in panels, trays or pockets fixed to the wall, with irrigation built in.
- Vertical garden
- Another name for a green wall, used for indoor and outdoor walls.
- Artificial green wall
- Panels of artificial foliage that need no light or water, only cleaning.
- Preserved moss
- Real moss treated so it stays soft and green without water, light or soil. For indoor use only.
- Reindeer moss
- A soft, springy preserved moss available in many colours, used for logos and patterns.
- Ball moss
- Rounded cushions of preserved moss that add depth and a forest-floor texture.
- Green facade
- Climbing plants grown from planters or the ground up a net, cable or trellis in front of a building face.
- Cable net
- A diamond mesh of stainless steel wire rope laced to a frame of tensioned ropes, on which climbers grow.
- Wall point
- The anchor that fixes a facade's ropes and net to the building's concrete frame and holds them off the wall.
- Planter ledge
- A planter built into a balcony, ledge or podium edge, with trailing plants spilling over the face.
- Green roof
- Planting on a roof, terrace or podium, laid in layers over waterproofing, a root barrier and a drainage layer.
- Extensive green roof
- A thin, light green roof, typically 60–150 mm of growing medium, planted with hardy groundcovers and grasses and not usually walked on.
- Semi-intensive green roof
- A middle option, typically 150–300 mm deep, with perennials, grasses and small shrubs.
- Intensive green roof
- A deep green roof, typically 300 mm or more, that can carry lawns, shrubs and trees and be used like a garden.
- Podium garden
- A garden built over a structure such as a basement car park; in construction terms, a green roof.
- Drainage cell
- A light plastic module laid under the growing medium that carries excess water to the outlets and holds some back for the plants.
- Filter fabric
- A geotextile laid between the growing medium and the drainage cell that keeps soil out of the drainage.
- Root barrier
- A membrane that keeps roots away from the waterproofing.
- Growing medium
- The engineered, lightweight soil mix used on green roofs and in planters.
- Saturated weight
- The weight of a green roof build-up when fully wet: the figure a structural engineer designs for.
- Drip irrigation
- Watering through small emitters at each plant or panel, run by a controller.
- Pressure-compensating dripper
- A dripper that releases the same amount of water across a range of pressures, so the top and bottom of a wall are watered alike.
- Irrigation controller
- The unit that runs the irrigation zones on a schedule, and can respond to sensors, rain and season.
- Soil-moisture sensor
- A sensor that measures the water in the growing medium, so irrigation runs only when needed.
- FRP planter
- A planter made of fibre-reinforced plastic: light, strong, weather-resistant and moulded to almost any shape and colour.
- FRC planter
- A planter made of fibre-reinforced concrete: the look of concrete in thinner, lighter sections.
- Self-watering planter
- A planter with a reservoir that feeds water to the roots from below, so it is refilled every few weeks instead of watered daily.
- AMC
- Annual maintenance contract: a fixed yearly scope and fee for looking after plants, green walls or landscapes.
- Plant rental
- Plants and planters supplied for a monthly fee that includes their care and replacement.
- Grow light
- An LED light tuned for plant growth, used where daylight is too low.
- Heat island effect
- The extra heat that built-up areas absorb and hold. Green roofs and walls reduce it on and around buildings.
- IGBC
- Indian Green Building Council, which runs green-building ratings in India. Vegetated roofs can count toward its heat-island (roof) credits.
Tell us about your space.
Share the site, the size and what you have in mind. We will come back with ideas and a time for a site visit.
Or call +91 70452 51178 or write to info@vertvista.com