Lightweight Green Wall Element with Substrate-Filled Frame
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing green wall elements made of concrete are heavy, unwieldy, and difficult to install, limiting their application due to their weight and size.
Innovation Solution
A wall element with a frame structure composed of vertical uprights and water and rot-resistant thermal insulation panels, filled with a substrate that provides weight and stability, allowing for easy transportation and installation, with planting holes for vegetation and a design that eliminates the need for additional attachment of the panels.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stability of the object's composition
If concrete wall elements are used to provide weight and stability, then the wall element remains securely in place, but the wall element becomes heavy and unwieldy, limiting its field of application
Solution Approach 1:
The wall element combines a lightweight frame structure with thermal insulation panels and a mineral substrate filling to achieve the desired weight and stability without using heavy concrete. The composite construction integrates multiple materials (frame, insulation panels, substrate) to optimize both weight and stability properties simultaneously.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the material parameters from heavy concrete to a combination of lightweight frame, insulation panels, and substrate. This parameter change allows the wall element to maintain stability through the substrate weight while keeping the overall structure lightweight and easy to handle during installation.
2Reliability
If thermal insulation panels are used between uprights, then water and rot resistance is achieved, but additional attachment mechanisms are required
Solution Approach 1:
The thermal insulation panels are designed to be self-attaching to the frame structure. The panels utilize the frame geometry and their own structural features to secure themselves without requiring additional attachment mechanisms, thereby simplifying the overall construction while maintaining water and rot resistance.
Solution Approach 2:
The attachment function is merged into the basic panel-frame structure itself. The thermal insulation panels are integrated with the frame in such a way that the structural connection serves both the mechanical support and the attachment purposes simultaneously, eliminating the need for separate attachment components.
3Ease of operation
If the frame is left unfilled, then ease of transportation and alignment is maintained, but the wall element lacks sufficient weight to remain securely in place
Solution Approach 1:
The wall element is segmented into a reusable frame structure and a consumable substrate filling. The frame can be transported and assembled separately in a lightweight state, then the substrate is added at the installation location to provide the necessary weight and stability, allowing the element to transition from easy-to-handle to securely-fixed state.
Solution Approach 2:
The frame structure is prepared and assembled in advance in a lightweight state for easy transportation and alignment. The substrate filling is then added as a preliminary step before final installation, providing the necessary weight to secure the wall element in place without requiring the frame to be heavy from the outset.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution enables a lightweight, easy-to-install green wall element that remains securely in place, with a long service life due to the use of water and rot-resistant materials, and allows for adequate solar radiation and water supply to the vegetation.
Implementation Method 1
at least one water-resistant and rot-resistant thermal insulation panel (7) is provided between adjacent uprights
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3~4
AI summary
The invention relates to a wall element (1) comprising a frame (2) whose spaced-apart longitudinal sides (3, 4) are each formed by at least two uprights (5, 6). These uprights (5, 6) are each made from at least one profile section, with at least one water- and rot-resistant thermal insulation panel (7) provided between adjacent uprights (5, 6), which rests on both sides against an outer profile web (8) of the adjacent profile sections. A sandy, earthy, peaty, or mineral substrate (10) is filled into the frame cavity (9) of the frame (2). In a preferred embodiment, the wall element (1) according to the invention is designed as a greened wall element (1), wherein planting holes (12) are provided in at least one of the thermal insulation panels (7), through which planting holes (12) the vegetation (11) rooted in the substrate (10) protrudes outwards over the thermal insulation panel (10) (see Fig. 4).