Modular Building Blocks for Green Wall Integration
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing green wall systems appear unnatural, are costly, and require complex construction, limiting their environmental benefits and aesthetic appeal, with limited plant choices and inefficient maintenance.
Innovation Solution
A building wall constructed from modular, rectangular building blocks with integrated irrigation and hollow spaces for rooting material, allowing for efficient assembly, automated maintenance, and varied plant growth, using materials like concrete with recesses for irrigation conduits and drainage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If a conventional structural building construction with a separately arranged curtain wall is used, then the constructional elements can be clearly separated, but the overall constructional effort becomes unduly complex and costly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the structural wall construction with the green facade support function into a single integrated system. The building blocks serve dual purposes: providing structural support and creating the support framework for plant growth, thereby eliminating the need for separate curtain wall construction and reducing overall construction complexity and cost.
Solution Approach 2:
The building blocks are designed with multi-functionality, serving both as structural elements and as integrated support structures for the green facade. Each block incorporates features for both load-bearing purposes and plant support, allowing a single component to fulfill multiple functions that would traditionally require separate systems.
2Reliability
If pre-grown perennial plants and grass types are used in limited choice, then the plants can be reliably sustained under artificial conditions, but the green wall appears unnatural and aesthetically less appealing
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements local quality by providing different block configurations with varying opening patterns and plant support features. This allows different plant types to be arranged in specific patterns throughout the wall structure, creating diverse micro-environments that support both reliability and aesthetic variety while maintaining the integrity of each plant type's growth requirements.
3Ease of manufacture
If panels with small plastic trays of 6 cm depth are used, then the construction is simplified, but the system creates an unnatural impression and limits plant growth options
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the plant support function into multiple levels within each building block. Instead of relying on a single shallow tray, the block structure provides multiple tiers and zones for plant placement, allowing different plant types to occupy different spatial zones. This segmentation enables both simplified construction and enhanced plant growth adaptability.
4Device complexity
If corners of the curtain wall have no connection between panels, then the construction is simpler, but open spaces become visible over time and maintenance becomes more difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies the nesting principle at corner joints where building blocks are interlocked in a nested configuration. The corner blocks contain recesses that receive protrusions from adjacent blocks, creating an interlocking arrangement that ensures continuous plant coverage at corners and eliminates visible gaps, while maintaining construction simplicity through standardized interlocking features.
Data Source
Figure 1A
Figure 1B
Figure 2
AI summary
A building block (1, 1A, 1B) and a wall for a building (41), assembled from a plurality of such building blocks, arranged in layers. Each building block (1, 1A, 1B) has a substantially rectangular shape and defines six, pairwise parallel, outer surfaces. The building block (1, 1A, 1B) is provided with a bottom (3, 3A, 3B), a rear wall (5, 5A, 5B), a front wall (7, 7A, 7B), a first sidewall (9, 9A, 9B) and a second sidewall (11, 11A, 11B). These walls jointly bound an internal hollow space(15, 17; 15A, 17A; 15B, 17B), which is suitable for receiving a rooting material and planting. The front wall (7, 7A, 7B) is at least partially lower than the rear wall (5, 5A, 5B). An irrigation conduit is optionally included in the assembled wall (41) within recesses (27, 29, 31; 27A, 29A, 31A; 27B, 29B, 31B) in the building blocks (1, 1A, 1B) and at least in a number of building blocks rooting material is arranged with a planting cooperating therewith.