Green wall cleans the air that we breathe

The entrance to the Hurley Street underpass at Campbelltown Station has gone green’ thanks to the installation of a “breathing wall’’.

The breathing wall is part of a pilot project that has brought together Campbelltown Council, living infrastructure specialists, Junglefy and the University of Technology Sydney.

The Junglefy breathing wall is made up of 160 modules and 1,200 plants, including a range of native and non-native species.

An active air ventilation system draws in polluted air which is then filtered within a carefully researched growing medium in the modules, before cleaner air is expelled.

Recycled water captured from the nearby Campbelltown Civic Centre precinct will be used to keep the plants in the Breathing Wall healthy.

“Our Reimagining Campbelltown City Centre masterplan will set out our vision to cool the city’s urban centres through the use of technology such as living infrastructure,” says Mayor George Brticevic.

“Breathing walls are designed to clean the air around them, ensuring that people are breathing healthier, less polluted air,” Cr Brticevic said.

“I’m delighted we’ve been able to install this wall so we can examine how further living infrastructure will benefit the health and wellbeing of our community,” he said.

Junglefy managing director and co-founder Jock Gammon says plants are a natural solution to creating healthy and more liveable cities.

“We are excited at the opportunity to create a new breathing wall in Campbelltown to bring more plants into the city and positively impact the lives of the residents and commuters,” he said.

Environmental sensors have been installed at the site by UTS to provide real time data to measure the benefits of the breathing wall.

“Given the recent poor air quality from Sydney’s bushfires and increased global air pollution, the development of natural, biological solutions are key to future sustainable cities,” says Dr Fraser Torpy, director of plants and environmental quality research group at UTS.

“The breathing wall is the most developed system of its type in the world and its efficiency to remove all of the major air pollutants has been extensively researched,” he said.

“We are greatly encouraged by the foresight of Campbelltown City Council in backing this technology, and are looking forward to measuring the impact of their breathing wall on the local air quality.”