A ‘green wall’ is a descriptive term used to refer to all forms of vegetated wall surfaces.

There are two main types of green walls: green facades (where climbing plants or groundcovers are trained to cover specially designed structures) and living walls (composed of pre-vegetated panels, modules or blankets that are vertically attached to a structural wall or frame). There are obviously significant benefits to both these types of green walls, which include emissions offset, shading, heat island reduction, aesthetic improvement, structural or visual protection, and noise reduction.

Greenscreen as a company began in 1993 in California, as a design solution to a building project that called for a vertical trellising that would create “an inhabited bush” atmosphere, without compromising the waterproof membrane of the building façade. Manufactured from recycled steel, the greenscreen panel provides a growing environment approximately 3” deep for plants including evergreen, flowering and deciduous options (a list of recommended plants is included on the greenscreen's website).

The greenscreen product begins with eight simple components…

- Wall-hung trellis panel
- Modular wall-hung trellis panel
- Freestanding trellis screen
- Column trellis
- Freestanding trellis fence, curved
- Planter and custom elements

These pieces can be added in limitless combinations to create landscape accents, wall or fence coverings, as screens, vertical accents or post coverings, act in a fencing application or creating totally unique space separations or enclosures.

The company also provides planters that are designed to work with their trellis panels for venues where large landscaped backdrops are needed or movable elements are desired. Construction and finishes for panels and screens are typically a 14 gauge galvanized steel wire with multi-grade alkaline wash, epoxy thermal-set primer, and a baked on powder coat finish in gloss green, black, silver, or white; matte wrinkle green or wrinkle black. Planter finishes are available in a variety of colors to match interior or exterior building design. Custom colors are also available, but pricing depends on the color and quantity.

The greenscreen panels come in both standard and custom sizes.

Standard panels are 48" wide and either 6’, 8’, 10’, 12' or 14’ long. The panels are manufactured using a 2" x 2" grid, so custom panels are available in even increments of 2" up to 48" in width and 168" in length. The company does not provide installation services, but does sell many types of mounting accessories, which depend on the type of installation, including mounting clips, spacers and straps for wall hung, freestanding, planter and custom installations. The company’s sales office staff can help confirm mounting options and specific details, and installation details can be viewed on the greenscreen website.

When most of the panels being used are standard sizes with greenscreen’s standard mounting clips and details, the cost is usually between $8 and $10/ft2. for materials only (panels, some edge trim and mounting clips), with average installation costs ranging from $12 to $20/ft2 for materials and labor.

The greenscreen website also includes many resources in the downloads section, including the full product catalog, selected project profiles, CAD drawings, specifications, education and research materials, and a full project list be geographic region, available here.