A LiveWall® filled with heat-reducing living plants installed on the exterior of a hotel in Chicago.

As summer temperatures rise, building owners and designers face growing challenges related to heat, energy consumption, and occupant comfort. While air conditioning systems play an important role in keeping buildings cool, nature can help too. LiveWall® provides a natural way to reduce heat around buildings while creating more comfortable and visually appealing spaces.

By combining plants with innovative wall systems, living walls offer benefits that extend beyond aesthetics. They can help cool the surrounding environment, protect building surfaces, and support sustainable design goals.

How Plants Help Cool the Environment

Evapotranspiration on plants help cool the surrounding air.

Anyone who has stepped from a sunny parking lot into a shaded garden has experienced the cooling power of plants. LiveWall® works in much the same way.

Plants naturally absorb sunlight that would otherwise be converted into heat by building surfaces. Their foliage creates shade, reducing the amount of solar radiation reaching the wall behind them. In addition, plants release moisture through a process called evapotranspiration. As water evaporates from the leaves, it helps cool the surrounding air.

Together, these processes can help reduce surface temperatures and create a more comfortable environment around a building. In urban settings where concrete, asphalt, and other hard surfaces absorb and radiate heat, living walls can also help mitigate the urban heat island effect.

Protecting Buildings from Heat

Exterior building surfaces are constantly exposed to changing weather conditions. During the summer months, walls can absorb significant amounts of solar energy, causing surface temperatures to rise dramatically.

A living wall acts as a protective buffer between the building and the sun, much like the canopy of a tree. By shading exterior surfaces and reducing direct heat exposure, plants help moderate temperature fluctuations throughout the day. This can reduce stress on building materials while lowering cooling demands inside the building.

The result is a solution that benefits both the building and the people who use it.

Ford Data Center: A Living Wall with a Purpose

Ford’s Data Center with newly planted LiveWalls® on its exterior.

A great example of these benefits can be found at Ford Motor Company’s data center in Allen Park, Michigan.

Data centers generate significant amounts of heat and require substantial cooling to maintain optimal operating conditions. While cooling systems remain essential, Ford incorporated large outdoor LiveWall® installations as part of a broader effort to create a more sustainable and inviting environment around the facility.

The LiveWall® panels help soften the building’s industrial appearance while providing natural cooling benefits. By shading portions of the exterior and introducing thousands of plants into the landscape, the installation helps create a cooler, greener environment for employees and visitors.

The project demonstrates how living walls can contribute to building performance while also enhancing human experience. Rather than treating sustainability and aesthetics as separate goals, the Ford Data Center shows how they can work together.

Benefits Beyond Cooling

While temperature moderation is a significant advantage, LiveWall® installations offer additional benefits. They can improve visual appeal, create a stronger connection to nature, and support employee well-being. Research has shown that exposure to natural elements can help reduce stress and improve overall satisfaction in the built environment.

For many organizations, these benefits make LiveWall® living walls valuable investments in both sustainability and quality of place.

A Natural Solution for a Warming World

As communities continue to seek ways to reduce energy consumption and build more sustainable buildings, LiveWall® living walls offer a practical and beautiful solution.

By shading surfaces, cooling the surrounding air, and helping reduce heat gain, LiveWall® installations do more than enhance a building’s appearance. They contribute to healthier, more comfortable environments while supporting long-term sustainability goals.

The Ford Data Center is a powerful example of how a LiveWall® installation can harness nature’s cooling power to create spaces that perform better, feel better, and leave a lasting impression.

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