Stephanie Gautama, a grad student in the landscaping department of Cornell University, won the Dreer Award competition, and used the grant to travel the world studying various vertical horticultural building systems.  One of the conditions of the grant is to give a lecture upon completion of the grant.

If you are interested on the latest in vertical gardening,  the videos are worth watching.  However, don’t take all her data as a final statement.  For example, she says a Patrick Blanc style wall uses 16 liters/sq.meter/day.  The Institute’s test walls use far less — between 4 and 8 liters per day on a warm day (and Blanc’s book uses a lower estimate, too).  Also, her cost estimates, while probably accurate (between $150 and $200 per square foot) are ten times higher than Institute’s costs of experimental walls.

So, taking this with a grain of salt, here’s the April 5, 2010 Dreer Award Lecture, in two parts.

Part One – Green Walls

Part Two – Green Facades