Analysis of Lighting Requirements for 3D Artificial Vertical Gardens

The lighting conditions of vertical gardens directly affect plant growth, landscape effects and maintenance costs. The lighting requirements need to be comprehensively analyzed in combination with the building orientation, shading factors, plant characteristics and spatial functions. The following discusses from the aspects of lighting types, influencing factors, plant adaptation strategies and optimization methods.

First, the compatibility of light types with vertical gardens

Full sunlight environment (≥6 hours of direct sunlight)

Features: The building has south-facing, west-facing or unobstructed outdoor walls with high light intensity and strong ultraviolet rays.

Suitable plants: It is necessary to choose varieties that can tolerate sunlight, high temperatures and drought, such as succulents (Sedum lineare, Sedum lineare), herbaceous flowers (sunflowers, blue snowflakes), and shrubs (hibiscus, pomegranates).

Risk: Strong light can easily cause leaf scorching and rapid water evaporation. It is necessary to use shade nets or an automatic spray system to relieve the high temperature and pressure.

Semi-shaded environment (2 to 6 hours of scattered light/direct light)

Characteristics: Areas facing east or north of buildings or partially shaded by trees or buildings have mild but short-lived light.

Compatible plants: Suitable for shade-tolerant and diffused light-loving varieties, such as ferns (Nephrolepis, Adiantum), foliage plants (Euonymus, Calathea), and climbing plants (ivy, Epipremnum aureum).

Risk: Insufficient light can easily lead to excessive growth and leaf fading. Regular artificial supplementary lighting or the addition of reflective materials (such as white walls) is required to improve the utilization rate of light.

Full shade environment (≤2 hours of scattered light)

Features: Indoor Spaces, underground garages or walls completely blocked by high-rise buildings have extremely weak lighting.

Suitable plants: Only extremely shade-tolerant varieties can be selected, such as tiger's ear grass, Hosta, turtle-back bamboo, and evergreen.

Risk: The plants grow slowly and are prone to death. They need to be supplemented with LED plant lights (recommended color temperature 5000-6500K, with 8-12 hours of light per day) or artificial simulated plants should be used instead.

Second, the key factors affecting light

Building orientation and seasonal changes

Orientation influence: South-facing walls receive strong sunlight in summer and weak sunlight in winter. The north-facing wall receives insufficient light throughout the year.

Seasonal influence: In summer, the solar altitude Angle is high, and vertical gardens are prone to direct sunlight exposure. In winter, the solar altitude Angle is low, and some areas may have no light at all.

Countermeasures: Adjust the plant configuration according to the seasons (such as increasing sun-tolerant plants in summer and replanting shade-tolerant varieties in winter), or install adjustable sunshades.

Types and distances of obstructions

Shielding types: trees, adjacent buildings, canopies, etc.

Distance influence: The closer the occlusion is, the longer the shadow coverage time will be. The higher the density of tree branches and leaves is, the more obvious the attenuation of light will be.

Countermeasures: Analyze the shadow trajectory with a laser rangefinder or sunlight simulation software, avoid high-density occluding areas, or prune the branches and leaves of the occluding objects.

Vertical garden structure and angles

Structural impact: The inclination Angle of modular planting units (such as 30°-45°) can increase the area for receiving light, but wind force and rainwater erosion need to be taken into consideration.

Angle optimization: Adjust the tilt Angle according to the local latitude (for example, in high-latitude regions of the Northern Hemisphere, the tilt Angle can be increased) to enhance the utilization rate of winter light.

Third, the light requirements of plants should be matched with the spatial functions

Outdoor vertical garden

Functional requirements: ecological landscape, heat insulation and noise reduction.

Lighting strategy

The south-facing walls of high-rise buildings: mainly sun-tolerant succulents, supplemented by a small number of flowering plants (such as blue snowflake).

The north-facing wall of the low-rise building is mainly composed of shade-tolerant foliage plants, with local shade-tolerant flowers (such as hostas) as embellishments.

Indoor vertical garden

Functional requirements: Air purification, space decoration.

Lighting strategy

Near the window area: Choose shade-tolerant foliage plants (such as pothos and spider plants).

Stay away from window areas: Mainly plant artificial plants or grow extremely shade-tolerant varieties (such as saxophone) through supplementary lighting.

Transitional Spaces (such as semi-outdoor corridors, entrances to underground garages)

Functional requirements: Landscape creation in a semi-open environment.

Lighting strategy

In areas with light in the morning and no light in the afternoon: Plant semi-shade-tolerant plants (such as Vitriol and variegated rhododendron).

For low-light areas throughout the day: Pair shade-tolerant plants with supplementary lights, or use reflective film to enhance the light intensity.

Fourth, lighting optimization techniques and methods

Artificial supplementary lighting system

LED plant lights: Suitable for indoor or fully shaded areas. It is recommended to choose lamps with a red and blue light ratio (such as 3:1), and hang them at a height of 30-50cm from the plants.

Optical fiber light guiding system: It guides outdoor sunlight into the room through optical fibers and is suitable for deep Spaces (such as underground garages), but it is relatively expensive.

Sunshade and reflective materials

Sunshade net: Cover the south-facing wall in summer, with a recommended light transmittance of 50%-70%.

Reflective film: Stick it on the wall or the back of the planting unit to increase the light reflectivity (for example, white reflective film can increase the light intensity by 20%-30%).

Plant rotation and dynamic adjustment

Seasonal rotation: Remove plants that are not sun-tolerant in summer and replace them with shade-tolerant varieties in winter.

Modular replacement: Detachable planting units are adopted to quickly adjust the plant layout according to changes in light.

Fifth, practical suggestions for light demand analysis

Preliminary research: Use sunlight analysis software (such as SketchUp, Ecotect) to simulate the annual light trajectory, and mark the light intensity and duration.

Pilot planting: Test the light adaptability of different plants in a small area and record their growth status (such as leaf color and height changes).

Dynamic monitoring: Install light sensors to monitor light intensity and spectral distribution in real time, and optimize configuration based on plant growth data.

Summary

The lighting requirements of 3D artificial vertical gardens should be centered on the characteristics of plants and comprehensively designed in combination with the architectural environment, spatial functions and technical means. Through scientific light analysis, reasonable plant selection and dynamic adjustment strategies, the sustainable growth of vertical gardens under strong light, weak light and complex light conditions can be achieved, ultimately reaching the unity of ecology, aesthetics and function.