Assessment of the Impact of a Green Wall on the Thermal Behavior of a Building in a Mediterranean Climate

Today, the building and construction industries account for over 30% of both direct and indirect CO2 emissions, rendering them significant contributors to environmental pollution. Additionally, an overwhelming 70% of the energy consumption in buildings can be attributed to the operation of air conditioning systems, serving the purpose of indoor cooling and heating. Within Morocco, the building sector emerges as a highly energy-intensive domain, encompassing a substantial share of the overall energy consumption, reaching up to 33% in the year 2017. This energy utilization is further distributed between residential buildings, accounting for 26%, and tertiary buildings, contributing to 7% of the total energy consumption. Bioclimatic design strategies stand out as highly promising and effective approaches in enhancing the energy efficiency of buildings. In light of this, the primary aim of this research is to assess the influence exerted by exterior wall vegetation on the energy requirements of buildings within a Mediterranean climate. The study model encompasses various mechanisms of heat transfer, encompassing radiative and convective exchanges between the vegetation layer and the surrounding environment, alongside the consequential impact of evapotranspiration. It was programmed using Python programming software, and then integrated into TRNSYS 18 software. The results show that the impact of vegetated walls is more important during the summer period (compared to the winter period) since they reduce 56.68% of the cooling loads in the Mediterranean climate.