One of the often overlooked contributors to the overall production of Oxygen that we are so dependent on is the lowly moss that grows everywhere in the world. We might think that moss is just a nuisance that we have to deal with but way back in history it was a major factor in generating Oxygen that allowed human life to eventually evolve. Even now, according to studies a square meter of moss produces more oxygen than a fully grown tree. Which is something I wasn’t aware of and is in fact quite fascinating.
A major problem in cities is the availability of land that can be given over to growing trees. The choice is often between growing a tree or building something and unfortunately most of the time the tree looses. Now if we look at how much more oxygen moss can produce and how little space they need you can see a way to achieve both objectives. Which is what the Duch company called Respyre is doing.
Respyre has created a type of concrete they call Mosscrete which is especially engineered to retain moisture without compromising on strength and durability to allow moss growth directly on the concrete itself. The best part is that the whole thing is self sustaining after the initial 12 week establishment phase. The technology can be integrated into both new construction and renovations of existing structures.
Mosscrete has some major benefits including cooling of the area as moss retains moisture and can cool surfaces through evaporation when hydrated. It also improves the air quality around the installation due to the increased oxygen generation and reduction of fine particulate matter in the air since moss-covered surfaces can capture it. Another advantage is that the green walls can create habitats for small insects and other organisms improving bio-diversity in the area.
Currently Mosscrete is only available in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany and as per their site a substantial R&D budget must be available to enable then to sell projects outside this region.
I am hoping that they will be able to expand to other location soon and I wouldn’t mind having this deployed to my house in Delhi and in Bangalore.
– Suramya