This paper presents an evaluation of the effectiveness of removing air pollutants by installing green vertical walls filled with potted plants. Most people in urban areas spend 80-90% of their lives indoors, indicating the significance of indoor air quality. Carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) and formaldehyde (HCHO) are the most common sources of indoor pollution; their levels can be reduced by using potted plants, which provide the additional benefit of beautification. In accordance with our previous study, for this purpose, we used bird nest fern (Asplenium nidus Linn.), which has a high rate of transpiration and is easy to grow indoors. Upon using 3 treatments involving the release of CO 2 , HCHO, or CO 2 + HCHO, the experimental results showed that bird nest fern can reduce the concentration of CO 2 from 2000 ppm to a safe 800 ppm at an average of 1.984 ppm·h −1 (per pot). By contrast, the concentration of HCHO was reduced from 2 ppm to the safe level of 0.1 ppm, at an average of 0.003 ppm·h −1 (per pot). Regarding temperature and humidity, the results showed a decrease of 2°C indoors and an increase of 10% relative humidity. These results show that bird nest fern has high rates of CO 2 and HCHO removal, reduces temperature, and raises relative humidity.

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The purpose of this study is to highlight the effectiveness and necessity of the computational methods applications for architecture conceptual designs and improve the use of advanced simulation tools in urban planning. The results can provide the urban designers, planners and other decision makers with useful design information for assessing human wind comfort of the surrounding open spaces of public buildings in an urban area. Among different kinds of public buildings, museum architecture is of significant social value and importance for the augmentation of urban image. Using the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao for the case study, this investigation performed CFD simulations of the airflow over the museum to characterize the wind environments around the buildings. The predicted wind speed distributions were used to determine the wind comfort level of the featured spots around the museum for evaluating the suitability allowing visitors to sit or stand at the pedestrian plane for extended periods.

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