Use of vertical gardens in classroom: evaluation of environmental perception

Abstract

The use of vegetation as a bioclimatic strategy in the built environment is widely recognized for its benefits, mainly thermal comfort. This characteristic comes from using vegetation in the urban environment, both in isolation and integrated with the building. In addition, the use of plant species can also benefit users of indoor environments by improving the quality of these spaces. This article aims to present the analyzes and results obtained with the application of the questionnaire tool to assess the environmental perception of senior high school students in the implementation of vertical gardens in the classroom environment, focusing on indoor environmental quality. The questionnaire was applied in three moments: before the insertion of the vertical gardens, twenty days after implantation of the vertical garden of the species Arachis repens (peanut-forage) and twenty days after replacing the vertical garden with the species gram-peanut by the species Chlorophytum comosum (chlorophyte). We concluded through the analysis generated in the application of the questionnaire that by the students' perception, the vertical gardens' insertion provided improvements in the classroom air quality and general comfort. The grass-peanut species vertical garden showed better results in terms of indoor environmental quality when compared to other situations.