Building industry outlines vision for green roofs and "living walls"

London's giant Westfield shopping centre will be praised today for utilising an emerging green building trend designed to improve biodiversity in our towns and cities.

The centre, in the west of the capital, boasts a 170m long "living wall" covered with ferns and flowers and which separates the pedestrian approach from surrounding residential areas.

Westfield's owners claims the wall has not only cut down noise pollution for local residents, but has also created an attractive environment which has contributed to all the restaurant units being let.

The wall, which was developed by Canadian company ELT Easy Green, will be recognised in a major new report from the Green Building Council (GBC), which argues that far from harming wildlife buildings can play a key role in enhancing local biodiversity.

"The construction and property sector has been pilloried in the past for its negative impact on green space, wildlife and habitat," observed Dr Carol Williams, chair of the UK-GBC Biodiversity Task Group, which developed the report. "But the industry can actually have a positive influence on ecological value."

The report offers guidance for developers, landlords and consultants on how to enhance biodiversity in urban spaces and also provides examples of projects that have successfully increased local wildlife, such as Jubilee Park at Canary Wharf, east London and the green roofs installed on buildings owned by commercial property developer British Land.

According to the report, the benefits of such designs range from a reduction in flood risk and improvement in insulation offered by green roofs and walls to increased productivity that tends to be associated with green workplaces.

"Green roofs, living walls, and good old-fashioned parks and green spaces in our built environment can make us all feel happier and healthier, and give something back to nature," said GBC's chief executive Paul King. "There is also evidence emerging of the economic value of biodiversity enhancement, which will be a critical driver for the industry."

In addition to promoting green building best practices, the report also recommends updates to popular green building standards such as BREEAM and the Code for Sustainable Homes to better incorporate biodiversity issues, and calls for the development of new metrics to better measure the impact of buildings on biodiversity.

Alongside the report, GBC will also launch a new online "biodiversity portal " designed to provide the building industry with a one-stop shop for accessing information on green building practices that support wildlife.