Suwon City has started its ‘Green Curtain’ project to cover building facades with plants, as a way to lower indoor temperatures and the level of fine dust in the atmosphere.

The city government plans to install green curtains at 23 institutions in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province by the end of May, including the city hall building, district offices and several elementary schools. 

Green curtains refer to climbing plants which are planted on the outer walls of buildings or near windows. They reportedly help lower indoor temperatures by around 5 degrees Celsius in the summer.

These “natural” curtains are also known to lower fine dust levels in the atmosphere by transpiration and their dust-absorbing qualities.

According to Suwon City, it costs around 2 million won ($1,862) to cover a wall 8 meters wide and 7 meters high with a green curtain.

By Cho Yun-myung (yunc39@heraldcorp.com)