Nature has its own astonishing capabilities to cleanse polluted environment. Living green drapes on buildings look elegant providing sustainable solutions in congested metropolises. VIT University promotes green values within the country. The walls of a subway connecting the main campus and hostel premises are draped with Vernonia elaeagnifolia, which was found to be efficient in capturing vehicular pollution. An experimental study established deposition patterns of pollutants. Thereafter, diffusive uptake modelling elucidated the mechanistic details of mass transport through the plant tissues. It is expected that the results of this paper will promote the use of green facades within built environment. © 2016, Global Digital Central. All rights reserved.