50 Project IdeasTo Help You Score ContractsWith (Local) Governments

SustainableAvenue.com

About this report

This report provides a list of promising projects and technologies that

have been used in places around the world. It is meant to be used by the

companies looking to score contracts with (local) governments to the

benefit of all parties included. As such, it could help businesses -- in

partnerships with governments -- launch similar initiatives in their own

municipalities.

There is a takeaway (summary) for every project as well as what we call

the "Action point" that justifies launching the same or similar project in

other parts of the world (where applicable). In addition, we also provide

links to relevant parties that have been included in every project -- or

those that are offering solutions related to the project.

It is our hope that this list will provide the reader with enough ideas to

make his/her city a better place while also helping his/her own company.

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How to use Sustainable Avenue to scoregovernment contracts

We have created Sustainable Avenue after realizing that many (local)

government officials are out of time. Just remember Mark Zuckerberg's

Senate hearing -- some senators didn't have an idea how Facebook is

working and making money. And, mind you, we're talking about one of the

most valuable companies in the world.

The situation is similarly dire in many local jurisdictions all around the

world. Yes, you got that right - this isn't the problem only poor countries

are facing; the sad truth is that clueless politicians are spread all across

the globe.

Sustainable Avenue is designed to help you score government contracts by

showing you projects that are, in many cases, already working in some

parts of the world. And they could be, at least partially, copied to work in

other places as well.

For every project - we provide details, takeaway and, where applicable -

also some photos and a video. Links to websites and LinkedIn profiles of

companies developing those projects are included, as well.

You get to browse projects by a few different criteria: Sections,

Technologies and Countries. From this page, you get to see all the

different categories. Or you can use the search functionality.

The action on your behalf starts once you find a project you could copy/sell

to the (local) government. From there, you could:

Contact a company behind the project to see whether you could

establish a partnership to offer something similar (or same) in the

communities you serve

Print the project page and mail to the local official who may be involved

in procurements (to gather interest). There is an option to "Hide the

action point" when printing - which you may want to use.

Think about all the different ways how that project could be

implemented in communities you operate in

Engage other employees into the project, collect their input and ideas

Upon receiving all that feedback and information -- from the company

that developed the project/technology, your colleagues and perhaps even

someone from the (local) government -- it is time to get to work. Start

preparing marketing and all other materials that may be needed down the

line. You may have to engage the local media or a few websites to publish

stories relevant to the project to further convince the government -- so be

prepared.

The point is -- you get a few dozen projects with more coming every

month. Even if you don't find anything relevant at this time (and we kinda

doubt that), don't worry - you will find one eventually. And if everything

else fails - you can contact us and demand a project that could be used by a

company like yours. We're here to help. 😉

Table of Contents

1. This smart trashcan can recognize and automatically categorize

recycling litter

2. These floor tiles harvest the kinetic energy from human footsteps

3. These living lamps shine without electricity

4. This interactive crosswalk puts pedestrians first

5. Lampposts in London recharge electric cars

6. This drone could detect virus symptoms in crowds

7. Shipping containers turned into ICU Pods for the COVID-19 pandemic

8. London transforms double-decker buses into homeless shelters

9. These affordable micro-homes can pop up in just one day

10. Air raid shelter turned into a salad farm

11. This brick is made out of 90% recycled construction waste

12. Singapore offering incentives for skyrise greenery

13. Chatbots help local governments communicate with their constituents

14. Low-energy vertical farm thrives in Singapore

15. A dementia village allows residents to be independent

16. These smart parking systems are perfect for densely populated cities

17. A road built from recycled plastic bottles

18. Smart bin raising awareness on trash separation

19. A pavement paint that reduces the urban heat island effect

20. A behavioral-change program for recycling

21. Mental health ambulance is like a therapy room on wheels

22. Company using recycled plastic milk bottles to repave roads

23. Farm-in-a-box provides locally produced food in urban environments

24. Electric bikes used for sustainable urban delivery

25. Waste-to-energy plant in Denmark doubles as a ski slope

26. Smart green walls clean urban air

27. LED lights embedded in the road warn cars of approaching cyclists

28. Virtual-rail train system operates on city roads without steel tracks

29. These valet robots can move vehicles, optimize parking spaces at

airports

30. Smart road technology can charge electric vehicles as they travel

31. This kiosk machine pays out for old batteries

32. The first sustainable all-wood stadium being built by a vegan football

club

33. This grocery retail chain paved parking lot with post-consumer plastic

34. This villa makes “forest therapy” accessible in the middle of the city

35. Dutch city creates 300+ bee-friendly bus stops

36. Interactive billboards in Stockholm help homeless find shelter

37. AI could help cities detect water leaks

38. City in Indonesia lets commuters pay bus fare with their plastic waste

39. These micro-units are made for homeless people

40. Art installation promotes mental health

41. This low-carbon concrete is made from desert sand

42. Aerogel-filled bricks are a potential game-changer for insulation

43. Unused underground garage in Paris turned into an urban farm

44. Stockholm power plant burning H&M clothes instead of fossil fuels

45. A road that captures and stores energy to melt snow and heat buildings

46. Glow-in-the-dark bike path makes cycling safer

47. This aqua drone can clean waterways, collect data

48. Shipping containers turned into low-cost students residences

49. This vertical farming system is enclosed inside a shipping container

50. These Lego-like bricks are meant for making full-sized buildings

According to Meticulous Research, the smart waste management market

is expected to be worth $3.97 billion by 2025, and unsurprisingly new

companies are popping up in this space.

One of them, Bin-e, comes from Poland and its product is a smart

trashcan featuring sensors, image recognition technology and artificial

intelligence. As a result, this trashcan can recognize and categorize

recycling litter into one of its smaller bins faster than a human being. The

litter is then compressed, so it occupies less space.

This smart trashcan can recognize andautomatically categorize recycling litterThanks to the use of sensors, image recognition technology and AI - it

makes sure we spend less time sifting through and sorting trash for

recycling.

Artificial Intelligence Recycling Waste Management

This further means spending less time sifting through and sorting various

products into categories for recycling.

At Bin-e, executives believe the simplicity of recycling in this manner may

mean that more of us "do our bit" for the environment, without really

thinking about it.

The smart bin comes with a touchscreen with an easy-to-grasp interface

that leads users through the process and informs them about the fill level.

It can connect to the internet via WiFi or LAN connection.

Right now, Bin-e is available in one size, measuring 120 x 120 x 60 cm

with an uncompressed capacity of 0.3m3 and compressed of 0.8m3. That is

what the company calls the office version that is offered with a

subscription service — available through a mobile app — to enable users

to arrange specific collection services.

Going forward, Bin-e plans to create an outdoor version and later the

home version.

Takeaway

Poland-based Bin-e has developed an automated trashcan that can fit

discreetly into office spaces. Equipped with sensors, image recognition

technology and AI — it can recognize and categorize recycling litter into

one of its smaller bins faster than a human being. The litter is then

compressed, so it occupies less space. The current Bin-e, made for

businesses, measures 120 x 120 x 60 cm with an uncompressed capacity of

0.3m3 and compressed of 0.8m3. It is available with a subscription service

— available through a mobile app — to enable users to arrange specific

collection services.

Contacts & Links:

Time to Implement

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Action point

It could be a good business to partner with Poland's Bin-e and offer

their smart trashcans to the (local) government as well as

businesses. It not only helps the local recycling efforts but also

makes for a seamless process for end-users. These two are key

selling points of this smart bin, which alone should help your

company sell them across the board. Governments should be

pitched with the idea to lead by example, and when the media sees

what they (the government) are doing, it should be even easier to

sell it to corporate customers.

Bin-eDąbrowa, Poland

⏱⏱ 💰💰💰

A company called Pavegen has developed (and patented) floor tiles that

harvest the kinetic energy from human footsteps and use it to directly

power off-grid applications such as lighting, wayfinding and

advertisement boards — or store it in an external battery for powering

future applications. The technology is integrated, discreetly, into the

existing environment, underfoot.

In addition to its harvesting energy abilities, the tiles — which are BTW

made from recycled materials and come in a variety of colors and textures

— can also provide real-time footfall data to deliver insights into

pedestrian movements. This also enabled Pavegen to develop an

ecosystem that allows people to be rewarded for steps on these connected

walkways.

These floor tiles harvest the kineticenergy from human footstepsThe technology is discreetly integrated into the existing environment and

could be used to power things like lighting, wayfinding and advertisement

boards.

Energy Infrastructure

Founded in 2009, Pavegen supplies both permanent installations and

experiential (temporary) activations that can power off-grid applications

such as games, lighting, and environmental monitoring. Its technology

has been installed in over 200 projects in more than 30 countries —

including in train stations, shopping centers, education institutions,

public spaces, and airports.

The company has worked with some of the world's biggest brands such as

Adidas, Coca-Cola, Heathrow Airport, Shell and Westfield. Also, it has

cooperated with Transport for London and New West End Company to

create the world's first smart street, and partnered with Google to create

the world's largest energy and data harvesting array in Berlin.

Another notable project includes work for real estate giant Globalworth,

which commissioned Pavegen to build two 20 m2 energy harvesting

walkways in Bucharest. The paths are part of a larger green initiative to

turn its HQ office space into an environmentally and hi-tech hub for

workers.

Other famous Pavegen projects include those at/for World EXPO in Astana;

Broadgate, London; Smart City Development, Bangalore; Abu Dhabi

Airport, UAE; Kiin Energy, Mexico; True Digital City, Bangkok; Dupont

Circle, USA; H6 Conet, Hongkong; Chelsea Flower Show, London;

University of Birmingham, UK; and Oxford Street, London.

In 2018, the company signed a Memorandum of Understanding with

global engineering and technology giant, Siemens, to develop smart city

projects together.

Takeaway

Pavegen's patented floor tiles can harvest the kinetic energy from human

footsteps and use it to directly power off-grid applications such as

lighting, wayfinding and advertisement boards. Alternatively, the energy

Contacts & Links:

Time to Implement

⏱⏱⏱Cost to Implement

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collected could be stored in an external battery for powering future

applications. The technology is discreetly integrated into the existing

environment, underfoot — and also allows collection of real-time footfall

data to deliver insights into pedestrian movements.

Pavegen's tiles come in a variety of colors and textures and are made from

recycled materials. They have been installed in over 200 projects in 30+

countries.

Action point

A company could partner with Pavegen to bring their technology to

new places. Whether you work for a construction company or a tech

solution provider, there's money to be made here from pursuing

(local) government as well as contracts from other major companies

in the area. Everyone wants to be green these days and use

alternative energy sources — and that's what Pavegen's tech is all

about, providing energy that is made from humans walking around.

PavegenLondon, United Kingdom

⏱⏱ 💰💰

They may seem like the bottom of the food chain, but one day, the bacteria

of the world could light our cities. And if Parisian startup Glowee gets its

way, the City of Lights may soon be dependent on bioluminescent bacteria

to keep up its nickname.

Glowee dubs itself the "living lighting energy company" that sits at the

"crossroads of biomimicry and biotechnology." Its technology relies on

bioluminescence, which is the production and emission of light by some

living organisms such as fireflies, glow-worms, and over 80% of marine

organisms.

These living lamps shine withoutelectricityA French company uses a special material made of microorganisms to

provide light with no external power source of any kind.

Infrastructure

Glowee develops a bioluminescent raw material made of microorganisms

that can grow indefinitely. It engineers these microorganisms (Aliivibrio

fischeri bacterium) to make them more efficient in terms of light

production (intensity, stability, capacity) and can deploy them to public

spaces to provide light with no external power source of any kind.

This way, according to Glowee, cities can reduce the environmental

footprint of lighting, saving our limited natural resources like rare metals

that are used in LEDs and reduce pollution generated by the production,

consumption and end-of-life of traditional lighting systems.

"Our goal is to change the way we produce and use light," explained

Glowee founder Sandra Rey. "We want to offer a global solution that will

reduce the 19 percent of electricity used to produce light."

The same technology will help cities improve comfort and well-being by

reducing light and visual pollution that is affecting more than 80% of

Earth's inhabitants.

Glowee pitches its offering as a sustainable system made for tomorrow's

landscapes; it is working with energy companies, real estate companies,

architects, landscape architects, municipalities, artists, designers,

builders and hotels to help fulfill their needs for sustainable lighting.

The company showcased its technology by popping up a "Glowzen Room,"

inviting visitors to relax under the dim turquoise lights, reminiscent of

deep oceans. Also, it signed an agreement to test its technology in the

French city of Rambouillet.

Takeaway

French company Glowee cultures bioluminescent bacteria in functional

shapes to create glowing signs and objects. These bacterial cultures are

grown in "shells" that can be customized into functional shapes like shop

Contacts & Links:

Time to Implement

⏱⏱Cost to Implement

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front signs, requiring no external energy source to produce light. Glowee

pitches its technology as a sustainable alternative to traditional lights

made for landscapes of tomorrow. The company showcased its technology

by popping up a "Glowzen Room," inviting visitors to relax under the dim

turquoise lights, reminiscent of deep oceans. Also, Glowee signed an

agreement to test its technology in the French city of Rambouillet.

Action point

As noted, Glowee works with energy companies, real estate

companies, architects, landscape architects, municipalities, artists,

designers, builders and hotels to help fulfill their needs for

sustainable lighting. If your company is in that group — or could

serve as a middleman in the process — you may want to consider

partnering with Glowee to bring its technology to your area. It's a

novel and sustainable technology that also works without other

energy sources. Should be a relatively easy sell...

GloweeÉvry, France

⏱⏱⏱ 💰💰

With the increasing number of cities trying to become more pedestrian

friendly, a company called Umbrellium unveiled a tech-enabled solution

that puts pedestrians first.

Its Starling Crossing (STigmergic Adaptive Responsive LearnING

Crossing) solution, installed temporarily in South London in 2017,

consists of an interactive pedestrian crossing that responds dynamically

in real-time to make pedestrians, cyclists and drivers safer, and more

aware of each other.

The idea, according to Umbrellium, was to reconsider pedestrian crossings

This interactive crosswalk putspedestrians firstCalled Starling Crossing, it is a high-tech pedestrian crossing that

responds dynamically in real-time to make pedestrians, cyclists and

drivers safer.

Infrastructure Smart Roads Transportation

in the light of shared space strategies — an urban design technique that

reduces the segregation between different road users — and cutting-edge

responsive technology that would put people (rather than cars) in control.

While most discussion about road technology focuses on vehicles, with the

Starling Crossing - Umbrellium created a responsive road surface that

puts people first by updating the design of pedestrian crossings (first

introduced in the 1940s) to account for streets with more cars, pedestrians

and technology, and a different societal relationship to urban transport

infrastructure.

Although it uses familiar and understandable road markings and colors,

the Starling Crossing reacts dynamically in real-time to different

conditions and is able to modify the patterns, layout, configuration, size

and orientation of pedestrian crossings in order to prioritise pedestrian

safety. The entire road surface at the crossing area is monitored by

cameras and embedded with computer-controlled LEDs that can be seen

from all angles, during both day and night.

The full-scale prototype that was installed temporarily in South London

was designed to support the weight of vehicles, remain slip-free in

pouring rain and to display markings bright enough to be seen during

daytime.

It used Umbrellium's Starling CV product, consisting of a neural network

framework-enabled cameras to track objects moving across the road

surface. The system was able to distinguish between pedestrians, cyclists

and vehicles — calculating their precise locations, trajectories and

velocities and anticipating where they may move to in the next moment.

At different times of day, and in different situations, the road can alter its

configuration in real-time.

Early in the morning when there are few pedestrians, the Starling

Crossing may only appear when someone approaches, guiding them to the

crossing location that it has learned over time is the safest, leaving the

road otherwise free for vehicular traffic.

Later in the day, when pubs close or a film ends and many people need to

cross the road at the same time, the Starling Crossing automatically

expands in width to accommodate increased pedestrian traffic.

If a person is distracted, looking down at their phone, and veers too close

to the road surface when a car is nearby, a warning pattern lights around

them to fill their field of vision. If a child runs into the road unexpectedly,

a large buffer zone is created around them to make their trajectory clear to

any nearby drivers or cyclists.

In a particularly dangerous situation, when a pedestrian is rushing across

the street but is in a cyclist's or driver's blindspot, the Starling Crossing

adapts in the real-time to draw their attention directly to the hidden

pedestrian's location and trajectory.

The Starling Crossing might also adapt to different specific environmental

conditions, for instance creating larger pedestrian buffer zones in wet

weather or to keep particularly polluting vehicles further from a school

crossing.

Furthermore, if most people exiting a tube station end up walking

diagonally across the road towards a park entrance, the crossing is able to

reconfigure as a diagonal or even trapezoidal crossing, with

corresponding safety buffer zones.

The Starling Crossing was commissioned by the insurance company Direct

Line with the ad agency Saatchi & Saatchi. It wasn't a permanent

installation, though.

Takeaway

Contacts & Links:

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Umbrellium's Starling Crossing is a modern, high-tech pedestrian

crossing that puts people first, enabling them to cross safely the way they

want to cross, rather than one that tells them they can only cross in one

place or a fixed way. Key design principles include aiming to enhance

people's perceptual awareness without distracting them, and highlighting

safety relationships between people and cars so they can make their own

decisions, rather than telling them what to do.

The solution is obviously more expensive than a traditional pedestrian

crossing, but also much safer for all parties included in the traffic —

making it suitable for city areas with the highest density of pedestrians

such as main city squares.

Action point

A company could contact Umbrellium to bring its high-tech

pedestrian crossing to another city. It doesn't have to be a

temporary installation — though it could be made for some special

events — but a permanent one that would be installed in the city

center and/or at other places with many pedestrians (i.e. main city

squares). To the local government, Starling Crossing would be

pitched as a novel idea that improves safety of all parties —

including pedestrians, cyclists and cars.

UmbrelliumLondon, United Kingdom

Starling Crossing @ Umbrellium website

⏱ 💰

In March 2020, Siemens unveiled the UK's first avenue catered for electric

vehicle (EV) charging. Over half a mile in length, the so-called "Electric

Avenue, W9" was developed in collaboration with EV charging tech

company ubitricity and Westminster City Council; together, they

successfully converted 24 lampposts into EV charge points using existing

city infrastructure — allowing residents to charge EVs at various locations

along Sutherland Avenue in London, with a further two adjoining roads

due to be completed in the coming weeks.

The launch follows research conducted by Siemens showing over a third

(36%) of British motorists planned to buy a hybrid or electric vehicle as

Lampposts in London recharge electriccarsThe project utilizes existing infrastructure for EV charge points, creating a

network that can cover the expected 8,000 EVs in Westminster by 2025.

Energy Infrastructure Transportation

their next car, with two in five people (40%) saying that a lack of charging

points stopped them from doing so sooner. This makes it the biggest

factor deterring motorists from purchasing an electric or hybrid vehicle.

Data also shows that 80% of motorists in central London believe it is "very

important" that air quality is improved, and 83% have become more

concerned about their carbon footprint in the past five years. Westminster

has seen a 40% growth in EVs charged in the borough during 2019.

Westminster City Council currently has more EV points than any UK local

authority, with a total of 296 lamp column charge points in the city, 24 of

which are located on "Electric Avenue, W9". There are plans to reach a

thousand charge points across Westminster City Council within the next

year, as it has twice the number of locally registered EVs than any other

inner London borough, and the most among all the other London

boroughs.

Siemens and ubitricity have now completed over 1,300 installations

covering the breadth of the city, significantly funded from the Go Ultra

Low Cities Scheme, supporting Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan's

#LetLondonBreathe campaign and leading the way to improve London's

air quality.

The transformation of Sutherland Avenue utilizes existing infrastructure

for EV charge points, creating a simple, fast network that looks to provide

charge to the expected eight thousand EVs forecast to be registered in

Westminster City Council by 2025.

"Lamppost charging gives people without driveways a very convenient,

low cost, renewable, energy-friendly way to charge their EVs. Cars spend

95 percent of their lives idle, so it makes sense to charge them while the

driver is doing something else, like sleeping or working. Our technology is

designed to keep installation and maintenance costs low, which translates

Contacts & Links:

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to long-term low costs for EV drivers and councils," said Daniel Bentham,

Managing Director of ubitricity UK.

Takeaway

The problem of a small number of charging points is on the way to be

solved in the UK, where cars can be charged directly from street lamps,

starting with one street. The project, dubbed "Electric Avenue, W9", is a

joint effort between Siemens, EV charging tech company ubitricity and

Westminster City Council — which together converted 24 lampposts along

Sutherland Avenue into EV charge points using existing city

infrastructure, with plans to "cover" two adjacent streets in the coming

weeks.

Action point

A company could partner with ubitricity and Siemens to install EV

chargers in the city's street lamps, making them as widely available

as possible. This will not only help spur adoption of EVs in the city

— thus helping reduce the local carbon footprint — but also make

for an easy sell with the city being able to get a portion of the

revenue for providing its existing infrastructure for the project.

ubitricityLondon, United Kingdom

Siemens announcement

Electric Avenue @ Siemens website

Siemens Smart Infrastructure

⏱ 💰

In March 2020, during the coronavirus pandemic, researchers from the

University of South Australia (UniSA) worked with Canadian drone

technology company Draganfly to develop a drone that could remotely

detect people in crowds with infectious respiratory conditions such as

COVID-19.

Dubbed the "pandemic drone," it can be fitted with a specialized sensor

and computer vision system that can monitor temperature, heart and

respiratory rates to detect people sneezing and coughing in crowds,

offices, airports, cruise ships, aged care homes and other places where

groups congregate.

This drone could detect virus symptomsin crowdsDubbed the "pandemic drone," it can be fitted with a specialized sensor

and computer vision system that can monitor temperature, heart and

respiratory rates.

Drones Healthcare

"There's a lot of engineering going on right now but the aspiration is to

have this in some sort of initial capability within six months. We had

always thought the technology could be used for something like this but

we also thought that this was something down the track as a nasty

possibility," UniSA's Defence Chair of Sensor Systems Professor, Javaan

Chahl, said in March 2020. "Now, shockingly, we see a need for its use

immediately, to help save lives in the biggest health catastrophe the world

has experienced in the past 100 years. It might not detect all cases, but it

could be a reliable tool to detect the presence of the disease in a place or in

a group of people."

Professor Chahl and his research team achieved global recognition in 2017

when they demonstrated image-processing algorithms that could extract

a human's heart rate from drone video. Since then they have

demonstrated that heart rate and breathing rate can be measured with

high accuracy within 5-10 meters of people, using drones and at distances

of up to 50 meters with fixed cameras. They have also developed

algorithms that can interpret human actions such as sneezing and

coughing.

The research has previously looked at using drones to monitor and react to

elderly falls, look for signs of life in war zones or following a natural

disaster and monitoring the heart rate of babies in neonatal incubators.

The two parties agreed to immediately start integrating commercial,

medical and government customers. They added the technology was being

adapted and fast-tracked to potentially become a viable screening tool for

the COVID-19 pandemic. After that, such drones could prove valuable in

big cities' health toolkits, helping them more effectively manage

population health issues.

Takeaway

Contacts & Links:

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Defense industry scientists from the University of South Australia (UniSA)

worked with Canadian drone tech company Draganfly to develop a special

drone that could be used to detect pandemics in public places. Dubbed the

"pandemic drone," it can be fitted with a specialized sensor and computer

vision system that can monitor temperature, heart and respiratory rates to

detect people sneezing and coughing in crowds, offices, airports, cruise

ships, aged care homes and other places where groups congregate. As

such, it could prove a valuable tool in every major city's (or country's)

arsenal to address health issues at the population level, detecting diseases

before they become widespread.

Action point

If there is no Draganfly distributor in your country, you may

consider signing up to become one. With a focus on government

clients and with a good PR/marketing campaign — and riding on the

heels of the coronavirus pandemic — selling such smart, health-

detecting drones should be relatively easy. For an even easier sell,

you may want to add the fact that it could also be useful during the

flu season. Alternatively, you may want to consider buying one or a

few of these drones for your company and then renting it — or

selling it as a service — to the city when there is a demand for it.

Again, there's regular flu season.

DraganflySaskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada

⏱⏱ 💰💰

Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, an international task force

of designers, engineers, medical professionals, and military experts have

joined forces to work on CURA, an open-source project aimed at capacity

building in Intensive Care Units (ICU). The first prototype of CURA, whose

name stands for Connected Units for Respiratory Ailments (and also

"cure" in Latin), was built in Milan, Italy — with the sponsorship of

European bank UniCredit. It uses repurposed shipping containers to create

plug-in biocontainment pods that can be quickly deployed in cities around

the world, promptly responding to the shortage of ICU space in hospitals

and the spread of the disease.

CURA is a compact Intensive Care pod for patients with respiratory

infections, hosted in a 20-foot intermodal container with biocontainment

Shipping containers turned into ICUPods for the COVID-19 pandemicThe ready-to-use units could be as fast to mount as a hospital tent, but as

safe as an isolation ward, thanks to biocontainment with negative

pressure.

Healthcare

(thanks to negative pressure). Each unit works autonomously and can be

shipped anywhere. Individual pods can also be connected with an

inflatable structure to create multiple modular configurations — from 4

beds to over 40 — which can be deployed in just a few hours. Some pods

can be placed in proximity to a hospital (e.g. in parking lots) to expand the

ICU capacity, while others could be used to create self-standing field

hospitals of varying sizes.

CURA aims to improve the efficiency of existing solutions in the design of

field hospitals, tailoring them to the pandemic when regular hospitals

struggle to increase their ICU capacity to admit a growing number of

patients.

The response to the emergency in China and Italy during the COVID-19

pandemic has been to set up makeshift emergency hospitals such as tents

or build new prefabricated wards with biocontainment. While the latter

option is time- and resource-intensive, the former one exposes medical

professionals to a higher risk of contamination and adds operational

strain — especially in the long run.

Learning from both approaches, CURA strives to be as fast to mount as a

hospital tent, but as safe as a hospital's isolation ward to work in —

thanks to biocontainment (an extractor creates indoor negative pressure,

complying with the standards of Airborne Infection Isolation Rooms -

AIIRs). It follows the standards for COVID-19 hospitals issued by the

Chinese authorities while speeding up execution.

Each CURA pod would contain all the medical equipment needed for two

intensive-care patients — including ventilators and intravenous fluids

stands. All units can be connected by an inflatable corridor. The first CURA

pod was built for test at a hospital in Milan, Italy.

CURA pods are being conceived as a ready-to-use solution. Shipping

containers can easily be moved through different modes of transport —

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from ship to rail to truck — and re-used in different parts of the world,

adapting to the needs and capacity of the local healthcare infrastructure.

CURA is developed in an open-source, non-for-profit framework and

solicits suggestions and improvements.

Takeaway

CURA (Connected Units for Respiratory Ailments) aims to convert

shipping containers into plug-in Intensive Care Pods for the COVID-19

pandemic. The ready-to-use units could be as fast to mount as a hospital

tent, but as safe as an isolation ward — thanks to biocontainment with

negative pressure. They can also easily be moved through different modes

of transport — from ship to rail to truck — and re-used in different parts

of the world, adapting to the needs and capacity of the local healthcare

infrastructure.

The first CURA unit — whose open-source design has been initiated by an

international task force of architects, engineers, doctors, military experts

and NGOs and is open to further contributions — was built in Milan, Italy,

with the sponsorship of UniCredit.

⏱⏱⏱ 💰💰💰

Contacts & Links:

Action point

Selling CORA Pods to the local government could be a profitable

venture. Considering that the design is open-source, the cost of

procurement is lower. Nevertheless, those units should still have to

be equipped with the proper gear in order to serve their purpose

when the next virus emerges — cause sooner or later that will

happen, and smart cities will want to be prepared. This should be

your main pitch — these pods will help the city be prepared for the

next catastrophe at a fraction of the cost (compared to expanding

existing or building new ICUs).

CURA podsMilan, Italy

According to the UN's figures, around 1.1 billion people are homeless,

representing over 14 percent of the world's total population. While this

staggering number is hard to tackle all at once, something could be done

on a case-by-case basis. And that's what Buses4Homeless is all about.

Founded in 2018, the UK-based NGO is providing a low-cost solution to

temporary housing, using decommissioned London double-deckers that

have been transformed into shelters. The project started with a few buses

donated by Stagecoach — featuring 16 beds, a 32-seat restaurant, online

desk space and a "holistic wellbeing space", along with 24-hour expert

London transforms double-deckerbuses into homeless sheltersBuses4Homeless aims to provide a cost-effective, safety net and stepping

stone between the night shelters and longer-term permanent housing

solutions.

Homelessness

support.

With all this, Buses4Homeless aims to provide a cost-effective, safety net

and stepping stone between the night shelters and longer-term

permanent housing solutions.

To that end, it is also partnering with other parties — such as King's

College London, Laura Ashley as well as local restaurants, chefs,

architects, and construction companies — to offer more than a shelter and

meals, to equip guests with the skills and confidence to move to a life

beyond the street.

The project consists of 4 parts, including:

Bus4Shelter, offering a space to sleep for up to 20 people per night;

Bus4Dining, with a mobile soup kitchen offering hot meals and a safe

place to eat as it drives around London;

Bus4Learning, that is a go-to place for learning opportunities, kitted

out with computers that will be used for guests to work towards

vocational qualifications; and

Bus4Wellness, which provides holistic support that will help users

rejuvenate their lives.

Buses4Homeless also works with the Metropolitan Police to keep

residents safe.

Places on the bus are offered on a three-month basis, forming an

intensive support program to allow people to improve their physical and

mental wellbeing, and learn the skills they need to get back on their feet.

Also, anyone offered shelter on the bus is encouraged to do a good deed

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within the community — anything from volunteering with a local charity

to helping paint the fences for a local church.

Takeaway

Buses4Homeless is a low cost, holistic solution to homelessness. The UK-

based NGO refurbishes decommissioned buses into spaces for eating,

sleeping, wellbeing and learning — in order to re-engage homeless people

back into the community.

It consists of 4 parts: Bus4Shelter with 16 bunk beds to provide a safe &

warm night's rest, Bus4Dining with a commercial kitchen on the lower

level and dining on the upper, Bus4Learning with computers & learning

space to teach soft & vocational skills to guests, and Bus4Wellness to aide

their mental health and development.

Action point

A company could pitch a project similar to Buses4Homeless to local

authorities, providing them with an affordable "shelter solution"

for the homeless people. From there, the same company could

potentially score a contract to run this place which involves

providing the homeless people with meals and education. And if

everything goes as planned, scale up the project to accept more

people and perhaps expand it to other cities and areas throughout

the country.

⏱⏱⏱ 💰💰💰💰

Contacts & Links: Buses4HomelessLondon, United Kingdom

Many of the world's biggest cities are facing housing crises, London being

one of the worst. And with more people gravitating toward major centers,

there is little local governments and/or businesses could do. Otherwise, we

wouldn't get into crisis in the first place.

An interesting initiative was launched in the UK's capital during summer

2017 to address the housing shortage. Called the SHED Project, it is a

collaborative work of architecture office Studio Bark and property

management company Lowe Guardians that saw affordable micro-homes

being placed inside vacant buildings like warehouses across the city. Built

These affordable micro-homes can popup in just one dayEach of these small homes is built primarily of CNC-milled

formaldehyde-free Oriented Strand Board, lamb's wool insulation and

recycled polycarbonate.

Homelessness Housing

from affordable, low-impact materials — these compact SHEDS take only

one day to construct and can be easily styled into attractive tiny dwellings.

Nevertheless, they are equipped with WiFi so that residents could stay

"connected."

Each SHED is built primarily of CNC-milled Smartply (formaldehyde-free

Oriented Strand Board), lamb's wool insulation that also helps with

soundproofing, and recycled polycarbonate — all materials made in or

around the United Kingdom.

To increase ease and speed of construction, Studio Bark designed a

modular architectural system, where each panel is fitted together to create

"U-Build" modules that can then be easily bolted together into the SHED

frame. This model also has the added benefit of reducing construction

waste, both financially and environmentally. In that sense, these pods

could also be easily reused and re-appropriated.

The SHED Project is, obviously, not made for families; rather it was

envisioned with young professionals looking for temporary affordable

housing in mind. In fact, at the time of the project announcement, the

renters — who are also known as guardians — are expected to be aged

between 21-35 and in full-time employment. However, the same idea

could also be applied in the future in helping alleviate homelessness and

the refugee crisis.

Clusters of these pod-like structures could form neighborhoods and

communities inside and serve as an alternative to property guardianship

to help protect those otherwise vacant buildings from squatters and

vandals. Residents are expected to assemble the modular SHEDs

themselves, in order to create a sense of ownership. Also, they would

presumably have shared bathroom facilities.

Takeaway

Contacts & Links:

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Many cities around the world are facing the housing crisis with the most

popular destination seeing property prices jumping through the roof. To

tackle this issue in London — which happens to be one of the most

expensive cities on the planet — Studio Bark and Lowe Guardians came up

with the SHED Project, providing young professionals with an affordable

place to stay. The eco-friendly solution takes a single day to build and

minimizes waste because it can be taken down and rebuilt in a different

site. It is constructed from affordable, low-impact materials with a

mixture of Oriented Strand Board (OSB), lamb's wool insulation and a

small amount of recycled polyester.

Aside from the primary targeted demographic, SHEDs could also be used

in helping alleviate homelessness and the refugee crisis.

Action point

A savvy company would consider contacting and exploring a

partnership with Studio Bark and Lowe Guardians to bring a similar

concept to its own city or country — presuming there is also a need

for such low-cost accommodation. Beyond young professionals, the

SHED Project could also be used to tackle homelessness and the

refugee crisis. With that in mind, such a project could be pitched to

the (local) government (and the media) to offer an adequate — and

eco-friendly — solution for the problem(s).

SHED Project @ Studio Bark

SHED Project @ Lowe Guardians

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We have to grow more food, as a planet, according to Steve Dring, one of

the founders of Growing Underground. "Because of climate change, soil

erosion and population growth, we need to use technology to find better

ways of growing crops more sustainably while intensifying yields. We can

no longer rely on conventional agriculture," he added.

And so Dring and his "partner in crime" Steve Dring created Growing

Underground by turning London's disused World War II air-raid shelter

into a salad farm.

Located 33m below street level in Clapham, this urban farm produces

Air raid shelter turned into a salad farmLocated 33m below street level, this urban farm produces salad in a

controlled environment, providing ideal conditions for microgreens, baby

leaves and herbs.

Agriculture Urban Farming

salad in a controlled environment — which is said to provide ideal

conditions for microgreens, baby leaves and herbs. Specifically, it makes

broccoli, salad rocket (arugula), coriander, fennel, pea shoots, sunflower

shoots, two types of radish (pink-stemmed and purple), wasabi mustard

and red mustard.

Furthermore, its central London location is convenient to distribute the

vegetables to hotels, restaurants and shops — reducing the food miles for

businesses and consumers. The farm also boasts using 70% less water

than conventional agricultural methods.

Growing Underground currently employs 25 people who harvest the crops

by hand, but as the farm expands it will move to a more automated

harvesting system. It grows crops year-round in a pesticide-free

environment, unaffected by the weather and seasonal changes.

Instead of using soil, seeds are planted into mats made out of old carpet

offcut, while a spigot supplies nutrients and water to the roots of the

plants. Artificial light and warmth is provided by LED lighting. The site is

powered with renewable energy.

Currently, Growing Underground is providing produce to wholesalers,

local restaurants, and Londoners through Farmdrop — with the idea to hit

the retail markets in the near future. Also down the road, it plans to

experiment with growing cucumbers and soft fruits, such as strawberries.

Takeaway

Urban farming is growing with the day. Not only does it provide locally

produced vegetables, but it also helps all of us find better ways of growing

crops more sustainably while intensifying yields. We can no longer

exclusively rely on conventional agriculture. And that's what projects like

Growing Underground are all about — to provide a sustainable alternative

to traditional farming methods and bring produce to local populations.

Contacts & Links:

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Action point

These are good times for companies in (or entering) the urban

farming trend. Compared to a traditional farm, an urban farm

requires less space, yet it can deliver much higher yields due to

controlled environments and the use of modern technologies. Also,

such projects could (or should) be supported by local governments

which may see them as job-boosting initiatives as well as those that

embrace modern agriculture technologies (so-called "agtech").

Contacting Growing Underground for technology and expertise

transfer could be the first step in that direction.

Growing UndergroundLondon, United Kingdom

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The construction sector is estimated to contribute more than 20% of air

pollution, 50% of the climate change, 40% of drinking water pollution,

and 50% of landfill wastes. So, obviously, making the industry more

sustainable is an effort worth pursuing.

While they can't change the entire sector overnight, researchers at Heriot-

Watt University started with a building brick. They managed to create a

more sustainable brick, which is made from 90% recycled construction

and demolition (plasterboard) waste, combined with a secret binder and

compressed to size without firing.

This brick is made out of 90% recycledconstruction wasteIt generates just a tenth of CO2 emissions of a traditional fired brick and

less than a tenth of the energy in its manufacture.

Materials

Called K-Briq, it generates just a tenth of CO2 emissions of a traditional

fired brick and less than a tenth of the energy in its manufacture. This

makes it a perfect choice for everyone looking to support the sustainability

ambitions of today's construction industry.

The eco-friendly brick looks like a real one, and it weighs the same. But it

also offers a few advantages — including higher thermal insulation

property, the absence of firing, and, consequently - the reduction of

carbon dioxide emissions during production. And the most interesting -

such brick can be made in any color.

A spin-off company, called Kenoteq, was created to commercially produce

these eco-friendly bricks. The Scottish startup is co-founded by Professor

Gabriela Medero, who conceived the idea of the K-Briq more than ten

years ago. He and his team have also signed an agreement with recycling

specialist Hamilton Waste & Recycling to commercially produce this new

type of recycled brick directly onsite at the firm's Edinburgh plant,

thereby reducing transport miles and carbon emissions.

Kenoteq has invested in machinery that can produce three million bricks

per year.

Takeaway

Simply put, K-Briq is a better brick. It not only offers higher thermal

insulation property while using less energy to make — thus polluting less

— but also helps in waste reduction and recycling efforts. Nevertheless,

K-Briq is perfectly suitable for most of the applications usually reserved

for traditional brick/cement products and historically unsuitable for air-

dried products. The company behind K-Briq has invested in machinery

that can produce three million bricks per year.

Contacts & Links:

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Action point

With many of the world's cities talking about sustainable

development, pitching K-Briq to local officials shouldn't be a

problem. Actually, such a product would be pitched as part of the

wider green building narrative in which eco-friendly bricks would

play a major role. A smart company will contact Kenoteq to secure, if

possible, an exclusive partnership in the region (city or country) and

take it from there — pitching the new brick to other construction

companies, politicians, as well as local media outlets. It's a

newsworthy item so take advantage of that.

KenoteqEdinburgh, Scotland, UnitedKingdom

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The number and size of green spaces are one of the key components that

make a city less or more livable. As one of the most advanced cities (and

countries), Singapore is well aware of this, hence it launched the vision of

a "City in a Garden."

Due to limited land resources, Singapore can hardly build new parks, but it

can develop so-called skyrise greenery with the idea to make it an integral

component of sustainable urban development.

Singapore offering incentives forskyrise greeneryThe Skyrise Greenery Incentive Scheme (SGIS) will fund up to 50% of the

installation costs of rooftop greenery and vertical greenery.

Architecture

But just deciding to add plants to buildings won't do it alone. Rather,

Singapore is taking a proactive approach with the National Parks Board

introducing the Skyrise Greenery Incentive Scheme (SGIS) to fund up to

50% of installation costs of rooftop greenery and vertical greenery.

Rooftop greenery refers to the greening efforts and landscaping on

rooftop surfaces. In general, there are three types of rooftop greenery:

green roofs, hybrid gardens, and roof gardens.

Vertical greenery, on the other hand, entails the incorporation of plants

within vertical surfaces. Earlier it involved climbing plants with

adventitious, self-clinging roots growing directly on coarse building

surfaces, twining plants growing on trellis and pergolas, or plants growing

within the crevices of stacked rocks. In recent years, however,

contemporary systems have been developed to grow a variety of plants on

vertical surfaces.

The SGIS is helping retrofit existing buildings with both rooftop greenery

and vertical greenery — supporting extensive green roofs, edible gardens,

recreational rooftop gardens, and lush verdant green walls. Both

residential and non-residential buildings qualify for the subsidy, with the

idea to reap benefits such as mitigating the urban island heat effect and

improving the air quality through the plants' transpiration and filtration

of dust particles.

Since launching in 2009, the SGIS has supported 202 projects, covering

120 Ha with greenery — with plans to cover full 200 Ha by 2030.

Takeaway

While cities around the world are trying to add more green spaces, only a

few offer incentives for such actions. Singapore, which doesn't have land

to spare, wants to build "Gardens in the Sky" by funding up to 50% of

installation costs of rooftop greenery and vertical greenery. Under this

Contacts & Links:

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scheme, the city-state is helping retrofit existing buildings with extensive

green roofs, edible gardens, recreational rooftop gardens, and lush

verdant green walls. So far they have supported 202 projects, covering 120

Ha with greenery — with plans to cover full 200 Ha by 2030. And if

Singapore can do it, other cities could do it as well. Not necessarily

covering buildings, but rather developing new parks and gardens.

Action point

Teaming-up with an existing firm that adds plants to buildings

makes for a smart move for any developer. It's just the way the

world works these days. Even better, assembling a team of "plant

experts" at the company will work just as well, while keeping a

larger share of profits in house. Furthermore, savvy business folks

will find ways to promote the "green buildings" agenda in local

media outlets and help politicians come up with plans on how to

deliver on that agenda for the benefit of all parties concerned.

Skyrise Greenery @ National ParksBoard

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Until recently, chatbots have been pretty much exclusively being used by

companies. The situation is changing with local governments adopting the

technology as well, providing citizens with quick access to information

they need.

Chatbots not only offer a text-based platform for people, but they can also

chat with them. As a result, chatbots make services easily available for

everyone — including those speaking other languages, people with

disabilities, and so on — form their phone while on the go.

There are two key areas where chatbots could help local governments,

Chatbots help local governmentscommunicate with their constituentsIn addition to providing easy access to key information, chatbots could

also be used for filling out online forms, troubleshooting local problems

and more.

Communication Mobile

schools, universities and public utility companies, including:

Informational services

A chatbot provides for constant communication to address a wide variety

of citizen needs. Citizens get 24/7 automated guidance for various e-

forms, reception hours, renewing license plates, parking authorizations,

generate applications, extracting documentation and more. When needed,

the chatbot switches from automated chatbot to human live chat to pick

up the conversation and offer help for more complicated issues.

Self-service

Beyond providing information, a chatbot can also guide citizens to fill out

their paperwork online, by answering one question at the time. This is

particularly suitable for simpler e-forms, permits, taxes and so on. Also, a

similar scheme could be used for troubleshooting local problems.

A great chatbot could go beyond public services and also include other

departments to the mix — including police, schools & universities, health

department, as well as offer information (and action) on employment

opportunities and even local elections. As such, it will not only allow a

local government to streamline communication with its constituents but

also allow it to engage with all citizens in real-time. This should further

lead to improved governance, value-added satisfaction, and enhanced

relations between the public and government.

City chatbot examples

Despite the slower adoption (than the private sector), the number of

chatbots offered by governments (or government agencies) is growing

with the day. Here are a few examples that caught our eye:

Kansas City Facebook Chatbot

On June 19, 2017, Open Data Kansas City officially launched the

OpenDataKC Bot on Facebook to try to make its open data portal more

accessible to non-technical users. The chatbot converses with Facebook

Messenger users to help them find the most useful data on what they care

about in the city government.

Los Angeles CHIP

In May 2017, Microsoft and the City of Los Angeles unveiled CHIP, whose

name stands for "City Hall Internet Personality". Running in the

Microsoft cloud, the chatbot was created by two city developers in just

three days — with training from Microsoft and access to the Microsoft

Cortana Intelligence Suite, the Azure Bot Framework, and Microsoft Azure

Cloud. CHIP helps around 180 people per day and has slashed emails to

LA's Business Assistance Virtual Network (BAVN) from 80 a week to less

than 40. It can answer over 700 questions, and through an extensible

platform and API, can connect to any data or back-end system.

North Charleston Chatbot

In North Charleston, S.C., the city has adopted a text-based chatbot called

Citibot, which goes beyond providing information to allow citizens to

report potholes or any other lapses in city services they may notice. It also

lets them ask questions, which it subsequently answers by crawling city

websites and replying with relevant links.

General Services Administration Mrs. Landingham Chatbot

18F, the digital services agency based within the U.S. General Services

Administration, is using a bot named "Mrs. Landingham" to orient new

employees. The bot, which works within the messaging app Slack, is

named after Dolores Landingham — the president's longtime secretary

(played by the late Kathryn Joosten) on "The West Wing." The service is

designed to send messages and reminders to new hires with information

about forms, discussions, and the ever-present government jargon.

WienBot

The capital of Austria, Vienna, has its own chatbot that provides users

with relevant information while on the go. Currently, WienBot answers

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questions on the 250 most frequently accessed contents of the City of

Vienna's official website www.wien.at. It also suggests other useful city

services that could help users in their individual situations.

Takeaway

Chatbots allow governments to streamline communication with their

constituents, offering a user experience that is suitable for tech-savvy

users and newbies, alike. In addition to providing citizens with answers to

commonly asked questions — thus reducing calls to call centers — they

could also guide citizens to fill out their paperwork online, by answering

one question at the time. On the other hand, chatbots enable citizens to

report potholes or any other lapses in city services they may notice.

Action point

Pitching a chatbot should be easy but developing it properly will

take time. The major problem is to structure all the content that is

currently residing on one or a few websites, structure it in a way to

be suitable for the chatbot and then deploy the system. Adding a live

chat option is also beneficial so that citizens could get their

information while in a chat — and then use that new answer to

update the database. This is not a one-off sell to the local

government, but at least a 6-month contract (or more).

⏱ 💰💰💰

Contacts & Links: Intercom - Custom Bots

FreshDesk Chatbots

ChatBot.com

ManyChat

good ChatBot

Singapore is a specific place with an ever-growing population and ever-

diminishing natural resources. It is an island nation that grew by

reclaiming the land from the ocean.

That land is still a scarce resource despite the fact that Singapore's

economy has been growing in recent years. And what do you do when you

don't have sufficient land for agriculture - you (or at least they) turn to

vertical farming.

And so they've built the world's first commercial vertical farm back in

2012. Developed by Sky Greens Farms, it is three stories high with 120

nine-meter-tall towers — housed in glass buildings.

Low-energy vertical farm thrives inSingaporeAs part of the plan to reduce Singapore's dependence on foreign food, this

award-winning vertical farm can produce 500kg of vegetables per day.

Agriculture Architecture

Developed as part of the bigger idea to reduce Singapore's dependence on

foreign food, this multiple-award-winning vertical farm can produce

500kg of vegetables per day. For what it matters, that's 10 times as many

vegetables as traditional farms!

The low-water, low-energy structure is powered by hydraulics, which

rotate the shelves in order to allow all plants to get a uniform amount of

sunlight. Those hydraulics use a water-pulley system that uses collected

rainwater, with the same rainwater used to grow the crops. Also, the whole

farm is located in a greenhouse that maintains the conditions required for

vegetables to grow all year round.

The end result comes in the form of leafy greens such as Chinese cabbage,

lettuce, spinach, nai bai and bayam.

In 2017, Sky Greens started producing mini-vegetables to avoid using

pesticides. It harvests the vegetables when they are smaller, at between 21

and 24 days old, before insects appear. In comparison, normal-sized

vegetables take 40 days to mature.

Two years later, this move helped the farm score the Singapore Standard

632 (SS 632) certification under the world's first national standard for

organic vegetables grown in urban environments. Said standard was

developed to address key challenges such as limited land, lack of soil and

water, and higher operating costs due to energy consumption and

manpower constraints. For buyers, it means that vegetables are grown

without the use of artificial fertilizers or pesticides.

Singapore's Sky Greens is by no means the only vertical farm in the world;

developers and local governments in multiple cities have expressed

interest in establishing a vertical farm: Incheon (South Korea), Abu Dhabi

(United Arab Emirates), Dongtan (China), New York City, Portland, Los

Angeles, Las Vegas, Seattle, Surrey, Toronto, Paris, Bangalore, Dubai,

Shanghai, and Beijing.

Contacts & Links:

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Takeaway

For many locations, urban farming projects such as Sky Greens provide

city-dwellers with fresh produce that doesn't have to travel halfway

around the world before it arrives on consumers' plates. It's not just the

land-scarce countries like Singapore that could benefit from these sorts of

projects; other densely populated areas most certainly have the audience

(i.e. market) for locally produced vegetables, as well. And it's even better if

the produce is organically grown — like that's the case with Sky Greens.

Action point

The idea of vertical farms has been around for quite some time now

but there are just a few successful projects out there. Sky Greens is

one of them and as such, it provides a great template for a future

business. These farms are as automated as humanly possible,

requiring little labor in order to produce fresh — and potentially

organic — vegetables. And that translates into more profit.

Sky GreensSingapore

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Every person's fundamental desire to achieve well-being, purpose and

fulfillment should not diminish with age or dementia. Keeping people

connected to family, and finding a sense of place in a community is

essential for a full and meaningful life — as is ensuring each person has

the right to direct their own day-to-day living in a safe, natural

environment.

That idea has prompted Elroy Jespersen to develop an entire village

dedicated to dementia patients — which it refers to as residents rather

than patients — allowing them to shop, have a coffee, walk their dog, get

their hair cut, and take part in activities such as gardening by themselves.

Called The Village, it is located in Langley, British Columbia, Canada, and

A dementia village allows residents tobe independentComprised of six single-story cottage-style homes and a community

center, the five-acre facility houses 75 dementia sufferers.

Seniors

its goal is to make life easier for people suffering from dementia. The

Village does that by providing true care through "genuine, two-way

relationships and focusing on the possibilities within each resident," to

help them live a life of fun, laughter, love and joy — a full life.

Comprised of six single-story cottage-style homes and a community

center, the five-acre facility houses 75 dementia sufferers, with each

home housing 12 people with support staff.

The residents can walk around freely — but the facility is equipped with

cameras and sensors, and surrounded by a 2.5-meter fence so they can't

wander off. To make for an even safer experience, every resident is

equipped with a "wellness bracelet" that monitors their vitals and location

so staff can keep track of their whereabouts.

Also included are sensory gardens, accessible walking paths with benches,

a farmyard with veggie patch, outdoor activity terraces, a games lawn,

natural meadows, a water garden and of course a vibrant community

center and village plaza.

These amenities don't come cheap though, with the base rates starting at

CA$7,300 per month. The plan is to work with the government to make it

more affordable to people so that there is a real community of people of

different income levels.

The Village was announced in early 2018 and saw its first residents in

August 2019.

The project is inspired by a similar facility called Hogeweyk outside of

Amsterdam in The Netherlands, where 152 people live in 23 houses on 3.7

acres.

Takeaway

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Dementia is a huge problem as it impacts not only individuals with

dementia but also their carers and the wider society. Among people aged

60 years and over, dementia is ranked the 9th most burdensome condition

according to the 2010 Global Burden of Disease (GBD) estimates.

Projects like The Village could help people suffering from dementia in a

big way, offering them a safe environment where they thrive. Far from a

hospital setting, it also houses nurses and other support staff to make life

for the residents that much easier.

Action point

Building a small village may cost a lot, but it opens a big opportunity

for profit. Also, helping people suffering from dementia is the right

thing to do. This could be a major contract with the (local)

government that could further be extended with facility

management work. A construction company may only care about

the first part, but some other kind of organization may care about

the prospects of managing this kind of facility, as well. In any case,

The Village solves a real problem and its development and/or

maintenance could be a profitable venture.

The VillageLangley, British Columbia, Canada

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A company called Parkmatic Car Parking Systems, or Parkmatic for short,

designs, manufactures and constructs fully automated and mechanical

parking systems. Its technology is designed to combat the growing

problem of efficiently managing automobiles in areas where congestion,

zoning and crime are problems and land is scarce and expensive.

The company's automated parking systems provide 2 or more times the

number of available parking spaces than conventional self-park garages

of the same volume, providing a faster return on investment and greater

revenues. Parkmatic's offering includes several different parking systems,

suited for needs of different areas — including:

Rotary Carousel Parking

These smart parking systems areperfect for densely populated citiesThe technology is designed to address the problem of efficiently

managing cars in areas where congestion and zoning are problems and

land is scarce and expensive.

Infrastructure Parking

Described as an automated parking

solution to park the maximum

number of cars in the least amount of

space, the Rotary Carousel Parking

system comes in various model

designs enabling parking of 6 to 16

vehicles in the floor space of only 2.

There is no need for a parking

attendant, just enter your PIN #, FOB

key or tap a button on a Smart Phone

App, and the pallet will rotate clockwise or counterclockwise to show the

free parking spot.

Parking Tower

Parking Tower is designed to automatically move

the vehicles on a pallet vertically on the elevator;

it then transfers the car horizontally left or right

for storage. Very fast retrieval time is

accomplished in less than two minutes. This

system is suitable for medium or large scale

buildings, and can also be used as a stand-alone

tower for a parking garage business. Since it is

controlled by an integrated computer system, the

overall operation can be viewed with one screen

and its operation is described as "very user-

friendly."

Multi-Parking

The Multi-Parking system

sometimes referred to as Rack and

Rail type has been designed to

automatically move the vehicles by

an elevator which then transfers it to

a waiting cart on one of the many

levels. The carts then travel

horizontally and place the vehicle in

its appropriate slot. This system is suitable for middle and large-scale

buildings as well as an independent public parking garage. The multi-

parker can accommodate as little as 20 vehicles to several thousand units,

making it suitable for large scale projects. And for maximum efficiency, it

can move more than 2 vehicles at the same time.

Optima Parking

After entering the vehicle in the

parking garage, the system moves

the vehicles vertically with elevators

on each end. The garage consists of

several levels where the vehicles are

moved horizontally which rotate the

pallets in conjunction with the

elevators. The multi-floor

circulation type is suitable for small

and mid-sized buildings because of

its high space efficiency — providing up to eight times the space efficiency

of a ramped garage.

Lift and Slide Puzzle Parking

Often nicknamed the puzzle system

or robotic system, this system can

have more than two levels of

parking. Its design has a structure

that enables the use of all parking

entrances and exits on the ground

level. The parking pallet moves left,

right, upward, and downward and

has always a minimum of one empty slot for movement. The car parker

can have multiple levels above, pit-style below, or a combination of both.

Benefits of all these solutions are as following: optimization of space

utilization, security (vehicle and personal), convenience (all ground level

access), lower garage owner's liability insurance, greater depreciation

schedule, lower lighting and ventilation requirements (no cars driving

around inside; no people go inside), and lower emissions and less

pollution (clean parking system).

Parkmatic's solutions have been implemented in a few places around the

world including in New York, Hawaii, Egypt and Qatar, among others.

Takeaway

The lack of parking space is a huge problem in many cities all around the

world and Parkmatic has a solution for this. Its smart parking systems can

squeeze many more vehicles in a given space than conventional garages

and they don't require attendants. The automated valet, so to speak, will

fetch the user's car in minutes.

On the other hand, for drivers leaving their cars - there are no exhaust

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fumes, no strange nicks or scratches appearing on the fenders, no budding

Mario Andretti squealing the tires around hairpin turns, no tip for the

attendant.

Action point

A construction company could team-up with Parkmatic to offer its

smart parking systems in their own city. The pitch is relatively

simple — "we (the company) provide an efficient solution that will

help solve the problem of parking." Compared to traditional

garages, these systems can accommodate more vehicles and cost

less on a per-parking space basis.

ParkmaticManhasset, New York, UnitedStates

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A company called TechniSoil Industrial has developed a special road

technology that not only exceeds the strength of bituminous asphalt, but

is also made from recycled PET plastics in the polymer formula —

repurposing up to 1,200,000 plastic bottles per centerline mile.

The company claims that its TechniSoil G5 100% Recycle System

represents a "large step forward in global road building," adding that

these roads will be "stronger, longer-lasting, and require less energy to

install." And because they utilize post-consumer PET plastics, the process

allows for roads to be 100% recycled in place. This fulfills the growing

demand for higher efficiency, longer-lasting construction of existing

roads — while diverting plastics from our waterways, landfills and oceans.

A road built from recycled plasticbottlesThe technology not only exceeds the strength of bituminous asphalt, but

is also made from recycled PET plastics in the polymer formula.

Infrastructure Recycling

Working with a leading cold recycling machine manufacturer, Roadtec,

TechniSoil Industrial has helped create a machine line that will "take cold

recycling into the next century." Specifically, it has created the next

generation of recycling and processing capabilities in a central batch

configuration that allows RAP (Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement) processing

and mixing to be done in a portable design. Additionally, computerized

metering and variable belt feeds offer flexibility and utility to an "already

groundbreaking system."

The method basically breaks up plastic into tiny pieces, which are melted

into oil to replace petroleum-based bitumen. This composition is then

mixed with asphalt waste (previously crushed), creating a new pavement

that is stronger than the previous one.

The technology has been put to test in October 2019 in Los Angeles, where

the company got to lead two road renovation projects. The city itself

chipped in by setting up dozens of collection points across the city to raise

the required volume — a few tons for a single street asphalt — of plastic to

be turned into oil.

If everything goes as planned and the new road proves to be tougher and

more durable, the Los Angeles Street Service Department says its use will

"significantly reduce maintenance costs."

Takeaway

Combining road construction and recycling makes a lot of sense, but it is

not easy to combine the two. The TechniSoil G5 100% Recycle System

seems to tick all the right boxes by making tougher roads that also have a

positive environmental impact, as thousands of PET bottles are reused. In

addition, the technique allows the recycling of damaged asphalt, while

making for a more economically viable alternative than traditional

asphalt.

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Action point

Plastic roads present a solid opportunity for road building and

engineering companies, presuming they partner with TechniSoil

Industrial. Its technology is so promising that a major city like Los

Angeles decided to test it out. All of the factors needed to score a

government contract are there — high quality, new technology and

lower cost. The money's there, you just need to grab it. 😉

TechniSoil IndustrialRedding, California, United States

TechniSoil G5 100% Recycle System

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Waste is a major problem in Cairo, with the city's 20 roughly million

inhabitants producing more than 15,000 tons of waste, and according to

the World Bank — only 60% of this garbage is collected, while the rest is

left to clog up the city's streets and sidewalks.

One local company has come up with an innovative way to incentivize

people to recycle their trash. Called ZeroPrime Technologies, it has

developed CanBank — a smart reverse vending machine that rewards

people for recycling their rubbish.

Smart bin raising awareness on trashseparationCalled CanBank, it allows people to recycle plastic bottles and cans in

exchange for rewards -- such as phone credit and promo codes.

Recycling Waste Management

The idea of the company's founder and CEO Eslam El-Refaye came after

he saw how Egyptian communities would make their living sorting

through rubbish and selling valuable materials to manufacturing factories.

CanBank allows people to recycle plastic bottles and cans in exchange for

rewards, such as phone credit and Careem promo codes (an Uber-like

service). What's more, the machine can even play the user's favorite song

and read them a funny message.

Once you insert a bottle or can, CanBank detects what you have deposited

and automatically sorts it, so it's ready to be given to garbage collectors —

who can then sell it to factories. There are also those who just want to help

the environment, which is actually the goal of ZeroPrime Technologies.

Looking down the road, El-Refaye said it plans to install CanBanks in

supermarkets all over the country with the hope of making recycling

mainstream. Already, the majority of CanBanks are installed in public

spaces like universities which will help instill a culture of recycling among

future generations while supporting some of Egypt's most

underprivileged communities.

Takeaway

Waste is a major problem in many cities around the world. Smart

solutions, such as the one developed by ZeroPrime Technologies, can help

engage more people to properly dispose of their trash so it could be

recycled later on. It not only rewards people for their effort but can also

entertain them by playing their favorite song or reading them a funny

message.

It was initially installed at Universities to nurture the future generations,

but the plan is to have it available at all major meeting spots, such as

supermarkets, clubs, and so on.

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Action point

CanBank could mean business for savvy businesses. By importing —

or better yet, locally manufacturing these (kind of) devices — they

could score a big contract with municipalities, helping them

advance their environmental goals. It should be an easy sell as it not

only helps local recycling efforts but also helps educate the youth

about the importance of proper waste management.

ZeroPrime TechnologiesCairo, Egypt

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Heat islands, also known as urban heat islands, are areas with

significantly higher temperatures than surrounding rural areas. According

to the EPA, heat islands can affect communities by increasing

summertime peak energy demand, air conditioning costs, air pollution

and greenhouse gas emissions, heat-related illness, mortality, and water

quality. The EPA also states that cool pavements can help mitigate heat

islands.

One such solution comes from the company called GuardTop, which

CoolSeal was designed to achieve lower surface temperatures. The solution

is a high-performance, water-based, asphalt emulsion sealcoat that does

its "magic" through its lighter color and reflectivity.

A pavement paint that reduces theurban heat island effectHeat islands can affect communities by increasing summertime peak

energy demand, air conditioning costs, air pollution and greenhouse gas

emissions.

Infrastructure Pollution

CoolSeal is applied like conventional sealcoats to asphalt surfaces to

protect and maintain the quality and longevity of the surface. While most

cool pavements on the market are polymer-based, CoolSeal is a water-

based, asphalt emulsion that meets EPA and LEED requirements of 33%

reflectivity and can also last twice as long as conventional sealcoats.

Speaking of which, conventional sealcoats and dark asphalt surfaces

absorb heat and energy produced by the sun, which results in higher

surface temperatures that can reach in excess of 160 degrees Fahrenheit.

In contrast, CoolSeal can reduce surface temperatures by 10 to 30 degrees

Fahrenheit (under certain conditions) while creating safe and comfortable

environments for people and animals.

CoolSeal is described as perfect for playgrounds, parks, parking lots,

driveways, residential areas, schools, bike paths, and LEED-certified

building projects.

The EPA suggests reflective pavements such as CoolSeal can also reduce

the temperature of storm water runoff and improve water quality and local

comfort, increase nighttime visibility and reduce lighting requirements

which further saves energy and money.

At the end of 2016, GuardTop conducted a demonstration of CoolSeal in

Los Angeles by applying a sample patch at the bureau's street sweeping

yard in Chatsworth, CA. This small test proved the value of the technology

and the company is hoping to attract more cities to adopt its technology.

Takeaway

Heat islands are a problem in the world's hottest cities (temperature-

wise), with regular asphalt absorbing the heat and reflecting it back,

which then leads to urban temperature increases. The high temperatures,

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in turn, lead to more need for energy-sucking air conditioning.

Planting more trees is one of the methods to reduce the urban heat island,

and another one involves using cool asphalt paint. Actually, CoolSeal is not

a paint — it is a high-performance, water-based, asphalt emulsion

sealcoat that achieves lower surface temperatures through increased solar

reflectivity. Applied to asphalt just like any conventional black sealcoat,

CoolSeal can reduce surface temperatures by 10 to 30 degrees Fahrenheit

(under certain conditions) while creating safe and comfortable

environments for people and animals.

Action point

A construction, road-building or engineering company could

develop a case for CoolSeal, partner with GuardTop and pitch the

solution to local authorities. Presuming we're talking about cities

with hot climates, there's clear math to be made to justify the

investment in special sealcoats — rather than using conventional

ones that only absorb the heat, thus helping create urban heat

islands.

GuardTopDana Point , California, UnitedStates

CoolSeal @ GuardTop website

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Most people in the Western world are aware of the benefits of recycling.

Simply put, by reusing some of the materials found in everyday products,

we get to help save the planet.

Alas, not everyone is doing it — cause it's not easy. Some neighborhoods

and cities don't have trashcans dedicated to different kinds of waste,

making it harder for regular citizens to dispose of their waste in a proper

way. Also, some people find it cumbersome to do anything about it if that

would require a modification of their daily routine.

French startup Yoyo, founded in 2017, wants to change that attitude by

A behavioral-change program forrecyclingA French initiative applies some of the same principles of organizations

like Alcoholics Anonymous to entice people to recycle more.

Recycling

applying the same principles of organizations like Alcoholics Anonymous

(AA) to entice people to recycle more. Instead of relying on specialists'

knowledge and marketing messages, organizations such as AA and Weight

Watchers focus on open communication, progress tracking, group

celebration and supportive relationships among members.

Similarly, Yoyo connects participants with coaches, who can be

individuals or businesses, to help them sort recyclables into orange bags.

Said coaches train and encourage sorters, and both earn points and

rewards such as movie tickets for collecting and storing full Yoyo bags.

When the coach has filled their storage space, Yoyo comes and collects the

bags, to take to a recycling facility.

The tech-enabled process involves a mobile app and a web-based

dashboard for tracking the impact. It also includes public recognition,

giving sorters positive social visibility for work that is ordinarily

considered thankless. And because rewards tend to be local, Yoyo's

infrastructure has the potential to improve members' community

connections, strengthening the perceived and actual social power of the

group.

Two years after launching the program, Yoyo's community has grown to

450 coaches and 14,500 sorters while collecting almost 4.3 million plastic

bottles. That's an impressive start for any organization, let alone a non-

profit one.

Takeaway

Most people know they should recycle, but their good intentions can fall

short when it comes to following through. Programs such as the one

operated by Yoyo can change that by helping people to feel more engaged

with recycling. Additionally, because it is also a community-building

exercise of sorts, Yoyo could also potentially help people in other ways,

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from relieving loneliness to fueling the growth of community businesses

— which could both offer rewards to the recycling community and use

Yoyo's platform to advertise their offerings.

Action point

A business could offer a tech solution that would work in a similar

way to Yoyo, and intermediate between the program and its

sponsors to its benefit. Alternatively, there is also an option to

develop and sell (or rent) the software to the city or other

organization(s) that would be in charge of managing the recycling

program.

Yoyo website

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In March 2015, Sweden's capital Stockholm launched the world's first

ambulance specifically for responding to mental health crises.

Such service is needed in the country which in 2015 had over 15,000

suicide attempts and 1,554 suicides. What's even more striking is that

these have pretty much been the same numbers reported every year of the

last decade.

At first glance, the vehicle looks like any other ambulance. However,

inside it's furnished with comfortable chairs and a small desk to create a

relaxed environment conducive to discussion and therapy.

Mental health ambulance is like atherapy room on wheelsDuring its first year on the road, the Psychiatric Emergency Response

Team (PAM) ambulance in Stockholm responded to over 1,000 individuals

in need of help.

Healthcare Mental Health

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On average, PAM responds to about 135 emergency calls a month, 85

percent of which are related to suicide in one way or another. At the end of

its first year, PAM responded to 1,036 individuals in need of help and had

only received repeated contact from 96 individuals. This low number of

repeat crises shows the efficacy of having a dedicated team ready to listen

to someone in need of counseling.

Though the city of Stockholm is quite large, the team — consisting of two

mental health nurses and one paramedic — is willing to go wherever it is

needed across the region. Before any action is taken, however, they first

take the time to understand the situation.

And this setup is obviously producing "tangible results" — i.e. saving lives

— with other regions in the country such as Skåne, Örebro, Blekinge, and

Jönköping also planning to create their own PAMs.

Takeaway

With the current mental health crisis, it is essential that innovative ideas

are implicated to tackle the issue in new and more effective ways. In that

sense, initiatives such as the Psychiatric Emergency Response Team not

only offer life-saving services but also help destigmatize mental health

and provide patients with expert care on the spot.

⏱⏱⏱⏱ 💰💰💰

Contacts & Links:

Action point

The current mental health crisis leaves a lot of room for savvy

businesses to thrive. Mental health ambulances offer such an

opportunity by enabling them [businesses] to form partnerships

with cities and potentially save lives. A public-private partnership

could be envisioned in which a city would rely on a private partner to

roam around the city and respond to mental health emergencies —

and get paid for the effort.

North Stockholm Psychiatry

Mobile emergency unit

Bad roads of South Africa are said to be a major problem, with an

estimated $3.4 billion per year in vehicle repairs and injuries. By laying a

road section partly made of plastic, Shisalanga Construction is

demonstrating a way to manage plastics waste while at the same time

improving the quality of the roads in the country.

Between August and October 2019, the company used recycled plastic

asphalt to build roads in the province of KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) on the

eastern coast of South Africa. During that time, nearly 40,000 recycled

two-liter plastic milk bottles were used to repave more than 400-meter

section of the road in Cliffdale.

Company using recycled plastic milkbottles to repave roadsWhereas regular recycling of plastic is expensive, the company called

Shisalanga Construction is using recycled plastic milk bottles to repave

roads in South Africa.

Infrastructure Waste Management

The next step for Shisalanga is to put its asphalt in more roads, and in that

sense - it has applied to the South Africa National Roads Agency to lay 200

tons of plastic tarmac on the country's main N3 highway between Durban

and Johannesburg.

In order to make this happen, the company converts high-density

polyethylene (HDPE) — a thick plastic typically used for milk bottles —

into granules at a local recycling plant. These small particles are then

heated to 190 degrees Celsius until they dissolved and mixed with the

additives. The bottles make up about six percent of the asphalt's bitumen

binder, and each ton of asphalt contains about 118-128 bottles.

According to the company, this process produces less toxic emissions and

the asphalt improved with this system is more durable and more resistant

to water; it can also withstand temperature as high as 70 degrees Celsius

and as low as -22 degrees Celsius. Furthermore, the novel method

promises to deliver significant financial savings in the long run, as such

roads are expected to last longer than the national average of 20 years.

The early results suggest this is a promising technology, and considering

that similar projects have been and are being tested in other parts of the

world, we may be looking at a new trend. One that would merge recycling

with road infrastructure.

Takeaway

It is estimated that around 275 million tonnes of plastic waste are

generated each year around the world, so the idea to do something useful

with all that waste makes perfect sense. Shisalanga's concept could be a

part of the current mass movement to reduce plastic waste and to take it

out of the landfill.

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Action point

A savvy road-building company could try experimenting with

plastic-infused asphalt and pitch it to government officials as a

greener solution for the country's / city's roads. Similarly, plastic

recycling facilities could team-up with road builders to pitch them

the new kind of asphalt so that together they could score

government contracts. A road that also tackles the plastic waste

problem should have higher chances of winning such deals.

Shisalanga ConstructionCliffdale, KwaZulu-Natal, SouthAfrica

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Finnish company Exsilio has developed a high-tech solution — called

EkoFARMER — for cultivating salad, herbs, and medicinal plants among

others, in urban environments. The solution comprises a renovated

container, where ecological local food can be cultivated efficiently.

Specifically, it allows for crops to be organized in layers, to maximize the

growing space. And while most of the farming processes are fully

automated, some elements could be manually controlled — including

water levels, light, humidity, and carbon dioxide.

Such a setup, according to Exsilio's CEO Thomas Tapio, makes it ideal for

restaurants and institutional kitchens wanting to produce their own

ingredients.

Farm-in-a-box provides locallyproduced food in urban environmentsCalled EkoFARMER, it comprises a renovated container where ecological

local food can be cultivated efficiently.

Urban Farming

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EkoFARMER is a 13-meter long farming module that forms a closed

system, requiring only electricity and water to function. This means that

the level of humidity, water, and carbon dioxide can be controlled

efficiently in order to produce the optimal yield and the best possible

flavor. Unlike the majority of other similar systems, EkoFARMER does not

use any other nutrients than the ecological cultivation soil developed by

Kekkilä.

The module can be placed almost anywhere, it does not occupy much

space, and it is also transferable. It can produce approximately 55,000

pots of salad per year, the company claims, which is at least three times

the amount produced in a greenhouse — since the cultivated plants are

located on multiple floors. Therefore, plants can be cultivated all year

round and the cultivation period can be shortened, as the amount of light

and humidity can be controlled perfectly.

Exsilio is both selling and leasing EkoFARMER.

Takeaway

EkoFARMER is all about urban farming, making it possible for small

businesses such as restaurants and institutional kitchens to produce their

own ingredients. At the same time, the solution provides a way to reduce

food miles and gain certainty in knowing exactly where the food is coming

from. The company also envisions EkoFARMER empowering individuals

or organizations to start up their own farming micro-enterprise, or

societies offering meaningful activities for the unemployed.

⏱⏱⏱ 💰💰💰💰

Contacts & Links:

Action point

Creating a project that would introduce one or more urban farms in

a city is not a small task, and obviously - there is money to be made

in such an endeavor. Smart companies could pitch it as a way to help

the youth learn about where their food is coming from, as well as a

project that would provide jobs for underprivileged social groups.

EkoFARMER

In November 2017, UPS started testing a sustainable depot-to-door

delivery system in central London. The Low Impact City Logistics project

was designed to reduce traffic congestion and emissions associated with

urban package delivery by using a power-assisted delivery trailer. If

successful, it could change the way packages are delivered in cities in the

UK.

Following a competitive pitch process, the project is a partnership of five

organizations: UPS, product development company Fernhay, data

specialists Skotkonung, University of Huddersfield, and cycle courier

company Outspoken Delivery (now Zedify). The first of its type in the UK,

the trial took place from UPS's London depot.

Electric bikes used for sustainableurban deliveryInnovative "depot-to-door" system reduces traffic congestion and

carbon emissions

Transportation

Packages were loaded onto payload boxes at the depot and delivered by a

single trailer to a central hub located within a busy urban area. The boxes

are distributed from the hub via power-assisted trailers. The packages are

then delivered to homes and businesses by bicycle or on foot.

The payload boxes are moved by electric-assisted trailers which feature

patented net-neutral technology, which means the weight of the parcels

— up to 200 kilograms — isn't felt by the handler. This allows for

increased last-mile deliveries in a sustainable manner. The trial featured

bike trailers making deliveries in and around Camden during November

and December.

"Low Impact City Logistics is a collaborative project that could

revolutionize the way we deliver packages in our cities," Peter Harris,

Director of Sustainability of UPS Europe, said at the time of the

announcement. "UPS has a long history of developing, deploying and

promoting the use of more sustainable technology and delivery methods

— and this collaboration will facilitate a one-of-a-kind urban delivery

solution."

The Low Impact City Logistics project is also part of a £10 million

investment by Innovate UK in a range of collaborative research and

development projects that improve the efficiency and experience of the

end-to-end journey for people and freight.

Specialist product development firm Fernhay led the design and

development of the prototype trailer and payload box, supported by the

University of Huddersfield.

The project also includes optimization algorithms written by Skotkonung,

through a GPS tracker fitted within the trailer allowing for continuous

improvement in route speed and efficiency.

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Outspoken Delivery (Zedify) conducted initial trials of the system earlier

in 2017.

Takeaway

Traffic congestion and pollution are among the biggest problems in major

metro areas. Local governments couldn't just sit idle doing nothing.

Adding dedicated bike lanes is what many cities around the world have

been doing in the past few years — and are still doing it. By embracing and

promoting bike deliveries, municipalities could not only make better use

of those lanes, but also help curb congestion and pollution, at the same

time. This could either be an all-private initiative, but also the one helped

by the (local) government — all while making for more efficient deliveries

in densely populated areas.

Action point

The opportunity to organize local deliveries makes for good

business and good PR. Such a project could be partially funded by

the (local) government or an agency related to sustainable

development. In the UK, the trial was partly funded by Innovate UK.

Fernhay

Skotkonung

Outspoken Delivery (now Zedify)

Innovate UK

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Opened in March 2017, CopenHill partially replaced the nearby old

incineration plant in Amager (an industrial waterfront in Copenhagen)

which is in the process of being converted from coal to biomass. The two

plants play a major role in Copenhagen's ambitions of being zero carbon

by 2025.

Estimated to cost $670 million, the plant is expected to burn 400,000 tons

of municipal solid waste annually, enough to provide heating for 150,000

homes. It was designed by Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) with an 85 m (279 ft)

Waste-to-energy plant in Denmarkdoubles as a ski slopeCopenHill, also known as Amager Bakke or Amager Slope, is a ski slope

and a combined heat and power waste-to-energy plant in Amager,

Copenhagen.

Architecture Energy Waste Management

tall sloped roof that doubles as a year-round artificial ski slope, tree-lined

hiking slope and climbing wall — which opened to the public in October

2019.

This engineering marvel was made possible by arraying machinery in

order of height, creating the sloped rooftop which forms the ski terrain

and also a mountain-like structure in the otherwise flat city. And in case

you wonder, skiers ascend using a platter or carpet lifts, or a glass

elevator.

Aside from outdoor spaces, CopenHill encompasses ten floors of space —

including an education center, offices, and space for workshops and

conferences.

Technically, the plant is designed to change between operating modes,

producing 0-63 MW electricity and 157-247 MW district heating,

depending on the local heat demand and power price. Also, it produces

more clean water than it uses. Because of filtration and other

technologies, sulfur emission is expected to be reduced by 99.5% and NOx

by about 90%, and it is claimed to be the cleanest incineration plant in the

world.

A special feature of this facility will be that the chimney is intended to not

emit its exhaust continuously, but instead in the form of "smoke" rings,

consisting of water vapor rather than actual smoke.

Takeaway

Modern cities will need more than green buildings; they need to integrate

those buildings into the fabric of the city. And that's what CopenHill is all

about, featuring all the right technologies with an added human touch.

In that sense, the plant also adds a new dimension to city life,

incorporating green spaces and other amenities. This, in turn, gives the

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best possible message — sustainable construction is both good for the

environment and also more enjoyable for everyone.

Action point

Chances are this is a big project for any individual company and

would rather require a syndicate to design, build and operate the

facility. As such, it could involve an energy company, a consultancy,

and perhaps even a real estate company. Local government support

is a must as it would be the one buying the heating or energy once

the plant has been completed. It's a complex task with a lot of room

for profit.

Bjarke Ingels GroupCopenhagen, Denmark

Amager Bakke (CopenHill) OfficialWebsite

German company Green City Solutions developed CityTree, an innovative

solution that combines the natural abilities of mosses with intelligent IoT

technology. The cost-effective, low-maintenance and flexibly

implementable biofilter improves the quality of life in cities considerably.

The CityTree consists of a bench, a green wall, tools to measure the

performance and environmental data, solar panels and a battery to power

the automatic irrigation system. The air filters have the capacity

equivalent to as much as seven thousand people to breathe freely,

according to Green City Solutions.

A tufting plant called biting stonecrop or wallpepper, sedum acre, is used

for the protective layer on the moss; the green wall can bind more than

Smart green walls clean urban airThe CityTree is a biological air filter, an innovative communication space

and an economic sustainability measure, all in one.

Internet of Things Pollution

80% of the fine dust in certain cases, according to some of the

measurements.

The manufacturers claim one CityTree is equivalent to 275 trees. The

calculations revealed the air filters take out a maximum of 240 tons of

carbon dioxide per annum, but that they also save citizens from nitrogen

dioxide.

The CityTree can be tailored to the specific requirements of towns,

companies or the property sector. And the added value is always the same

— a significant improvement in the quality of life.

The suitability of CityTree installations is being analyzed across the planet

as they must fit in what is usually a limited space in the street where they

are needed. All in all, the German company had more than 50 CityTree

installations in over 10 countries. Among cities that got their CityTree are

London, Newcastle, Berlin, Oslo, Paris, Drammen in Norway, Amsterdam,

Brussels and Hong Kong.

Takeaway

Pollution is a major problem in many cities around the world, and

solutions are neither easy nor cheap. It would take years for countries to

completely move to renewable energy and for electric vehicles to hit the

tipping point.

One piece of the puzzle could be a CityTree. It can add a "dose of green" to

concrete blocks of buildings, while also improving the quality of air. Plus,

it's a bench, thus a meeting point for people in the area. As such, a

CityTree is an instant win, with the only problem being how to make it fit

its surroundings.

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Action point

Instead of waiting for the government to procure "regular" benches,

a smart company could pitch a project involving multiple CityTrees

to be placed at various locations (i.e. squares, open markets, etc)

throughout the city. Because it's not only green but also clears the

air and doubles as a bench — CityTree should be an easy sell.

Green City SolutionsBestensee, Germany

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More cyclists on the roads places added strain on motorists, especially in

busy urban areas. Dutch company Heijmans has developed an elegant

solution to make cycling safer.

The system, called Bikescout, relies on tracking radar technology which is

already being used by the automobile industry to provide signals to other

road users. The radar measures the changing position of individual road

users and continuously analyses this data, up to 50 meters in advance. By

taking into account the speed of an approaching object (cyclist or

pedestrian), the Bikescout warns the motorist appropriately.

Especially in places with poor visibility of approaching cyclists, the

Bikescout system increases traffic safety by giving timely warnings of

LED lights embedded in the road warncars of approaching cyclistsBikescout constantly monitors the speed and distance of oncoming

cyclists, calculating their arrival time and notifying motorists via LED

indicators in the road surface.

Safety Smart Roads Transportation

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cyclists crossing the road. Highly robust, dimmable LEDs, which can be

fitted flush with the road surface, can provide signals in various

configurations and are more effective and visually attractive than other

safety measures.

Via the mobile Internet and an online Web application, local traffic control

can view the Bikescout's availability and the traffic flow. This makes

Bikescout a valuable management tool as well as making cities streets

safer.

In April 2016, BikeScout has been piloted near the Meerenakkerweg-

Kasteellaan roundabout in the Dutch city of Eindhoven.

Takeaway

Cycling is becoming ever more popular, and not just with road users.

Governments are keen to include the bicycle as part of their sustainable

and inclusive transport policies.

But more cyclists on the roads places added strain on motorists, especially

in busy urban areas. The Bikescout intelligent warning system can make

life safer for cyclists by notifying motorists via LED indicators in the road

surface. It is potentially a life-saving technology that is also relatively

easy to install.

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Contacts & Links:

Action point

A company could prepare a project to help get more people to cycle

to work — or just for fun. As part of that project, Bikescout would be

installed at intersections to make cyclists safer. The cost of

deploying these LED lights and sensors could be partly funding by

the local government as well as a potential sponsor that wants to be

affiliated with a healthy lifestyle.

HeijmansRosmalen, Netherlands

Bikescout

Launched in June 2017 by CRRC Zhuzhou Institute, the Autonomous Rail

Rapid Transit (ART) system uses onboard sensors to run along a virtual

track, which in turn cancels the need to lay real tracks — dramatically

reducing construction time and costs compared with other rail transit

systems.

The debut train system has three carriages with a total length of 31.64

meters, width of 2.65 meters and height of 3.4 meters. Each can carry

around 300 passengers. The maximum operating speed is 70 kilometers

per hour (~ 43 mph), running on rubber tires.

Virtual-rail train system operates oncity roads without steel tracksDeveloped by China's CRRC Corporation, the Autonomous Rail Rapid

Transit system allows full-sized electric trams to operate on regular city

roads.

Autonomous Vehicles Transportation

The virtual rail system provides cities with a more economical option for

building public transit systems — these virtual trams are said to cost

around one fifth the price of railed trams. Furthermore, the estimated life

span of the virtual rail train is 25 years, which is around four times that of

new energy buses.

The train system has the flexibility to compensate for its length. Its

turning radius is comparable to that of a regular bus, allowing it to travel

on most city roads. The train also employs the double-head feature used

on modern commuter trains, eliminating the need for U-turns.

While it is an autonomous system, in most cases the virtual trams will run

with a driver for safety. However, it has been equipped with a Lane

Departure Warning System and a Collision Warning System for support to

keep a safe distance from other vehicles on the road.

The virtual tram had its first ride in Zhuzhou, Hunan Province in China,

followed by rollouts in Yonhxiu, Jaingix province and Yibin, Sichuan

province.

So far, more than 100 cities across the world have taken an interest in the

virtual rail transit system. One of those expressing interest was Doha,

Qatar — which has started testing it in July 2019, with plans to have its

public transportation improved and ready for the FIFA World Cup 2022.

Takeaway

Traffic congestion is a problem in many cities around the world. However,

not all cities have the money to dig metro/subway tunnels and/or even lay

down tracks for light metro systems or trams.

The Autonomous Rail Rapid Transit offers a viable alternative that is more

affordable and easier to implement, relying on regular city roads rather

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than brand new tracks to operate. As such, it is ideal for budget-strapped

municipalities as well as for better-off cities that want to further expand

their public transportation network.

Action point

A company could create a project involving CRRC's Autonomous Rail

Rapid Transit system to help solve multiple problems such as

congestion and pollution in densely populated cities. The system

would be pitched as sustainable, offering benefits that are similar to

the regular tram at a fraction of the cost.

CRRCBeijing, China

CRRC Zhuzhou Electric LocomotiveInstitute

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Imagine an airport parking... Now think how much space it occupies, yet

somehow, we always struggle to find a free spot to park the car.

Stanley Robotics has a solution for this conundrum, consisting of fully

autonomous robots and intelligent storage management software. Said

robots can take and move any car, lifting them by the wheels and block-

parking them much closer together without risking dings and dents. As a

result, Stanley Robotics' system can arrange up to 50% more vehicles

within a given area. And because they are able to operate in existing car

parks, no new parking infrastructure is needed.

These valet robots can move vehicles,optimize parking spaces at airportsParis, France-based Stanley Robotics has developed an intelligent

management system that can arrange up to 50% more vehicles within a

given area.

Parking Robots

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The company's value proposition is simple — the ability to optimize

vehicle storage management by storing cars in blocks — and

unsurprisingly, it has managed to score a few airports to test its

technology.

The first test was at Paris-Charles De Gaulle in 2017. It been performed for

5 months and met a huge success with the public, paving the way to large

scale deployments.

A year later, the first outdoor car park managed by robots has been opened

to the public beginning at Lyon Saint-Exupéry airport. And then, in 2019,

Stanley Robotics signed a contract with Gatwick Airports.

Takeaway

Airport parking is a mess all around the world. During peak seasons, it is

next to impossible to find a free spot; and the situation is even worse at

hot tourist destinations.

Stanley Robotics' technology can help without requiring a hefty premium.

Instead of building new parking spaces, which can be both expensive and

time-consuming (in terms of negotiating to acquire the new land) — the

company offers a smart system and robots that can arrange up to 50%

more vehicles within the same area. In that sense, it delivers instant

results with existing infrastructure and should be an easy sell.

⏱⏱⏱ 💰💰

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Action point

A company could contact Stanley Robotics to distribute their

technology in another country (or city) and then pitch the solution

to the airport authorities or the government, depending on who's in

charge of the airport. It should be a relatively easy sell with the

technology being able to arrange up to 50% more vehicles within

the same area. That's an instant saving at a fraction of the cost.

Stanley RoboticsParis, France

ElectReon has developed a "Dynamic Wireless Electrification System" for

electric transportation which reduces the need for a large battery in the

vehicle and powers it wirelessly via minimal infrastructure located under

the driving lane. This, in turn, eliminates the need to stop for recharging

or refueling the vehicle during the day.

ElectReon's Wireless Electric Roads (ERS) technology combines dynamic,

semi-dynamic and static charging, providing the optimal solution to any

use case. It involves wireless energy strips made from electromagnets and

copper plates being integrated into special road lanes, while similar plates

are installed on the underside of vehicles. A roadside power converter links

to the charging beds carved into the road. Vehicles integrated with

Smart road technology can chargeelectric vehicles as they travelIsraeli company ElectReon is paving the way for future green e-mobility

solutions with its smart road technology for electric transportation.

Smart Roads Transportation

sustainable technology can also drive in normal road lanes for up to 5km.

Once the system has been deployed on the main roads for public

transportation then it can serve as a platform for all kind of vehicles

eliminating the initial costs. In addition, ElectReon can harvest energy due

to vehicle braking and transfer it back to the electricity grid, and as a

result — reducing the total amount of energy consumed by the

transportation sector.

ElectReon's first major installation was in Sweden, between Visby airport

and Visby city center on the island of Gotland. The route (on a public road)

will be utilized by ERS heavy goods vehicles and ERS shuttle buses. The

project, announced in November 2019, is financed by the Swedish

Transport Administration as part of the electric road roadmap of the

Swedish government to reduce CO2 emissions from heavy transportation.

Another installation was in Tel Aviv, where a 1km electric road is being

built between Tel Aviv University and the train station.

Takeaway

Electric car deployment has been growing rapidly over the years despite

the lack of underlying infrastructure. Some governments are already

helping drive this growth by subsidizing the electric vehicle purchases and

by offering free charging stations and other perks. Nevertheless, electric

cars are still not mainstream, though they are getting there.

Smart roads that can charge these vehicles could be a part of the puzzle,

starting with delivery vehicles and buses, both of which could be easily

outfitted to be compatible with ElectReon's technology. These two vehicle

categories are just a start, with upcoming models of electric cars

(presuming they can connect to ElectReon's tech) also benefiting from the

same infrastructure. At the end of the day, with more electric vehicles on

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the road, cities and entire countries benefit from lower CO2 emissions,

lower congestion, and ultimately - better air for their constituents.

Action point

In many less-developed cities, it could be up to the private sector to

lead the transportation revolution. In that sense, a company could

prepare a proposal that would involve some specific tracks say

between the city center and the airport or for other specific routes

where a fleet of electric trucks or buses could be used and charged

while they travel. This project could be pitched as a potential

"revolution starter" for some cities.

ElectReonHadassah Neurim, Israel

Tel Aviv University Shuttle electric road

Long haul truck and shuttle in Sweden

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Most of us know that throwing batteries into the trash is bad for the

environment, but much of the population still discard them instead of

using the battery recycling banks offered by many supermarkets.

Swedish company Refind Technologies has an elegant solution called the

Battery Refund machine — a reverse vending machine for waste consumer

batteries.

The machine enables customers to return all kinds of household batteries

— including AA, AAA, C, D and 9V. It can identify the size of the battery,

counts them and returns a receipt that can include for example a discount

coupon or any other kind of refund in written format. The logic behind the

This kiosk machine pays out for oldbatteriesThe Battery Refund machine is a reverse vending machine for waste

consumer batteries that can automate the collection of old batteries and

reward people for their effort.

Recycling

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refund is programmable and possible to change if needed.

The machine is targeted for battery collection points such as retail stores

and battery manufacturers, enabling them to introduce incentives while

collecting statistics on returned batteries.

The system is a complete identification and return point for all cylindrical

and 9V batteries with a total capacity of 50kgs (100lbs). The machine is

accessible through the internet and can signal when it needs to be

emptied. It is also fireproof and specially developed for being able to

contain hazardous material.

The first Battery Refund machine was launched on Earth Day, 22nd April

2017, at Coop Norway and initiated and funded by Energizer.

Takeaway

Many types of batteries employ toxic materials such as lead, mercury, and

cadmium as an electrode or electrolyte. When each battery reaches the end

of life it must be disposed of to prevent environmental damage. Recycling

batteries can recover toxic substances, which can then be used for new

batteries. The Battery Refund machine is one piece of the puzzle to solve

the e-waste conundrum. It is easy to use for end-users and requires little

to no training to operate.

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Contacts & Links:

Action point

The cost of procuring these machines could be spread among

multiple parties, the local government being one of them. It could be

a good PR/marketing opportunity for a smart, eco-friendly

company or a whole project that could involve a few Battery Refund

machines placed around multiple locations. In that sense, it could

also be a good business.

Refind TechnologiesGothenburg, Sweden

The Battery Refund machine page

Battery Refund machine product sheet

Based in Nailsworth, Gloucestershire, England - Forest Green Rovers is a

unique football club. Competing in League Two, it is a carbon-neutral and

the world's first all-vegan football club.

The move to "go vegan" came after environmentalist entrepreneur Dale

Vince took over the club in 2010. But the food was just a starting point...

Now, Forest Green Rovers is preparing to build what will be the world's

first wooden football stadium. Called Eco Park, the wooden structure will

look like the "ribs of a prehistoric animal," and get all of its power from

The first sustainable all-wood stadiumbeing built by a vegan football clubEnvironmentalist Dale Vince and its vegan football club Forest Green

Rovers will build the world's first wooden football stadium.

Architecture Sports

sustainable energy sources, provided by the green energy company

Ecotricity — also owned by Dale Vince — and the stadium's own solar

panels.

Two football pitches will be organic and cut by a solar-powered mow-bot

that texts updates to the club's groundskeeper. Collected rainwater

irrigates the pitch, and all food served by the Club is vegan — for players,

staff and fans.

Nevertheless, the carbon-neutral (or carbon-negative) stadium will have

(landscaped) parking spots, but the club will encourage spectators to

travel to games via public transport — even promising to subsidize buses

from local areas, and run a trial bus from a nearby train station.

The story to build a wooden stadium itself was super-popular and helped

spread the message about the vegan football club, which now has fan clubs

in over 20 different countries. So yes, it was worth it for a multitude of

reasons.

Zaha Hadid Architects designed the £100 million 5,000 seater stadium in

Gloucestershire.

Forest Green Rovers has been promoting sustainability for quite some

time now. In 2018, the United Nations awarded it a carbon-neutral

certification. In the same year, it received the United Nations Environment

Programme's "Momentum of Change" climate action award.

Takeaway

Who says that sports clubs can't be environmentally friendly? In fact,

many of the world's biggest football (soccer) clubs are heavily investing in

various green initiatives, but no one comes close to Forest Green Rovers.

When completed, their all-wood stadium will prove the world that wood

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can, in some cases, replace concrete to provide for a greener and equally

solid structure. Add solar panels and renewable energy sources to the mix

- and you get a stadium that isn't only carbon neutral, but potentially even

carbon negative.

Action point

Developers and consultants could team-up with local sports clubs to

help them prepare a project for building a new stadium using

sustainable materials. These sorts of initiatives are not only good for

the environment but could also propel your business to new heights.

Just imagine a big project like a sustainable stadium being built with

your help — it would open many new doors for your company,

helping you score other clients and projects down the road. And let's

not forget all the free press such endeavors bring...

Forest Green RoversNailsworth, England, UnitedKingdom

It's not just governments that have to deal with the growing amount of

plastic waste — businesses can do their share, as well.

Canadian grocery retail chain Sobeys is one such responsible business,

having opened a store with a parking lot paved using post-consumer

plastics at the end of 2019.

The amount of recycled plastics used in the mixture to pave the lot at the

company's store in Timberlea, Nova Scotia is equivalent to more than six

million plastic checkout bags. This way, all that plastic has been diverted

This grocery retail chain paved parkinglot with post-consumer plasticThe amount of recycled plastics used in the mixture to pave the lot at one

store in Canada is equivalent to more than six million plastic checkout

bags.

Pollution Recycling Waste Management

from local landfills.

However, just because there is plastic in the parking that doesn't mean the

pavement isn't up for the task — quite the contrary, it has been tested

through intense thawing and refreezing to be able to "cope" with

Canadian (harsh) winters.

The innovative approach to plastics reduction and reuse is part of Sobeys'

larger commitment to remove plastic grocery bags from all of its grocery

stores by the end of January 2020 — a change that will take 225 million

plastic grocery bags out of circulation at Sobeys' 255 locations across

Canada each year.

To make the "plastic parking lot" possible, Sobeys and Crombie REIT —

developer and property manager for the Sobeys Timberlea site — have

worked directly with local small business Goodwood Plastic Products to

research and develop the new asphalt pavement mixture.

Previously, Sobeys worked with Goodwood Plastic Products who provided

the recycled plastics lumber used for Sobeys' Ultimate Picnic Table, which

was unveiled on the Halifax waterfront in October 2019 and diverted

60,000 single-use plastic bags from local landfills. The new Sobeys

Timberlea store has a picnic bench made from Goodwood Plastic Product's

recycled plastics lumber onsite for customers to enjoy.

"The post-consumer plastics parking lot and picnic bench out front, is

one more way we are doing our part to integrate sustainability and

innovation into our business," Vittoria Varalli, vice-president of

Sustainability at Sobeys, said at the time of the new store opening.

"Projects like this represent the changes we all want to see - reduced

single-use plastics, more reuse, and increased recycling of plastic waste."

A wholly-owned subsidiary of publicly-traded Empire Company Limited,

Sobeys owns or franchises more than 1,500 stores in all 10 Canadian

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provinces under retail banners that include Sobeys, Safeway, IGA,

Foodland, FreshCo, Thrifty Foods, Farm Boy and Lawton's Drug Stores as

well as more than 350 retail fuel locations.

Takeaway

Sobeys is not only a responsible retail chain, but it also has to play by the

rules outlined by the Canadian government; it announced plans to "ban

harmful single-use plastics as early as 2021," in an effort to reduce the 3

million tons of plastic waste tossed out by the country every year. In that

sense, the retailer played its part properly, showing other businesses what

could be done with today's technology. Chances are other retailers and

businesses around Canada and elsewhere will follow suit with similar

projects. After all, it is better to turn that plastic into a parking lot than

leave to end up in a landfill.

Action point

Getting familiar with plastic recycling technologies is good business

these days. It used to be something only specialty companies did,

but now even developers can join the trend. A good idea would be to

team-up with someone like Goodwood Plastic Product, which would

sell or license its products and/or technology. From there, smart

companies could start promoting their "plastic pavement" while

eyeing government contracts as well as other businesses looking to

show their green credentials by paving parking lots with post-

consumer plastic. Sounds like a plan.

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Contacts & Links: SobeysStellarton, Nova Scotia, Canada

Goodwood Plastic Products @ Facebook

A Japanese study carried out by Chiba University has found that spending

time in forests — the so called "forest therapy" — decreases cortisol

levels, blood pressure, and heart rate. But how can one bring these

benefits to the urban setting?

Rotterdam, Netherlands-based MVRDV studio has an answer; its four-

story Green Villa — located on the southern edge of the Dutch village of

Sint-Michielsgestel — is covered with a variety of plants that help it blend

into the landscape of the nearby river, fields, and trees. At the same time,

the Villa offers benefits of "forest therapy" to all city residents.

Green Villa houses new office space for a real estate developer, Stein, on

This villa makes “forest therapy”accessible in the middle of the cityThe four-story building adopts the urban form of the neighboring

buildings, while a gridded "rack" system covers its entire exterior with a

variety of plants.

Architecture Biodiversity

the ground floor; five apartments on three floors above; and underground

parking. The project was initiated and is being developed by MVRDV's co-

architect, Van Boven Architecten, who wanted to create a landmark project

for the village while also being socially conscious and environmentally

progressive.

The design stems from MVRDV's belief that sustainability implies not only

a technological challenge but also a positive change in lifestyle, with urban

areas considered as a part of the natural landscape.

"This design is a continuation of our research into 'facade-less' buildings

and radical greening", explained Winy Maas, founding partner of MVRDV.

"The idea from the nineties of city parks as an oasis in the city is too

limited. We need a radical 'green dip'... we should also cover roofs and

high-rise facades with greenery. Plants and trees can help us to offset CO2

emissions, cool our cities, and promote biodiversity."

Speaking of biodiversity, the plant species used for the project are selected

and placed with the consideration of the façade orientation and the living

functions behind, providing either privacy, shade, or views as required. A

sensor-controlled irrigation system that uses stored rainwater has been

incorporated into the planters, guaranteeing a year-round green facade.

Construction is scheduled to start in 2020.

Takeaway

Projects like the Green Villa not only make the health benefits of forest

therapy more accessible, but they also help offset CO2 emissions, purify

the air and cool cities.

However, these kinds of projects — because of their novelty and usually

higher price tag — tend to cost more and are not suited for all kinds of

buildings. Specifically, they are good for corporate headquarters, as well as

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government (agency) buildings, which could use such (green) design to

promote sustainability in the city/country.

Action point

Making buildings not just energy efficient but truly green is getting

more profitable with the day. Therefore, adding appropriate experts

to your team is a good idea; those experts would know which plants

are best suited for which kinds of buildings and could help you

develop truly innovative green projects. Then, you could pitch the

(local) government to use your expertise to "add more green" to

their existing buildings. And this could also be your pitch for anyone

else looking for the same (green) service — i.e. companies in your

city.

MVRDVRotterdam, The Netherlands

Green Villa @ MVRDV

The Netherlands is home to 358 different bee species but more than half of

them are already endangered and have been placed on the country's list of

threatened species. In response to this problem, officials in Utrecht — in

collaboration with outdoor media company RBL Outdoor and advertising

agency Clear Channel — are investing in urban beekeeping in a rather

ingenious way.

The fourth-largest city in the country has transformed up to 316 bus stops

into little bee sanctuaries. These so-called "bee stops" are essentially

standard bus stops with grass and wildflowers planted on the roofs to

encourage pollination.

Dutch city creates 300+ bee-friendlybus stopsAs part of the effort to combat the declining bee population, Utrecht has

transformed 316 of its bus stops into bee stops.

Biodiversity

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Aside from supporting the city's biodiversity by attracting honey bees and

bumblebees, these bee stops also help capture fine dust and store

rainwater. And to make for an even more eco-friendlier project, bee stops

are tended to by workers who drive around the city in electric vehicles.

Then again, these roofs require little maintenance because they are mainly

composed of sedum plants, which are a favorite among pollinators and

require very little water to survive.

Humans haven't been forgotten as well, with new bus stops also sporting

energy-efficient LED lights and bamboo benches — in order to create a

healthy living environment for everyone.

Beyond public spaces, Utrecht also runs a similar scheme for residents

allowing them to apply for funding to transform their own roofs into bee

sanctuaries.

Takeaway

Bees and other pollinators are fundamental to life on our planet, with

nearly 75% of the world's crops produced for human consumption

depending on them. However, changes in agricultural practices over

recent years have caused a decline in bee populations.

To address this problem, many cities are creating bee sanctuaries that also

add to urban biodiversity. With its bee-friendly bus stops, Utrecht is

taking an extra step forward while also showing other cities what they too

could do to help bees thrive. And ultimately, help all of us get the food we

need.

💰💰

Contacts & Links:

Action point

In order to bring bees to the city — if you don't have the expertise —

you may need to partner with beekeepers. Ask them how that could

be done and where in the city is the best location to start off. Then,

once you have an idea of how such a project would work, calculate

the costs, add your premium (profit) and pitch it to the city. This

could be a win-win for smart politicians looking to add to the city's

biodiversity. After all, if it's good for a developed country like the

Netherlands, it has to be good for other places, as well.

RBL OutdoorVoerendaal, Netherlands

Clear Channel NetherlandsHoofddorp, Netherlands

Green-roofed bus shelters @ The city ofUtrecht

The advertising company Clear Channel in Stockholm owns more than

1,000 digital kiosks serving an endless loop of ads to citizens.

Beyond commercial clients, the firm has also partnered with the city to

launch a neat Out-of-Home (OOH) campaign, offering homeless people

directions to the nearest shelter on particularly cold nights. In this way,

they are doubling the usefulness of the (outdoor) media to also do

something good — according to David Klagsbrun, head of

communications at Clear Channel Scandinavia.

Clear Channel has screens installed across the Swedish capital —

including in the city center and at subway stops — which is actually where

the homeless spend their lives. So, when temperatures drop below 19°F

Interactive billboards in Stockholm helphomeless find shelterMost homeless people in the city know where there are shelters, but

during emergencies - they may don't know where the new ones will be.

Homelessness

(-7°C), the company is using those screens to help homeless find shelter

— which during that time is available from all sorts of organizations like

churches and community centers.

According to Clear Channel's findings, most homeless people in

Stockholm know where there are shelters, but during emergencies - they

don't know where the new ones will be. This is exactly the sort of scenario

a digital billboard, full of dynamic information, can respond to perfectly.

With the help of nonprofits, the company identified 53 billboards within

inner Stockholm that were close to many homeless people. On cold winter

nights, these billboards play two regular ad loops, with one ad slot in each

replaced with a public service announcement. The first loop displays the

nearest open shelter, and the second loop displays information for

volunteers — including items most needed for donation, from coats to

toothpaste.

Klagsbrun said it is hard to measure the impact of this OOH campaign as

there is no reference to compare to, but after talking to people who staff

the shelters - they say there's a lot of new faces coming into the shelters

they haven't seen before. "And more pertinently, there are more

volunteers and necessities donated than previous years," he added.

In other words, the ads can not only serve homeless people directly; they

can also mobilize citizens to be more responsive to their needs.

The project was developed by Prime Weber Shandwick on behalf of Clear

Channel Sweden, which itself is part of Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings —

one of the world's largest outdoor advertising companies with a broad

portfolio of 450,000 classic and digital surfaces in 31 countries.

Takeaway

Contacts & Links:

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Clear Channel Sweden is using its digital billboards to help Stockholm's

homeless find their nearest shelter. The Out-of-Home campaign sees ad

content from the digital billboards replaced with directions to the nearest

homeless shelter when the temperature drops to freezing conditions. By

using this channel, the campaign can connect with a target group that is

otherwise difficult to reach.

On the other hand, the campaign is also engaging citizens, providing them

with information on where to donate necessities, how to become a

volunteer, and so on. All of the ads are run for free in partnership with the

city of Stockholm, local churches and NGOs.

Action point

This could be a neat PR stunt for an out-of-home ad company or

any other business that would partner with them to launch such a

campaign. After all, it helps solve the real problem (homelessness)

while also engaging citizens in local problem-solving. In addition, it

could also help your company get closer to the local government and

potentially score additional contracts down the road.

Clear Channel ScandinaviaStockholm, Sweden

Prime Weber ShandwickStockholm, Sweden

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An artificial intelligence-enabled system, coupled with sensors, could

help cities detect costly water losses in municipal water systems.

While major problems such as burst pipes are revealed by pressure

changes, volume fluctuations or water simply bubbling to the surface —

small leaks often go undetected for years.

The technology, developed by researchers at the University of Waterloo in

collaboration with industry partners, has the potential to detect even

small leaks in pipes. By combining sophisticated signal processing

techniques and AI software, it can distinguish between a fully sealed pipe

and one that is leaking even a small amount of water.

AI could help cities detect water leaksCostly water losses in municipal water systems could be significantly

reduced using sensors and artificial intelligence.

Artificial Intelligence Water

The acoustic signatures are recorded by hydrophone sensors that can be

easily and inexpensively installed in existing fire hydrants without

excavation or taking them out of service.

"This would allow cities to use their resources for maintenance and

repairs much more effectively," said lead researcher Roya Cody, a civil

engineering PhD candidate at Waterloo. "They could be more proactive as

opposed to reactive."

It is estimated that municipal water systems in Canada lose an average of

over 13% of their clean water between treatment and delivery due to leaks,

bursts and other issues. Countries with older infrastructure have even

higher loss rates, so yes — this sort of technology has real-world use

cases both in the developed and developing world.

Cody added that by catching small leaks early, cities can prevent costly,

destructive bursts later on.

Researchers have started field testing the hydrant sensors after reliably

detecting leaks as small as 17 liters a minute in the lab. They are also

working on ways to pinpoint the location of leaks, which would allow

municipalities to identify, prioritize and carry out repairs.

Takeaway

The technology, involving AI software and sensors, could help cities save

money on costly water losses. Said sensors could be easily and

inexpensively installed in existing fire hydrants without excavation or

taking them out of service.

Once everything is set, the software will record acoustic signatures and

based on that data - determine whether some pipe is leaking or not.

Furthermore, researchers are also developing this tech to help cities

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identify where exactly the pipe is leaking, making it even easier to fix

pipes early on.

Action point

The technology has been tested, but it has yet to be commercially

available. In the meantime, businesses can contact researchers for

further details to eventually procure the system and offer it to local

governments. It's the money well spent that will practically pay for

itself as soon as the first leak is detected. Explaining that to the local

officials should make for that much easier sell.

Project announcement @ University ofWaterloo website

Research paper @ Urban Water Journal

Roya Cody @ LinkedIn

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Plastic waste is a huge problem in many countries around the world,

Indonesia being one of them. In order to tackle this problem, officials in

Surabaya have come up with a novel way to encourage residents to recycle

waste by giving free bus rides in exchange for used plastic bottles.

Under the scheme launched in the country's second-largest city in April

2018, commuters can ride red city buses by dropping off plastic bottles at

terminals or directly "paying" a fare with bottles. It was introduced as part

of the bigger goal to help Surabaya meet an ambitious target of becoming

free of plastic waste by 2020.

"Indonesia is one of the biggest contributors in the world for plastic

City in Indonesia lets commuters paybus fare with their plastic wasteIn Surabaya, people can exchange 10 plastic cups or up to 5 plastic bottles

for a 2-hour bus ride.

Recycling Transportation

waste, and through this initiative, we hope to raise public awareness on

the environment, especially issues that relate to plastic trash," said Irvan

Wahyu Drajad, the head of Surabaya's transportation department.

A two-hour bus ticket costs 10 plastic cups or up to five plastic bottles,

depending on their size. A bus can collect up to 250 kg (550 lb) of plastic

bottles a day, or about 7.5 tonnes in a month, the data shows.

After collection, labels and bottle caps are removed from the waste and it

is auctioned off to recycling companies. Money earned this way goes

towards running the bus operations and to fund green spaces in the city.

The world's fourth-most populous country is home to the largest expanse

of tropical rainforest in Asia, but it is also the world's second-largest

contributor of plastic pollution in the oceans after China, according to a

2015 study published in the journal Science.

It is estimated that around 15% or nearly 400 tonnes of Surabaya's daily

waste is plastic.

Takeaway

Plastic pollution is a big problem both in developed and developing

countries with the latter lacking resources to seriously address it. The idea

to incentivize people to do the right thing by offering something in

exchange for plastic waste has proven to work in Indonesia, and chances

are — it could work in other parts of the world, as well.

Although a waste-for-ride scheme could hardly be envisioned in some of

the world's most developed countries, the idea to incentivize people to

change their behavior tends to work well no matter where you happen to

live. And this time 'round, we are talking about a behavior change that

helps the entire city deal with plastic waste. Love it.

Contacts & Links:

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Action point

This is relatively easy to implement scheme that could be adopted by

both developed and developing countries struggling with the ever-

growing plastic waste problem. Aside from the direct impact on the

reduction of plastic waste, an initiative like this would also have an

indirect impact by raising awareness of the importance of recycling.

A savvy business could propose a solution to best manage the

collection and disposal of all the plastic, organizing necessary

logistics to make this project possible.

Announcement @ India Today

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Solving homelessness is not easy, but the good news is that there are

many different parties trying to tackle this hard and complex problem.

Patrick Kennedy, the owner of the development company Panoramic

Interests, is one of them with its prefabricated — thus affordable —

MicroPADs offering a place to live for one person, or possibly a couple.

The fully furnished, 20' by 8' foot steel box is reminiscent of a shipping

container and designed in a way to allow stacking many of them on top of

each other when they become a building of small housing units.

The MicroPAD — PAD stands for Prefab Affordable Dwelling — is

These micro-units are made forhomeless peoplePrefabricated in China, each unit comes fully furnished with a private

bathroom, kitchenette, armoire, desk and bed, all in 160 square feet.

Homelessness Housing

prefabricated in China to lower the cost. Nevertheless, each unit has its

own front door and large window with those positioned on the side of a

building having two. There's a mud-room area to hang clothes that

includes a bench on which to sit when taking off shoes. Every unit has a

fridge-freezer, a sink and a combination oven-microwave.

A day bed has storage underneath, as well as a "black light" which is said

to destroy bed bugs. A micro closet can hold clothes, and a separate closet

is for a broom and cleaning products.

The unit is designed with 24/7 ventilation and has pet-friendly surfaces.

An opaque curved glass wall defines the private bathroom with a shower

and toilet, grab rails, hooks and decorative blue nighttime lighting.

Drainage in the bathroom allows the whole unit to be hosed down if

needed.

The concept was created with the idea to provide housing for 5,000 Bay

Area homeless people in five years, with plans to bring it to other places,

as well.

According to Kennedy, it would cost Panoramic between $20-$25 million

to build a 4-story, 100-unit micro-housing unit in Berkley, California —

depending on factors like access, traffic control and infrastructure.

Chances are that a similar project would have a significantly lower cost in

other parts of the world.

His proposal, if approved, would see the city giving him the air rights to a

public property, he would finance the development, and he would charge

$1,000 per unit per month. A housing nonprofit would oversee the day-to-

day management of the building, while Panoramic would handle

structural maintenance.

Takeaway

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Solving homelessness is never easy but something could be done, and

that's where projects like MicroPAD kick in — providing people with all

necessities in a 20' by 8' foot steel box. Sure, there are other similar

containers that work just as well, but what makes MicroPADs better is

their ability to be stacked on top of each other when they become a

building of small housing units. As a result, an affordable 4-story building

could be built with 100 units — each made for one person, or possibly a

couple.

The MicroPAD concept was created with the idea to provide housing for

5,000 Bay Area homeless people in five years, with plans to bring it to

other places, as well.

Action point

A project like MicroPAD could be pitched to local officials as a

concrete way to help solve the homelessness in the city. Compared

to similar containers, it is more modular — allowing developers to

make entire buildings using MicroPADs as building blocks. Still, it is

an affordable solution that could help savvy businesses with a

(local) government contract. And if it proves viable, the next one

will follow. Start by contacting Panoramic Interests and take it from

there.

Panoramic InterestsSan Francisco, California, UnitedStates

MicroPAD @ Panoramic

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According to the World Health Organization, common mental disorders

include depression, which affects about 300 million; bipolar disorder,

which affects about 60 million; dementia, which affects about 50 million;

and schizophrenia and other psychoses, which affects about 23 million

people globally.

Obviously, addressing mental health issues is important for communities

all around the world. And so, two artists — Elizabeth Commandeur and

Mark Starmach — have come up with a neat way to help people get what

they truly need: bravery, connection, calm and purpose.

Developed in collaboration with mental health professionals, their

Art installation promotes mental healthCalled Intangible Goods, it is dubbed an experimental line of

conveniently-packaged "consumables for the mind."

Art Mental Health

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installation — called Intangible Goods — was presented by Art & About

Sydney between March 26 and April 8, 2018.

The setup included a vending machine that was located in a number of

sites across Sydney, Australia. Each good was selling for AU$2 and was

designed to momentarily satisfy a need higher up on Maslow's hierarchy

than, say, chocolate and crinkle-cut chips.

For instance — items such as notes, maps and pencils were in packets

with labels like "Bravery," "Friendship" and "Structure" — with each

item being selected to encourage people to take time for their emotional

needs. The installation, therefore, asked the public to think about

consumerism and our psychological needs. It did so by imagining being

able to access and purchase solutions for emotional needs with the same

ease as we do our physical needs.

All profits were donated to Beyond Blue, the Mental Health Association

NSW (WayAhead) and the Schizophrenia Research Institute at NeuRA.

Takeaway

Mental health is important for our wellbeing but it often gets overlooked.

Art installations like "The Intangible Goods" engage people in a

conversation about mental and emotional wellbeing through an

interactive experience. It also makes it easy to access and purchase

solutions for emotional needs. And while such solutions can't replace true

feelings, it does make one think about more important things in life,

beyond those that could be bought with money.

⏱⏱⏱⏱ 💰💰💰

Contacts & Links:

Action point

With mental health increasingly becoming a serious issue in many

parts of the world, taking proactive action with a project like this

could help companies score some points (and contracts) in the

municipalities they serve. And this is especially true for the

center/left-leaning cities where local officials could use such a

project to extend or strengthen their position among the liberals in

the city/town. The project combines art with mental health, helping

remove some stigma associated with mental health while

potentially helping local artists.

Intangible Goods @ Art & About Sydney

Sand is the most consumed resource on earth after fresh water, yet it is

being excavated at a rate faster than it can renew itself. And, naturally,

there is an increasing concern about the world's dwindling supplies of

construction-grade sand, which is an essential ingredient in concrete.

Scientists at Imperial College London have found a way to overcome this

problem; they developed a new construction material that is as strong as

concrete but has half the carbon footprint.

Called Finite, the material is biodegradable and made from desert sand,

which is a resource that has until now been useless for construction.

Whereas course, gritty construction-grade sand is stripped from beaches

This low-carbon concrete is made fromdesert sandCalled Finite, the material is strong as concrete, biodegradable and made

from desert sand, which is a resource that has until now been useless for

construction.

Materials

and river beds — desert sand has remained an untapped resource as its

wind-swept grains are too fine and smooth to be used as filler in concrete.

Finite uses proprietary binder ingredients that are a guarded secret, but

the scientists are confident that it outperforms concrete on key

sustainability metrics. Specifically, the main binder in concrete is

responsible for 5% of global CO2 emissions.

Furthermore, the new material is also said to be much more reusable than

concrete, which often ends up in a landfill. In contrast, Finite is non-toxic

and can be left to decompose naturally, or remolded to be used in another

project. The material could be used to make pavilions, then after three

months when the event ends it can be deconstructed safely.

The team believes Finite is ideal for use in the Middle East as the raw

material for the concrete alternative can be scooped straight out of the

desert, rather than being expensively imported.

Early experiments with resin casting have demonstrated that Finite can

also be used to create objects such as vases and bowls. Left untouched, it

takes on the color and gradation of the filler, but natural dyes can be added

in the mixing process.

Cost-wise, Finite should be a viable competitor to concrete in the

construction industry once it is manufactured on a larger scale, because of

the abundance of raw materials.

Takeaway

Finite is welcome in light of the global shortage of construction-grade

sand. The concrete industry alone uses approximately 25 billion tons of

sand and gravel each year, and glass production is another sand-intensive

market.

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Novel materials made from readily available substances or those that can

be recycled after their initial use are making headlines. This helps create a

circular economy, which aims to recycle as much as possible while using

as few raw resources and throwing away as little as possible.

That being said, and as researchers suggest, Finite is ideal for countries in

the Middle East where the raw material can be easily scooped straight out

of the desert, rather than being imported from other countries.

Action point

Selling a novelty to the government is a tricky yet potentially

rewarding task. Nevertheless, it is possible with Finite's low-carbon

credentials helping along the way. The new material is not only

better for the environment, but also shows the city/country — as

well as the service provider — in a more modern light. The first

company to successfully build a project using sand from desert

stands to win big contracts down the road.

Imperial College LondonLondon, United Kingdom

Dyson School of Design Engineering @Imperial College London

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Typically builders add a layer of insulation to a brick wall, but what if they

could just build that same wall using hollow bricks that are stuffed with

great insulation? That could be a game-changer, and that's what

scientists from Swiss research group Empa have created — claiming it to

be the best-insulating brick yet.

Called "aerobricks," they use a type of aerogel — a manufactured material

derived from a gel in which the liquid component of the gel has been

replaced with a gas. Along with being extremely lightweight, aerogels have

very high thermal insulation properties, which has led to their use in

products such as jackets.

In the Empa study, lead scientist Jannis Wernery and his team developed a

Aerogel-filled bricks are a potentialgame-changer for insulationThis fancy brick provides about a third better insulation than a perlite-

filled brick of the same structure and thickness.

Construction Materials

paste composed of aerogel particles, which can easily be stuffed into

regular hollow clay bricks. The end result is a brick that provides about a

third better insulation than a perlite-filled brick of the same structure and

thickness. Better yet, when compared to regular non-insulting bricks,

aerobricks conduct heat up to eight times better.

According to Empa, this means that in order to match the insulating value

of an aerobrick wall that was just 20 cm thick (7.9 in), a wall made from

non-insulating bricks would have to be almost 2 meters thick (6.6 ft).

The problem, however, is the price as the aerogel used in the aerobricks is

currently quite expensive. This makes one square meter of a wall built

with these bricks costing around 500 Swiss francs (about $521).

Nevertheless, the hope is that as technology advances and the price of the

aerogel falls, the aerobricks will become practical and more affordable

building material.

Takeaway

Swiss scientists with research group Empa have created an insulating

brick that would enable walls to isolate heat up to eight times better

compared to a wall constructed from standard clay and shale bricks. Called

aerobricks, they are filled with aerogel — a lightweight, manufactured

material made from gel in which gas replaces the gel's otherwise liquid

component. A traditional brick wall would need to be more than 6 feet

deep to achieve the same insulative properties as an 8-inch-deep

aerobrick wall. Also, a perlite brick wall would have to be 35% thicker than

an aerobrick wall.

The problem, however, is the price with aerobricks costing much more

than traditional brick. This, in turn, makes them suitable only for select

projects in which the thickness (or thinness) of the walls matters and

where the money is not an issue.

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Action point

Pitching new technologies to governments is never easy. But, while

it has its challenges, it also brings higher rewards — which

translates into higher profits. Aerobricks represent a novel

technology that could be best used for specific projects in which the

thickness (or thinness) of the walls matters and where the money is

not an issue. Many governments don't mind the premium if they can

prove to the public it was worth the cost. And with aerobricks they

get to show their constituents they are willing to embrace new ways

and new technologies. That could help them win votes and your

company - a lucrative contract.

EmpaDübendorf, Zurich, Switzerland

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Urban farming is a growing trend with startups trying to take advantage of

the otherwise unused (or little-used) spaces for cultivating food.

One of the more interesting projects in this field, called La Caverne (the

cave), comes from a French startup called Cycloponics that turned an

underground garage in Paris into a vertical farm to grow mushrooms,

lettuce, and herbs — providing fresh food for local people.

Said parking spaces were built by the government during the 1960's to

Unused underground garage in Paristurned into an urban farmThe vertical farm grows mushrooms, lettuce, and herbs and sells them at

local farmers' markets, restaurants, and independent grocery stores.

Agriculture Urban Farming

1970's but they became abandoned as the driving population declined.

Cycloponics thus decided to grow vegetables via an urban agriculture

project in a garage under the city.

The company's founders Jean-Noël Gertz and Théophile Champagnat had

their first such "gig" in 2017 when they transformed an old military

storage room in Strasbourg into an urban farming site. That project has

since been refined and brought to Paris, where they rented the 3,500-

square-meter (37,700-square-foot) underground garage from a social

building for a new farm.

Located underneath La Chapelle, a neighborhood north of central Paris,

the farm uses an agricultural technique called hydroponic farming, in

which greens are grown under LEDs in nutrient-rich water without

sunlight or soil.

La Caverne has clusters of button, shiitake, and oyster mushrooms

growing on bricks of composted manure. It also harvests chicory (a coffee

substitute), which doesn't require any sunlight to grow, and microgreens

— which sit in beds of nutrient-rich water rather than soil.

Cycloponics launched the farm with the goal of growing veggies year-

round and closer to the city compared to traditional outdoor farms. It sells

the produce at local farmers' markets, restaurants, and independent

grocery stores — with the goal of reaching the yearly production target of

54 tones.

The company aims to be a part of the "renewal of tomorrow's cities by

transforming unused urban space to produce amazing vegetables."

Takeaway

Cycloponics has brought urban farming to an underground garage in

Paris. Its farm, called La Caverne, uses hydroponic techniques to bring

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organic farming into abandoned urban areas without the use of soil or

natural sunlight. It grows lettuce, herbs, and mushrooms that are sold to

local markets and restaurants.

The company aims to be a part of the "renewal of tomorrow's cities by

transforming unused urban space to produce amazing vegetables."

Cycloponicsi aims to hit the yearly production target of 54 tones at La

Caverne.

Action point

Now's the time to join the urban farming revolution before it

becomes a crowded market. Right now, businesses can buy or rent a

less attractive space (as far as "regular" businesses are considered)

for next to nothing and use it to establish an urban farm. If needed -

learn from the pros. Perhaps you could contact Cycloponics to ask

(pay) for their (best) practices or check some other urban farming

projects on our site. There's money to be made in this market if you

act early.

CycloponicsParis, France

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You may don't know it, but the fashion industry is one of the major

polluting industries in the world. The production and distribution of the

crops, fibers, and garments used in fashion all contribute to differing

forms of environmental pollution — including water, air, and soil

pollution.

Some of the main factors that contribute to this industrial caused

pollution are the vast overproduction of fashion items, the use of synthetic

fibers, and the agriculture pollution of fashion crops.

One of the biggest retailers of "Fast Fashion" items is H&M, and the good

Stockholm power plant burning H&Mclothes instead of fossil fuelsA power station northwest of the Swedish capital is to become fossil fuel-

free by 2020 with a little help from moldy H&M clothes.

Energy Waste Management

thing is that the company is aware of that. So it — as well as some other

major chains — is trying to reduce their environmental footprint.

In its home turf of Sweden, H&M is helping a Swedish power plant

Malarenergi replace coal for good.

The combined heat and power station in Vasteras, northwest of

Stockholm, is converting from oil- and coal-fired generation to become a

fossil fuel-free facility by 2020. That means burning recycled wood and

waste, including clothes H&M can't sell.

The move comes as part of Sweden's bigger plan to reduce its (negative)

impact on the environment. And by converting old plants to burn biofuels

and garbage, the biggest Nordic economy is hoping to edge out the last of

its fossil fuel units by the end of this decade.

Malarenergi has a deal with the neighboring city of Eskilstuna to burn

their trash, some of which comes from H&M's central warehouse in the

same city.

H&M highlights that it doesn't burn any clothes that are safe to use, but

those that contain mold or do not comply with their strict restriction on

chemicals.

Between January and November 2017, the Vasteras plant burned about 15

tons of discarded clothes from H&M, compared with about 400,000 tons

of rubbish. Malarenergi has deals with several nearby cities to receive

rubbish and even imports waste from Britain to fuel its main boiler.

In comparison, the facility — which supplies power to about 150,000

households — burned as much as 650,000 tons of coal at its peak in 1996.

The plant's two remaining fossil-fuel generators are expected to be shut

down in 2020.

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Takeaway

Fast Fashion means more pollution and the idea to use otherwise unusable

(and definitely unsellable) clothing as fuel is solid. It's not coal but it can

burn, helping reduce the use of fossil fuels while also providing an

effective way to deal with the fashion industry's garbage. Cause there's a

lot of it.

However, burning old clothes will work only in places where there is a

huge supply of such material. And that could potentially include locations

near major distribution centers of companies such as Zara, Fashion 21 and

so on. Other places, however, will have to "settle" for "regular" garbage,

which comes in cheap — while still producing enough heat to keep the

turbines up and running.

Action point

This could be a complicated task for any single company, so it may

require forming a consortium that would include those who collect

the garbage (whether it's clothing or not), sort it, and finally burn it

for profit. Because of the obvious benefits — waste management +

energy production — the project should be relatively easy to sell to

local or national authorities. The hard part is financing and

operation, though structuring such a deal is well worth the effort.

Mälarenergi ABVästerås, Sweden

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A company called Eurovia, which is a subsidiary of VINCI, has devised a

new function for roads, namely, the production of heat energy. Called

Power Road, it is able to capture the sun's heat energy, which can be

stored and distributed to nearby buildings and infrastructure through a

heat-pump system. The magic happens in the upper layers of the road

that stores a heat exchanger, consisting of tubes in which circulates a

coolant.

The energy produced in this way can heat residential and office buildings,

shopping complexes, eco-neighborhoods, and public structures such as

swimming pools while enhancing their energy mix. In winter, this energy

may also be used to remove snow and ice from parking lots, roads and

A road that captures and stores energy tomelt snow and heat buildingsCalled Power Road, it can capture up to 20% of the sun's heat allowing it

to melt 10cm of snow in just a few hours.

Infrastructure Smart Roads

airport runways — thereby reducing the need for salting operations.

Specifically, 100% of the heating needs of a 70 m2 housing unit could be

met with a 25 m2 road segment.

On the other hand, during summer - above-ground heat capture can cool

roads and, as a result, lessen the effects of urban heat islands.

The main idea, according to Eurovia is for roads to play a new role in our

transition to a carbon-free economy. And by storing heat energy, we can

now shift the phasing of the production and consumption of a renewable

energy source. In that sense, Power Road is a multiple-purpose solution

that provides huge development potential that is proportionate to busy

urban transport networks.

In addition to producing renewable energy, Power Road is itself a

sustainable process. Its component parts — particularly, the tubes that

make the heat exchanger — can all be recycled. Operating it is compatible

with Eurovia's other environmental solutions, including warm asphalt

mixes and road-material recycling. Furthermore, with its ability to

regulate temperature, Power Road prevents warping stresses, thereby

extending the lifespan of roads.

Eurovia developed Power Road in partnership with the French Institute of

Science and Technology for Transport, Development and Networks

(IFSTTAR); CEA Tech (the technology research unit of the French Atomic

Energy and Alternative Energy Commission); and French environmental

engineering group BURGEAP. The technology received funding support

from Programme Investissements d'Avenir (PIA), which is managed by

ADEME (French Environment & Energy Management Agency).

Takeaway

Power Road is just like a regular road with added thermal energy

production capacity by capturing the heat of the sun. This heat is stored

Contacts & Links:

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and transmitted to surrounding infrastructure that helps to heat

residential buildings, office buildings, shops, eco-neighborhoods or

public facilities such as swimming pools, by improving their energy mix.

In winter, this heat can be used to clear snow and ice from parking lots,

airport roads or runways by reducing salting operations, and in summer to

cool pavements and help to reduce urban heat islands through surface

heat capture.

Action point

Savvy road builders and construction companies could adopt this

technology (license it) from Eurovia and offer it to modern cities

looking to cut their carbon footprint. Specifically, Power Roads will

find their best customers among the airport authorities, as well as

major shopping malls, sports venues and all other buildings with

huge parking lots — where heat absorbant roads could help keep

roads clear from snow and ice in winter and cool them down in

summer. This, in turn, could help companies come up with math

that would justify the initially higher cost of building a Power Road

instead of a conventional road.

EuroviaRueil Malmaison Cedex, France

Power Road Official Website

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The town of Lidzbark Warminski in Poland is experimenting with a night-

glowing bike path.

Created by TPA Instytut Badan Technicznych — a "materials technology

competence center for asphalt, concrete, earthworks, and geotechnical

engineering" — and installed by contractor Strabag, the experimental

road is about 6 feet wide and 330 feet long and costs roughly $31,000.

The solar-charged lane uses materials called phosphors and is meant not

just to be easy on the eyes but on cyclists' joints and noggins, ostensibly

raising the level of safety during night riding. Said material is able to give

light for more than 10 hours, which means that the path overnight emits

light energy and re-gathers the next day.

Glow-in-the-dark bike path makescycling saferPoland's town of Lidzbark Warminski is testing a self-sufficient, solar-

powered bike lane that not only looks good but also makes cyclists safer.

Infrastructure Transportation

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Charging by day via the sun, the luminous blue cycling strip is also eco-

friendly and a new addition to a larger recreation path that leads up to

Wielochowskie Lake. Its main goal, however, is to help prevent bicycle and

pedestrian accidents.

"We hope that the glowing bicycle path will help prevent bicycle and

pedestrian accidents at night," said TPA's President Igor Ruttmar. "It's a

problem here in Poland, especially in the areas farther from the cities that

are darker and more invisible in the night."

A few other European countries have been experimenting with similar

ideas as well, but have yet to find a solution as environmentally friendly as

TPA's bike lane. A Dutch designer created a "Starry Night" bike trail in the

town of Eindhoven in 2014, which was home for several years to the

famous artist Van Gogh.

And in 2013, at Christ's Pieces Park in Cambridge, England, a U.K. based

company called Pro-Teq Surfacing sprayed glow-in-the-dark coating

called "Starpath" on 1,614 square feet of a path to illuminate it at night.

Takeaway

Cycling is one of the most eco-friendly ways to travel, and obviously —

cities across the world are making new and adopting existing plans to

accommodate cyclists. Aside from reducing pollution, cycling makes

people healthier but it could also be dangerous. And by guiding cyclists at

night, TPA's luminous cycling strip can help prevent bicycle and

pedestrian accidents.

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Contacts & Links:

Action point

A savvy business could contact TPA to bring their technology to new

places, pitching it as an eco-friendly way to (further) promote

cycling in the community — while at the same time making them

safer. And because there is no external lighting involved, the end

price of such bike lanes is more affordable (than traditional lanes

with lamps around them). So your pitch in a single sentence should

go like this: eco-friendly, safe(r) cycling that doesn't break the

bank.

TPA Instytut Badan Technicznych

As the world's population keeps growing and lifestyle expectations rising,

the global rate of consumption is growing exponentially. This further

leads to more waste, part of which gets into our food chain — rendering

the environment incapable of supporting life. Compounding the issue is

the fact that waste in international waters is nobody's direct

accountability.

We can't stop or restrict economic activity, but we could catch our waste

before tide, wind and currents carry it out to the open ocean. And that's

where RanMarine's solar-powered aqua drones kick in — to perform

autonomous waterway cleanup and data collection.

This aqua drone can clean waterways,collect dataIt's like a big aqua Roomba that cleans up waste and pollution while

logging real-time water quality data.

Drones Pollution Waste Management

Called "WasteShark," it resembles a miniature catamaran with a sieve-

like basket under it. The drone measures about 3 feet by 4 feet, weighs

about 150 pounds and trolls along the surface of the water scooping up

litter, biomass, microplastics and other detritus — powered by a battery

that lasts up to 16 hours, depending on conditions. Аll in all, it can "eat"

up to 200 liters of trash in one trip — after it is brought back to recycling

and waste-management partners for processing.

WasteShark could also be equipped with lidar to avoid collisions from up

to 60 meters away, along with up to 15 customizable IoT sensors for

measuring factors such as temperature, pH, depth, green algae,

hydrocarbons in oil, and more. The drones use GPS waypoints and

autonomous software to follow set pathways collecting waste and data —

or can be steered manually via remote control.

WasteShark is best suited for harbors, rivers, and canals — so-called

"waste chokeholds" that RanMarine has identified based on weather

patterns, shipping and wind movements, and the tides. The company has

already deployed its drone in the Port of Rotterdam and brought it

stateside to the Baltimore Harbor.

RanMarine says the drone doesn't harm fish, which generally swim away

from it as they do with sailboats. Birds also tend to avoid it. Although the

WasteShark does not operate in major shipping lanes, it is visible to

shipping traffic, per maritime law.

The company does not have plans to take the WasteShark out in the open

seas/oceans. Instead, it aims to vacuum up trash at ports and harbors to

stop plastic pollution at the source — wiping out floating debris before it

drifts down into the oceans.

Obviously, clients for these sorts of drones are city and county

governments with smart city tech and some kind of water nearby, along

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with water districts and special districts that might need to clear out

biomass like grass or duckweed from clogging turbines or other

equipment.

RanMarine's drones are offered to cities in three different packages: (1)

buy the drones as a capital purchase, and the company will help maintain

them; (2) hardware as a service, by which the customer pays an annual fee

and RanMarine takes care of everything; or (3) contract with local service

providers who will operate the drones.

Takeaway

Water pollution is a major problem in many countries around the world,

and even in places where governments are taking good care of their

waterways — WaterShark could help. Simply put, it is more efficient than

any manual operation, as it can work round the clock with little to no

maintenance required. What is required, however, is to make sure the

garbage it collects is recycled or disposed of in an eco-friendly way.

WaterShark also doesn't harm fish, which generally swim away from it as

they do with sailboats, while birds tend to avoid it. Although it shouldn't

be operated in major shipping lanes, these aqua drones are visible to

shipping traffic, per maritime law.

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Contacts & Links:

Action point

A smart company could first step is to contact RanMarine and ask

them for distribution rights in your country. Then, it's all about

marketing & selling, and then structuring the deal. As we've noted

above, cities could either (1) buy drones as a capital purchase, and

your company will help maintain them; (2) hardware as a service, by

which the customer pays an annual fee and your company takes care

of everything; or (3) ongoing contract for operating the drones.

RanMarine TechnologyRotterdam, The Netherlands

Paying rent and bills on time and the rising deficit of student beds are

among the most common problems students across Europe and elsewhere

are facing. In Denmark alone, it's estimated that 24,000 students are

without residences. This lack of housing could have serious consequences

for cities, as students find it challenging to attend schools in urban areas

where they could participate in knowledge-based economies.

And so Copenhagen-based housing startup Urban Rigger decided to do

something about it, to build low-cost modular housing in the city's urban

harbors, which are offered to students for roughly $600 per month —

which is an absolute steal in the expensive capital of Denmark.

Shipping containers turned into low-cost students residencesComprised of shipping containers that could be organized in different

configurations, each unit boasts enough space to house 12 students at the

same time.

Education Housing

Urban Rigger didn't do it alone, having enlisted the help of renown Danish

architecture firm Bjarke Ingels. And because Copenhagen's harbors are

located near its city center, the two parties created a solution that was not

only affordable but in a desirable part of town.

Said solution is comprised of modular shipping containers that could be

organized into any number of spatial configurations, with each unit

boasting enough space to house upward of 12 students at the same time.

For instance, by designing a system of concrete pontoons and stacking

nine containers in a circle, 12 studio residences are formed around a

central, protective glass shell-covered courtyard, used as a lively meeting

place for students.

In every configuration, each container receives power from photovoltaic

arrays and utilizes the area's thermal mass of water to heat up or cool

down the interior. This heat-exchange system is said to be incredibly

efficient while reducing emissions by 81% compared to conventional

heating. Even NASA has contributed to the efforts, lending an advanced

aerogel to seal the interior.

Every renter gets a private bedroom, bathroom, and kitchen — while also

being able to benefit from amenities such as community gardens, kayak

landings, bathing platforms, and outdoor cooking areas — further

promoting the advantages of communal living.

At first, the project was merely experimental, though both Urban Rigger

and Ingels hoped to expand it to other cities around the globe. Work has

even begun on a 24-unit project in Sweden with field requests also coming

from North America. If all goes according to the plan, communal floating

cities could be the future of residential living, and not just for student

housing.

While living in a shipping container on water may not sound all that

luxurious, it's not hard to see the benefit and cost-effectiveness of Urban

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Rigger and Ingel's creation. In fact, it could be easily replicated in other

harbor cities experiencing an industrial decline in search of affordable

accommodation, but where space is limited.

Takeaway

With rent costs getting out of control and the rising deficit of student

beds, Copenhagen-based housing startup Urban Rigger and architecture

firm Bjarke Ingels created a viable solution for the problem facing

students across Europe and elsewhere.

Comprised of modular shipping containers, the solution offers affordable

accommodation for students in the ever expensive capital of Denmark. It

is also eco-friendly, getting its power from photovoltaic arrays while

utilizing the area's thermal mass of water to heat up or cool down the

interior. This heat-exchange system is said to be incredibly efficient while

reducing emissions by 81% compared to conventional heating.

Nevertheless, every renter still gets its own private bedroom, bathroom,

and kitchen.

That being said, it is likely this system will be replicated in other harbor

cities experiencing an industrial decline in search of affordable

accommodation, but where space is limited.

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Contacts & Links:

Action point

A smart company could pitch this solution to local government

officials helping them solve the student accommodation problem

with an eco-friendly solution. Sure enough, this isn't a high-end

place to live in, but it gets the job done while potentially using

otherwise unused city resources (old harbors). Plus, if it works in a

highly developed nation like Denmark, it is safe to assume it can

work in other parts of the world just as well. All these things should

be a part of the pitch to local politicians, making for a win-win deal

between the city (which solves the real problem) and your company

(which gets to win a government contract).

Urban RiggerCopenhagen, Denmark

Bjarke Ingels GroupCopenhagen, New York and London

Who says shipping containers are single-purpose products? Eric Ellestad

thought that is not the case and so he came up with an idea to build a farm

inside a repurposed, 40-foot-long shipping container in a parking lot in

Hawthorne. And so Local Roots was born with a bold mission to solve the

biggest challenges of modern agriculture.

Its solution, called TerraFarm, is a vertical farming system that uses

custom-engineered LED lighting and a recirculating hydroponic watering

system to stimulate rapid plant growth and use 97% less water than

outdoor farming. Such micro-farms, enclosed inside shipping containers,

can not only be delivered and set up anywhere in the world — but also

making for organic produce, with the highly controlled environment

This vertical farming system is enclosedinside a shipping containerIt also uses 97% less water than outdoor farming, with the highly

controlled environment helping to avoid pesticides, GMOs and herbicides.

Agriculture

helping to avoid pesticides, GMOs and herbicides.

The system also includes sensors and computer vision integrated with an

artificial neural network to monitor the plants — which takes place from

California.

At the moment, Local Roots is growing kale, lettuce and spring-mix

greens for local customers — but the intention is to eventually branch out

into other delicate crops such as fruits and berries. Greens are the most

conducive to this system, as they don't survive the lengthy supply chain

that more hearty vegetables like potatoes can easily endure.

Local Roots claims that TerraFarm has achieved "cost parity with

traditional, outdoor farming" with each unit producing the equivalent of

"three to five acres of farmland," using 97% less water through water

recapture and harvesting the evaporated water through air conditioning.

Again, such a closed — yet modular and customizable — system makes

TerraFarm ideal for so-called "food deserts" wherever they happen to be.

In fact, Local Roots says the system is weather, climate and even planet

agnostic.

The first vertical farm in a US grocery store opened in Dallas, Texas in

2016.

Takeaway

Local Roots' TerraFarm goes beyond urban farming by allowing people all

across the world to produce fresh vegetables. The eco-friendly system is

deemed to work in all weather and climate conditions, making it equally

suitable for urban environments, and countries with extreme hot or cold

temperatures. As such, it not only brings fresh — and organic —

vegetables to local populations, but can also serve as an important

element in various food security plans and schemes.

Contacts & Links:

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Action point

These days, many folks prefer eating organic, locally-produced food

and TerraFarm delivers on both fronts. In that sense, partnering

with Local Roots and bringing its technology to the local markets

could turn into a good business. Furthermore, since the system is

almost fully automated, there are no high operational costs, leaving

more room for profits. Add potential local subsidies to the mix — or

at very least some free promotion — and you get a winning concept.

Local Roots FarmsLos Angeles, California, UnitedStates

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A company called Kite Bricks wants to disrupt the construction business

with a Lego-like building system. It has developed "Smart Bricks" (S-

Bricks) made out of high-strength concrete that can be used to make

buildings rapidly, cheaply and energy efficiently.

These patent-pending bricks come in a variety of forms and sizes for

different purposes and can easily connect together, with rows of knobs

along the top of bricks that slot into voids along the bottom of other

bricks. A special adhesive — which works like a super-strong double-

sided sticky tape — dispenses with the need for cement.

S-Bricks can be delivered to building sites in a kit complete with standard

These Lego-like bricks are meant formaking full-sized buildingsThey could also be used to make bridges and sidewalks, all of which will be

highly insulated, much stronger, and a lot cheaper to build.

Construction Materials

doors and windows, allowing for structures to be assembled with a

minimum of debris and labor. Steel bars can be slotted through dedicated

channels in the bricks to provide the same support as traditionally

reinforced concrete.

The bricks feature open internal spaces for insulation making for energy-

efficient buildings, with Kite Bricks claiming the average five-story

building made with S-Bricks can save around 30% energy compared with

traditional construction methods.

The spaces are also left for infrastructure elements such as plumbing and

wiring to run through the bricks. What's more, there are removable panels

that allow for easy access to these elements so that portions of walls don't

need to be torn down for maintenance.

Beyond houses and buildings, these smart bricks can also be used to make

bridges and sidewalks — all of which will be highly insulated, much

stronger, and a lot cheaper. According to Kite Bricks, S-Bricks are able to

reduce the cost of construction by as much as 50 percent.

Takeaway

A company called Kite Bricks wants to revolutionize the way we make

buildings with a Lego-like smart brick. Called S-Brick, it is made out of

high-strength concrete that can be used to make buildings rapidly,

cheaply and energy efficiently. Also like Legos, these bricks are available in

a variety of forms and sizes for different purposes and can easily connect

together, with rows of knobs along the top of bricks that slot into voids

along the bottom of other bricks.

S-Bricks can be delivered to building sites in a kit complete with standard

doors and windows allowing for structures to be assembled with a

minimum of debris and labor. And in addition to buildings — they could

Contacts & Links:

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also be used for making bridges and sidewalks — all of which will be

highly insulated, much stronger, and a lot cheaper.

Action point

There are two key facts everyone should know about S-Bricks: time

and money. In other words, they allow for the making of houses

(and other structures) faster at a lower cost — while delivering

energy efficiencies. This further translates into a solid business

opportunity allowing savvy companies to outcompete other

developers and, yes, win government contracts for projects such as

student accommodation, affordable housing, emergency situations

(refugee crises) and more.

Kite Bricks Ltd.Rehovot, Israel

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Conclusion

Congratulations! You are at the end of the ebook, but that's just a start.

Aside from these 50, there are more projects on the Sustainable Avenue

website with new ones being added on a regular basis. As the site member,

you will be notified via email about all new projects that get included on

the site.

However, if you could not find something that could fit your unique needs

-- feel free to contact us and explain what you're looking for. We'll try our

best to find something similar, something that works for you.

It is our hope that Sustainable Avenue will help your business flourish and

ultimately - make municipalities you serve that much better.

To your success!

Sustainable Avenue team