sustainable resource-management

The world's first sand battery has been built in Finland. This new system could be the key to clean renewable energy. It is a 7-metre high steel tank consisting of 100 tonnes of construction sand, two district heating pipes and a fan. The system will become a battery once the electricity generated by the wind turbines and solar panels heats the sand to 600 degrees Celsius. The tank is filled with 100 tonnes of low-grade construction sand. The system includes a fan to circulate the air and two district heating pipes.

The fire juggler couple, Krisztina and Krisztián, have chosen eco-architecture as the reason for starting their 3D adobe house printing project. Social responsibility and sustainability led them to self-sufficiency, of which eco-architecture is a part. 

The couple started to take a more serious interest in 3D printing when they started to use new materials, not just concrete. The ecological footprint of adobe is very small, and under ideal conditions it can be worked largely from subsoil, which does not need to be transported. 

The NN Power Cube is a modular unit combining technical features and smart solutions, which is able to provide a complete, uninterrupted power supply for a given system, building or part of a building, either stand-alone (installed in a container) or integrated into a building. The system is able to combine grid electricity, electricity generated by solar panels and electricity generated by an aggregator to ensure a consistent operation.

In the Danish city of Odense, a unique solution has been devised to make household heating needs greener. According to the report, the heat generated by servers in the local data centre is not wasted: instead of pumping it out into the environment, the data centre's cooling is connected to the local district heating system. This means that the incoming water, at 27 degrees Celsius, is heated by the heat generated by the data centre, so that it is fed back into the system at around 70 degrees Celsius.

The geothermal system will start to be installed in five new districts in Szeged. Four elements of the nine-part system have been completed.
The trial runs of the four completed systems have been underway since the start of the heating season and the results so far speak for themselves.
Thanks to the trial operation, half a million cubic metres less gas per month are needed to run the district heating service in Szeged. This saves between 20 and 30 million HUF every month.

Oceanix designs and builds floating cities for people that are in harmony with nature, so that they can provide a sustainable living space for people. The aim is to create new coastal land that adapts to sea level rise. 

The Orbit is a “vision for a next-generation community”, one that will transform Innisfil, a farming town of 43,000 people in Ontario with a raft of new technologies. “The Orbit is a cutting-edge community where small town and rural lifestyles co-exist with the benefits and attributes of urban living,” the development company said in a statement. The project was “catalysed” by the decision to start construction of a “next-generation transit hub”, GO Metrolinx, which will provide better connections to the likes of Toronto, just 60km away when it opens at some point between 2022 and 2025.

A complex energy programme is being implemented in Békéscsaba, Hungary as part of the Modern Cities Programme. This includes the SMART GRID system, geothermal heat recovery, SMART street lighting, and the development of intelligent traffic control and environmentally friendly public transport systems.

The objectives of the SMART GRID project are:

Helsinki metropolitan area published an open data portal showing the solar potential of the area's building on an interactive 3D map.

The data contains the photovoltaic production potential calculated per building, provided that the entire area suitable for solar panels is covered with solar panels. When calculating the annual electricity production potential, it was assumed that the efficiency of the solar panels is 15% and that they have been installed parallel to the roof on flat roofs as well.

Commisionned by Grupo Karim's, and designed by Stefano Boeri Architetti, the first Smart Forest City in Mexico will focus on innovation and environmental quality. The city balances green and built spaces, and is completely food and energy self-sufficient.