Cool Streets combines scientific research and public engagement, working with local communities to implement effective street tree plantings that provide shade in heat-affected urban areas and reduce CO2 emissions. Cool Streets provides a practical way for people to take action. Residents, community groups, schools, councils, housing corporations and developers can get involved and achieve environmental, economic and social benefits for their local area.
A significant part of the facade and roof of the MOL well in Istenhegyi út is also covered with evergreen plants, which insulate in winter and reduce the temperature in the building on warm summer days, provide oxygen-rich fresh air all year round and neutralize about 10 tons of CO2 gas per year. When designing the shop at the gas station, they tried to rely on recycled materials as much as possible, and plenty of organic products were also placed on the shelves.
The outdoor green wall and flower column scientific research program was launched in Debrecen in 2007, which later called the HIB (Hort-in-Box) project to integrate the latest scientific, biotechnological and engineering knowledge into a biologically balanced, multi-aesthetic, horticultural and technical , a modular plant habitat controlled in part by precision high-tech devices, by displaying it as a “mini garden” or a “box garden”.
One Central Park is currently the tallest building in Australia, covered with vegetation. Designed by Jean Nouvel and Patrick Black, the 166-meter-high building was built in 2013. The façade of the building is covered with 350 species of plants native to Australia. Their motorized mirrors on the roof reflect the sun’s rays so that the plants in the shadier parts of the building also get enough light. A 15 km stainless steel wire rope and 5,500 planters were used for the green walls.
The city of Vienna strongly supports the establishment of green walls. The green wall on the side of the MA48 office building was built in 2010 and has been under constant monitoring ever since. The city’s first green wall system is 450 m2 in size and consists of more than 3,000 m of lined stainless steel planting containers. The properties of the green wall are monitored with various sensors and its irrigation is provided by an automatic irrigation system. The summer cooling effect of the green wall is equivalent to the operation of 80 air conditioners of 3000 W each, 8 hours a day.
The city of Lahti in Finland has introduced a personal carbon trading (PCT) scheme to help reduce emissions from transport by encouraging a shift to sustainable mobility. Lahti’s strategic target is to reduce C02 emissions by 70 per cent from 1990 levels by 2030.
Climate action charity Possible has created a self-watering ‘green’ roadblock to help cities’ with their Covid-19 emergency transport plans. The roadblocks are designed to prevent the predicted surge in post-lockdown motor traffic from overwhelming UK city streets. Working with specialist civil engineering firms and horticultural experts, Possible’s innovation team adapted standard concrete roadblocks to embed high-tech rainwater reservoirs beneath recesses planted with a selection of drought-tolerant species.
Kaposvár set itself the goal of becoming a green smart city. For reaching their aim, they replaced their complete bus fleet, with 40 CNG-powered buses, which work with biogas produced by the Kaposvár Sugar Factory. They have improved public lighting, more than half of their candelabras working with LED bulbs, they are even able to control their brightness. They provide their wasteful buildings with a building management system - which is essentially a computer that controls consumers and energy use.
The aim of the „Protheus Project” is to build up a sustainable e-mobility system, produce renewable electricity, and store that energy for the use by the city of Paks and the surrounding Municipalities. The projects’ main goal is the creation of a healthier, more energy-efficient and inhabitant friendlier city. The projects are: charger infrasutcutre, driver qualification, e-move ticket and pass, electric bike and roller system, electric buses and cars/taxis, energy distribution, energy storage, home solar cells, Paks card, smart garage, Solar cell park and transporting application.
The city of Hämeenlinna has recently started ecosystem development work aimed at improving the town's competitiveness and sustaining its surrounding region.