Sustainability issue: Energy, Emissions, Health

Beijing has a major air pollution problem due to the intense industrial activities that rely on the burning of coal. These emissions lead to a perpetual smog problem (32% of smog is carbon) and lead to thousands of premature deaths every year.

 Technology:

• The Smoke Free Project was founded by Dutch designer, Daan Roosegarde. The project includes two phases.
• The first was to build a 7-meter tower that sucks in polluted air like smog and cleans it at a nano-level. More specifically, the tower uses carbon from smog particle and cleans this air before releasing it back out clean. Already installed in various parts of Beijing, the technology has proved to make the air in those areas 70-75% cleaner.
• The second is for the tower to capture smog and transform it into diamonds. Under 30 minutes of pressure, the air can be compressed into diamonds. The diamonds would be sold to support the development and buildin gof more Smoke Free towers.

Source:
Article title: Why turning China’s smog into Diamonds isn’t as crazy as it sounds
Website name: We Forum
Article Link: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/06/why-turning-smog-into-diamonds-isn-t-as-crazy-as-it-sounds/

Stakeholders:

• Beijing city government
• National government
• Smoke Free Project
• Citizens

Deployment/Implementation:

1. Attract investors to raise funds to further research and development of the technology to lower its costs and improve the efficiency.
2. Deploy in more parts of Beijing and begin extending to other Chinese cities.
3. Begin targeting other extremely polluted cities in India and Indonesia.

 

Sustainability issue: Energy, Waste

Increasingly populous cities around the world are facing a housing crisis: a shortage of affordable housing. Furthermore, as urban residents are increasingly mobile many find themselves moving to new areas. In doing so, they are forced to sell their houses/apartment and seek a new investment elsewhere. The process of building a house is costly, resource-intensive, lengthy and stressful for people that seek to relocate.

 Technology:

• The KODA is a 30m² unit with multiple uses that can be set up in unused central plots and developmental land with temporary building permits. The unit can be transformed into homes, offices, showrooms, shops, business hubs, community spaces or classrooms.
• The compact unit has large glass panels in the front that are made of four-layers. Its walls are made of concrete-timber composite panels that are 7 inches thick. Yacht sails are fitted while casting the concrete to provide texture. All parts are pre-manufactured offsite and assembled once on site.
• The units are fitted with SMART technology with climate control sensors for temperature and CO₂ levels, digital door lock, built-in LED lighting as well as smart heating, cooling and power systems that are concealed within the walls. The roofs are fitted with solar panels which are expected to produce more energy than the unit consumes annually, even in places with little sun.
• The home can be assembled in seven hours and disassembled in four hours. As such, the unit is mobile and can be re-assembled in new locations as desired by its owner. The parts are transported to the site with a trailer and then are assembled by crane.

 Source:
Article title: Inside the new $133,000 tiny house that can be taken apart to move with its owners
Website name: Business Insider
Article Link: http://www.businessinsider.com/inside-koda-tiny-house-move-with-owners-2016-10
Company website link: http://www.kodasema.com/#contact

Stakeholders:

• Kodasema (company that makes KODA)
• Retailers/companies
• Residents
• Schools
• City government

Deployment/Implementation:

• Set up partnerships with retailers, hotels and schools to roll-out and scale up KODA nationally (in Estonia). Once costs are driven down by increasing demand, invest in more factory capacity and begin to establish partnerships in EU.
• Seek ways to market the KODA living model to household residents that seek an affordable, smart and eco-friendly housing.
• Partner with cities that wish to build community spaces (or other engaging cultural spaces) in vacant plots of the city.

Sustainability issue: Health, Energy, Water

Global population is increasing, with more people moving to cities and more consumerism overall. This has grown demand for food, which in turn has led to the use of pesticides and other technologies to maximize yields. The impacts of this are tremendous on human health, leading to cancers and other diseases. Furthermore, food demands across the world are increasingly supplied from all corners of the world. The global transport and trade of food is extremely inefficient and requires significant energy and water consumption.

Technology:

• Niwa is a high-tech indoor garden gadget that allows people to grow food form their own home. This addresses both the issue of pesticides and the issue of transporting crops across the world, which requires energy and water.
• The device has a hydroponic base that use mineral solutions instead of soil. It allows you to plant and grow a small vegetable crop with the help of an integrated fan, lights and sprinklers.
• The only manual requirement is for the person to choose which seed to “plant” and then drop them into the base. The rest of the “growing” process fully automated as sensors allow regulation of the humidity and temperature to foster perfect growing conditions.

Source:
Article title: The Kitchen Garden Goes High Tech
Website name: NY Times
Article Link: https://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/05/19/the-kitchen-garden-goes-high-tech/
Company website link: http://getniwa.com

Stakeholders:

• Citizens/residences
• Niwa company
• Farmers
• Supermarkets/food retailers

Deployment/Implementation:

• Technology launched through a Kickstarter campaign but is not ready yet to be shipped. However, it can already be pre-ordered. More funds should be collected by pitching to investors to ensure that it can be commercial soon.
• In the meantime, those funds should also be allocated to enhancing the marketing of the product through social media and advertisements in cities (e.g. subways). Should pay health-conscious celebrities who can endorse the products.
• Begin shipping the product to those who have preordered, open the online store and find retailers to sell to.

Sustainability issue: Energy,health

Traffic congestion results in significant air pollution in cities around the world. A study by Harvard, found that traffic congestion in 83 of the nation’s largest urban areas contributes to more than 2,200 premature deaths annually and costs the health system at least $18 billion. Congestion also causes noise pollution, economic losses due to unproductive time, unhappiness and increases fuel demand.

Technology:

• The Boring Company, founded by Elon Musk, is an underground tunnel concept that would alleviate traffic congestion.
• The technology involves digging tunnels that are less than 14 feet underneath cities (starting in California).
• Vehicles on overground roads would drive up to an elevator station and slide into a stabilized electric skate (a flat plate on wheels propelled by an electric motor).
• Once fixed on this electric skate the elevator would bring the vehicle down and the vehicle would be propelled through the tunnel (similar to a train). The controlled autonomous skate would allow vehicles to travel up to 125 miles per hour in urban areas and eliminates possibilities of human error or swerving.
• According to the company, the electric component of the skate would result in zero-emissions. Therefore, for every mile the skate transports a gas-burning vehicle, it becomes a zero-emission mile. However, this is only fully valid if the power comes from renewables.

Source:
Article title: Elon Musk Says Elevator to Underground Tunnel Should be Functional Next Week
Website name: Forbes
Company website: https://www.boringcompany.com/
Link: https://www.forbes.com/sites/lianeyvkoff/2017/06/30/elon-musk-says-elevator-to-underground-tunnel-should-be-functional-next-week/#115d85a97f7a

Stakeholders:

• Elon Musk
• The Boring Company
• Cities
• Residents

Deployment/Implementation:

1. Tunnels are currently incredibly expensive to dig. Creating an underground network of them below cities would be extortionately expensive. The first step is therefore to get investors onboard for the research and development of tunneling.
2. Tunneling costs will need to be improved through the boring machine equipment by automating the process, increasing the power output and making it electric.
3. Begin rolling out as a pilot program in a city in California, where the R&D and current tests are happening. Then, roll out gradually to cities that experience severe traffic congestion.

Sustainability issue: Energy, Safety & Health

Air pollution in cities results in thousands of premature deaths annually. Vehicles have a large role to play in air pollution levels. In addition to impacting human life span directly, vehicle emissions also contribute to climate change. From both a health and environmental perspective, biking is one of the simplest and most sustainable forms of transportation. Cities around the world are increasingly incentivizing the use of biking, yet in some places, residents feel discouraged by the insufficient of infrastructure and space for parking bikes. For instance, many receive fines for “illegally” parking bikes or do not feel comfortable leaving their bike in a public space due to theft or vandalism. Bicycles can also spoil surrounding sights and bother emergency services, such as ambulances and fire fighters.

 Technology:

• ECO Cycle is an underground automatic mechanical bicycle parking system that was created in Japan. The company now also produces mobile overground bike parking systems. Tokyo has numerous ECO cycle stations across cities which incentivizes commuters/residents to buy and use their bikes. In Tokyo, 14% of all journeys are made by bicycle, compared to 2% in London and 1% in New York.
• The technology includes a small entrance booth with a dropping-off/retrieving system automated by computer control. Each bike is fitted with an IC tag which is scanned when the bicycle is presented at the booth. The bicycle then goes down a rotating column and is stored in an empty rack underground. Each bicycle-owner also receives an IC card that must be presented to retrieve the bike. Once the IC card is scanned, the system takes 13 seconds on average to retrieve a bicycle.
• This technology saves space due to its compact design and can be used all over cities due to the small entrance booth design. The system is also anti-seismic.
• This fully automated system also eliminates the risk of theft or vandalism as it is a protected and inaccessible underground system. It also protects the equipment from rain and other damaging weather.

Source:
Article title: Forget the bike locker, ECO Cycle stores your bike under the ground
Website name: City of Future
Link: http://www.cityoffuture.org/projects/mobility/eco-cycle/

Stakeholders:

• Giken (parent company)
• Residents/communities
• Japanese city planners/government/council
• Other cities
• Large corporates

Deployment/Implementation:

• Company should seek to roll out this technology in other cities across the world by targeting bike-friendly cities. The first target city should be Amsterdam.
• The company should promote the technology by showcasing its use and accomplishments in Japan. It should then develop partnerships with city government and planners, as well as a range of other stakeholders through the Amsterdam Smart City initiative.
• The next step would be to target other bike-friendly European cities such as Stockholm and Copenhagen. It should also start dialogue with large corporates to establish their interest in having an on-site private access to the technology.