Spotted: Together, heavy industry and transportation produce 40.4 per cent of the world’s annual greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Each sector has its own particular challenges in reducing pollution, and every manufacturing plant has its own individual machinery and processes. That complexity makes it challenging for businesses in sectors like steel, cement, telecoms, and automotive to identify ways to reduce emissions, implement changes, and track progress against company goals.
Using a deep understanding of those conditions, a team of industrial engineers worked together to create QiO Technologies to transform the ability of heavy industry to achieve carbon neutrality. Based on artificial intelligence (AI) analyses, the Foresight Sustainability Suite improves production efficiency, tracks the performance of every machine, and provides service and maintenance support.
QiO provides the three different parts of the Sustainability Suite separately or together, allowing businesses to focus on the areas they most want to improve. Foresight Optima maximises production efficiency. Foresight Maintenance tracks and predicts machine failures to help reduce operating downtime, and Foresight Service helps businesses better plan the timing and order of fixes and upgrades.
QiO’s latest product, Foresight Optima DC+, is specifically for data centres – themselves a significant contributor to global GHG emissions. With a recently closed series B round of funding that raised $10 million (around €9.4 million), QiO Technologies plans to focus its expansion into this area of work.
Manufacturing and chemical production process improvements are reducing pollution in several different ways. Springwise has spotted a new way of recycling plastic and hazardous chemical waste, and a new wood-fibre building material that produces almost zero waste.
‘heatherwick studio: building soulfulness’ at mori art museum
Tokyo’s Mori Art Museum is hosting its latest exhibition, Heatherwick Studio: Building Soulfulness, a poetic exploration into the type of architecture embued with heartfelt spirit. On show between Friday, March 17, and Sunday, June 4, 2023, at Tokyo City View, this is the first exhibition in Japan to display 28 major projects completed by HeatherwickStudio.
‘By looking at the projects – all of which are the result of a process of trial and error, where familiar structures and functions are reassessed, and new ideas are realized – from six different viewpoints: ‘Coming Together;’ ‘Connecting with Everyone;’ ‘Experiencing Sculptural Space;’ ‘Feeling Nature in Urban Space;’ ‘Bringing Memories to the Future;’ and ‘Playing and Using,’ the exhibition will explore what type of architecture brings with it the sort of kindness, beauty, intellectual stimulation and empathy that move the human heart,’ writes the museum.
From New York to Singapore, Shanghai, and Hong Kong, Heatherwick Studio (see more here) has marked the global architectural scene with its innovative portfolio of projects. Founded in 1994 by Thomas Heatherwick, the practice often debuts its projects with the question: Can the sprawling buildings and urban spaces that make our cities and towns also be imbued with this soulfulness? With that said, and in retrospect, Thomas’ childhood memories also reveal an early-age fascination with how craftspeople and artisans endow small objects with a kind of soulfulness so unique to the art of everything handmade, gently etching and weaving into every detail.
‘Every design is rooted in a belief that even projects as large as a city can have a human-scale, while harnessing the energies of the natural world and memories contained within architecture into new designs. At the core of this approach is the creation of places for gathering, dialogue, recreation, and enjoyment, instead of the design of ‘hard’ elements that so often characterize products and buildings,’continues the museum.
‘Even as the Studio studies the history of objects and places, researches a wide spectrum of materials, and pays homage to traditional craftsmanship, their spaces, which deploy the latest developments in engineering, are replete with innovative ideas that seem to have eluded everyone else. As the world emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic and we re-evaluate our relationship with both the built and the natural environments, Heatherwick Studio’s designs feel more evocative and relevant than ever.’
Some of the projects on view include ‘Little Island’ (2021), a sculptural public park in New York; ‘Azabudai Hills’ (2023), a new district in Tokyo currently under construction, and the studio’s first project in Japan; The Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (2017), a public non-profit museum; and the Shanghai Expo UK Pavilion (2010), also known as the ‘Seed Cathedral.’
Georgian architect Sandro Takaishvili has converted an apartment building in Tbilisi into a hotel, with interiors informed by his love of cinema and movie projectors in all 16 rooms.
Taking over three storeys above a restaurant in the capital’s Vera neighbourhood, the Blueberry Nights hotel features a theatrical colour scheme, Japanese furnishings and moody lighting.
Blueberry Nights is a 16-room hotel in Tbilisi
“The design of the hotel is the culmination of my entire life’s consumption of film,” the hotel’s co-founder Sandro Takaishvili told Dezeen.
“My intention is to make people feel like they’re inside a movie, where everything feels slightly familiar but otherworldly at the same time,” said the architect, who previously worked as a set designer, filmmaker and photographer.
Its design references films by renowned film directors
The hotel was named after My Blueberry Nights – a film by Hong Kong director Wong Kar-Wai – and incorporates visual references to the work of other renowned directors including Stanley Kubrick.
The main lobby was designed to look and feel like a cosy cinema foyer, complete with dark blue carpeting, walnut wood furniture and seating upholstered in velvet. Guests can check in at a large reception desk fronted in plexiglass that was inspired by retro-futuristic films.
The guestrooms are sparsely decorated with lights from Japan
“From the moment guests step through the doors, a moody cinematic journey begins with dark blue carpets, downlights and a soft soundtrack of noir movie dialogues playing in the lobby,” Takaishvili said.
As part of the renovation, Takaishvili transformed the building’s attic into two extra guestrooms, for a total of 16 rooms.
The bedrooms were designed to evoke the visual style of David Lynch, with custom-made low-slung beds and walnut-veneer cabinets. Room dividers punctured by large circular openings were used to mark different zones within the rooms.
The warm wooden furniture is offset by splashes of red – in the form of vintage phones, artwork and window shutters made from medium-density fibreboard (MDF) – as well as the white tiles used in the tiny en-suite bathrooms.
Wooden furniture in the hotel rooms was locally produced
Other bedroom decor includes lamps with Noguchi-style paper shades, which Takaishvili imported from Japan, and teak-and-cane chairs by architect Pierre Jeanneret, which were sourced from London.
“The paper lights give off a soft luminescent effect that creates a cosy ambience,” the architect explained.
“Some of the simple geometric forms that I used definitely have a mid-century influence but I wasn’t trying to be trendy. I just wanted to achieve a cinematic effect without resorting to obvious movie gimmicks.”
The architects added vinyl players and records in each room
One wall was left blank in each room so that guests can watch movies via a smart projector, while music can be played via a selection of vinyl records.
Other interior projects in Tbilisi include a bookstore-cum-cafe by Georgian designer Lado Lomitashvili and the Stamba Hotel, which occupies the former headquarters of a Soviet printing press.
The Earth is home to multiple delicately balanced and interconnected ecosystems, with every creature on the planet being reliant on countless other organisms to clean the air and water, regulate the climate, and provide nutrition. In fact, 75 per cent of human crop production relies, at least in part, on pollinators such as bees.
Even the smallest change within an ecological community can have devastating consequences. Good biodiversity is the best indicator of a healthy and resilient ecosystem, so preserving it is essential. Exemplifying this commitment to biological diversity was last year’s COP15, which concluded with a landmark United Nations agreement – the “Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework” (GBF) – that pledges to protect at least 30 per cent of the planet’s land, sea, and coastal areas by 2030.
It is more important than ever to act and protect biodiversity all over the world, with innovation being central to long-lasting, impactful change. Five exciting new solutions that could help make the GBF’s goals a reality will be on display at the ChangeNOW 2023 summit.
From 2010 to 2020, the Earth lost around 4.7 million hectares of forests every year. It is estimated, as well, that up to 50 per cent of all logging in the world’s most threatened forests is connected to illegal and unsustainable timber trade. Of course, wood remains an essential construction material, but in order to protect our forests and the diverse array of habitats they provide, we need to support sustainable timber farming.
In comes EcoTree. Customers, whether they be individuals or companies, can buy a single tree or forest from EcoTree’s treeShop and track its growth through the online platform. Then, when a tree is ready to be cut for sustainable timber, the profit is returned to the customer. As well as forestry, customers can also get involved in any of EcoTree’s five biodiversity projects, including one restoring wetlands and another that boosts honey bee populations. Read more.
As human activity and the resulting changes in our climate threaten crucial biodiversity across marine and terrestrial environments, it is becoming increasingly pressing to step in – before these ecosystems are altered forever. But one key obstacle is that it can be difficult to protect an environment effectively without first understanding it properly.
BeeOdiversity uses bees as living drones to gather essential information about a given space. During their normal pollination activities, the bees collect billions of environmental samples. These are then analysed to identify, source, and assess the level of pollutants and measure plant biodiversity in a given area. The system can be used to assess the quality of a site or the impact of an activity. Armed with the data, organisations can then take proper improvement measures. Read more.
Overall, forests account for approximately 26 per cent of total land area across the globe. This may seem like a sizeable proportion, but the world has lost a third of its forests since the last ice age. This mass deforestation is devastating for the planet’s ecosystems, as wildlife habitats are destroyed and previous sources of vegetation and shelter disappear.
As well as being crucial for biodiversity, forests are also essential for capturing carbon and balancing our climate. Afforestation and reforestation projects are essential, but it can be difficult for those wanting to get involved to track these programmes. With Kanop‘s AI-powered automated platform, forest managers can easily access and track complex forest projects, even down to an individual tree. Kanop provides accurate, up-to-date information, regardless of the size of a project. Read more.
As well as being beautiful in and of themselves, coral reefs are essential for life on Earth, protecting coastlines and supporting 25 per cent of all marine ecosystems. They are, however, under threat. Rising ocean levels are increasing coastal erosion that, in turn, decreases water quality and increases sedimentation, eventually smothering the coral. And though African sea levels are rising faster than the global average, coral restoration projects in the continent are few and far between.
Koraï hopes to change this by restoring African coastal ecosystems. Through Koraï, companies can offset their emissions by purchasing carbon credits in the form of mangrove and seagrass nurseries, which act as powerful carbon sinks. Customers can also tailor-make their own coral reef plan, track its impact, and even visit Koraï’s nurseries to get involved with impact projects directly. Read more.
TRANSPARENT CARBON CREDITS THAT EVERYONE CAN UNDERSTAND
As we inch ever closer to the 1.5°C limit on global warming, more and more businesses are recognising the urgency of large-scale decarbonisation. One easy way corporations can do this is through the purchase of carbon credits, which allows them to offset external carbon capture and reforestation projects against their own emissions. However, the lack of transparency and regulatory requirements within carbon markets is often a cause for concern.
Startup Reforestum aims to address this lack of trust and transparency with an artificial-intelligence-driven (AI) platform that helps individuals and organisations know exactly where their offset funding is going. For businesses, Reforestum has recently introduced two new products – the ‘VCM Navigator’, which provides market intelligence and other information to see and understand VCMs, and the ‘Portfolio Manager’, a tool that helps companies more easily manage their offsetting projects in line with best practices. Read more.
Springwise is a proud partner of ChangeNOW, which takes place in Paris 25-27 May 2023. As the world’s largest event for the planet, the three-day international summit brings together entrepreneurs, businessleaders, and policymakers to accelerate change.
Chilean studio ERRE Arquitectos has constructed Casa Ferran, a low-profile holiday house in Matanzas on the coast of Chile.
Raimundo Gutiérrez of ERRE Arquitectos designed the 240-square-metre (2,580-square-foot) residence as a U-shape on the edge of a cliff that limits the buildable area of the 2,200-square-metre site, as it drops steeply down to the Pacific Ocean.
The home is located on a cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean
Gutiérrez considered three main factors when laying out the plan: creating an exterior zone that is protected from the prevailing southwestern wind, maintaining privacy on the north and south sides, and taking full advantage of the sea views.
To accomplish this, the U-shaped plan points away from the ocean with a protected central courtyard on the high side of the slope, which connects to the sea through the fully glazed common area.
The home has a U-shaped layout
“What the project seeks is to generate a transversal and permeable axis in the east-west direction, which connects two exterior areas with dissimilar characteristics through the interior common area,” the studio told Dezeen.
“The rest of the program is arranged to contain and give shape to this axis.”
Sliding glass doors in the living area open onto a covered patio
Two wings are located on either side of the central volume – one containing three bedrooms and two planted atriums, the other angled outwards to catch the covered parking area that feeds into the service zones and guest bedroom.
The central volume containing the kitchen, dining, and living spaces is see-through and light-filled, with floor-to-ceiling windows on both sides and sliding glass doors that extend the space onto a covered patio that runs parallel to the sea.
Set on a board-formed concrete foundation, the house is primarily constructed out of black-coloured steel, creating strong framing lines along the form and around the expansive glazing.
The exterior cladding is vertical one-inch by two-inch pine boards that provide a tonal variation along the north and south facades – which are a cut-off diamond shape as the house accommodates the sloped site – and transitions into a lattice for the parking area.
Black steel forms the home’s structure
On the interior, a soft white palette and warm wood flooring amplify the scale of the rooms and allow the surrounding sea view to be the focal point of each space.
The home’s arrangement brings sunlight into each room, maximizing passive heating from the coastal climate in both the summer and winter.
Light wood flooring and white painted walls and ceilings finish the interior
“To complement and achieve higher temperatures during the coldest days, there is a wood-burning fireplace in the common space and central heating radiators throughout the house,” the studio said.
The end of each wing has a planted green roof.
“The design responds to elements of organic architecture,” the studio said. “However, formally rigid features appear, which are the result of several variables, conditions and demands that were presented.”
Pine boards clad the exterior
Similar to Casa Ferran, Chilean architect Juan Pablo Ureta designed a beach house on Chile’s northern coast that is oriented around a central courtyard, however, this one opens toward the sea.
In El Pangue, architecture studios Combeau Arquitectura and Andrea Murtagh designed an ocean getaway with clustered gabled forms.
American members’ club Chief has set up its first London outpost inside a centuries-old townhouse in Bloomsbury, with cosy interiors conceived by design studio Thirdway.
Established in 2019, Chief has locations in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco, where women working in senior leadership roles can connect, learn from industry peers and find ways to drive more women into positions of power.
Thirdway has completed the Chief members’ club in London
When it came to designing the club’s first overseas branch, Thirdway was asked to maintain the homely aesthetic established across its US outposts while also speaking to the unique architecture and location of the townhouse.
“We wanted a mix of what felt like Chief but with a London stamp on it, while also being sympathetic to the age of the building and the local London area,” explained Alex Hodson, a senior designer at Thirdway.
A gridded ceiling and leafy plants nod to the look of an English conservatory
The club occupies a Grade I-listed townhouse in Bloomsbury, which Thirdway extended by connecting it to an adjacent four-storey mews house via a glazed walkway, allowing enough space for all of Chief’s amenities.
Members enter via a forest-green reception area that’s anchored by a wooden desk.
Arched panelling fronts the table in a nod to the townhouse’s curved windows, while its fluted detailing references the grooves on the building’s original fireplaces.
Rich hues go on to appear in the club’s other rooms. In the bar, for instance, the drinks counter is clad with glossy, emerald-green tiles. Here, the arch motif also reappears in the form of the storage cabinets holding the bar’s glassware and wine bottles.
Some of the club’s rooms feature wood-lined walls
Plump teal and mustard-yellow sofas were dotted throughout the sunroom on the lower-ground floor, alongside poufs covered with the same fabric that was used to upholster seats on London’s Piccadilly underground line in the 1990s.
To emulate the look of a traditional English conservatory, a white grid was installed across the ceiling while a number of leafy potted and hanging plants were dotted around the space.
A grand piano takes centre stage in one of the rooms
Another events room on site was given a slightly more sophisticated feel with wood-lined walls and vermillion-red velvet seating.
Other women-only members’ clubs in London include Allbright in Mayfair, where the walls are exclusively covered with works by female artists.
Spotted: For city-to-city travel, going by air is notoriously bad for our planet. Planes pump an array of greenhouse gases high up in the atmosphere, producing potent warming effects. Thankfully, UK startup ARC Aerosystems is set to be a player in mitigating the aviation sector’s emissions with its new, uniquely designed passenger aircraft. The ARC Linx P9 has been called the “world’s most advanced nine-seater aircraft with vertical take-off and landing capability.”
The revolutionary aircraft provides the flexibility of a helicopter with the performance of a fixed-wing utility aircraft, cutting costs by using a more simplistic drivetrain than a chopper. Moreover, this single-rotor aircraft is low-carbon, too, as it has been crafted to run on sustainable aviation fuels (SAFs), or even, in the future, hydrogen.
Of the innovation, ARC’s CEO Seyed Mohseni said, “it’s a very exciting design concept that is the ultimate solution for the market, that is affordable, safe and practical, whilst providing the right answer to the current environmental concerns.”
While the new ARC Linx P9 is not yet commercially available, the company claims it could be airborne as soon as 2028.
Springwise has previously spotted other advancements set to make the aviation sector more sustainable, including a flight powered entirely by sustainable aviation fuel, and a zero-emission electric plane.
Sciences Po – The new campus of Sciences Po questions the meaning of being located in a city, as opposed to the proliferation of new campuses that have been built in a suburban environment. As an urban campus enmeshed within the fabric of the city, the centerpiece of Moreau Kusunoki’s design is the central pavilion located in the main courtyard. Inspired by the concept of a ‘pavillon de thé’, the glass-paneled structure represents both a refuge and transparency by the unique continuity of its innovative pivoting façade, seamlessly transitioning from inside to outside. This new technology has made it possible to create a safe and secure facility that simultaneously acts as a symbol of openness to the world.
Architizer chatted with Hiroko Kusunoki and Nicolas Moreau, co-founders of Moreau Kusunoki, to learn more about this project.
Architizer: What inspired the initial concept for your design?
Hiroko Kusunoki and Nicolas Moreau: The project was inspired by a historical understanding of the site and a reaction to its physical givens, as inherited and as found. Nested within the innermost courtyard of an old convent turned campus, the project formally establishes itself as a new focal point, all while nurturing a calm and respectful conversation with its limestone surroundings.
This project won in the 10th Annual A+Awards! What do you believe are the standout components that made your project win?
The pavilion offers the unique experience of becoming synchronized with exterior spaces when all the large pivoting doors are opened. It removes the interiority of the space and becomes a pure stage, exposed to the wind, light and sounds of the city.
What was the greatest design challenge you faced during the project, and how did you navigate it?
The pavilion is designed based on the broad palette of grays reflected through different materialities: steel, concrete, paint, glass, the Paris sky. The uniformity of the tone of gray offers abstraction and silence. These subtle nuances create a form of micro visual vibration within the space, providing an extra layer of quiet, sensorial appreciation when approached closely or touched.
How did the context of your project — environmental, social or cultural — influence your design?
The fluidity of people coming in and out of the location, the levelling of human interaction, are the real opportunities provided by this new campus. As opposed to simply continuing the tradition and history of Sciences Po, people are encouraged to reimagine the school’s image.
How important was sustainability as a design criteria as you worked on this project?
Sustainability is a fundamental driver of this project. In spite of a fully glazed façade, the design succeeds at instilling a solid level of comfort by providing the option of using natural ventilation. The canopies play a fundamental role in protection from solar radiation while also conferring the architectural identity of the pavilion.
How have your clients responded to the finished project?
The pavilion became the “showcase” of the new Sciences Po campus, inspiring the most important donors to the project to install their offices in the pavilion.
How do you believe this project represents you or your firm as a whole?
This project demonstrates our commitment to the integrity of our architectural concept, which is defined by readability, simplicity, as well as duality.
How do you imagine this project influencing your work in the future?
Every project provides an opportunity to try things out, to find prototypes. We will continue collaborating with builders to develop unique façade systems that allow for improved interaction and continuity between interior and exterior spaces.
Team Members
Architects : Moreau Kusunoki, Wilmotte & Associates (coordination), Pierre Bortolussi (heritage). Partners: Groupe Sogelym Dixence (promoter), Franck Boutté Consultants (sustainable engineering), Mugo (landscaping), Barbanel (MEP), TERRELL Group (façade engineering), SASAKI (strategy and urban planning), CORELO (project management). Client: La Fondation Nationale des Sciences Politiques (FNSP)
In this lookbook, we’ve rounded up eight home interiors featuring entrance halls including a home in Devon with clay walls and a double-height entry space in Mexico.
Entrance halls can be described as the space that is located directly inside of the main entry point into the home.
These spaces are often hallways that lead to multiple different rooms in the home. They are typically where first impressions are made and can set the tone for the rest of the home.
This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen’s archive. For more inspiration see previous lookbooks featuring bathrooms with colourful features, homes with cross-laminated timber and mix-and-match flooring.
Photo is by Markus Linderoth
Timjan, Sweden, by Johan Sundberg Arkitektur
At this home in an apple orchard in Lund, Swedish practice Johan Sundberg Arkitektur applied a modern finish to the 1920s villa by adding an extension that contrasted with its 20th-century style.
Plywood panelling covers the interior of the home and is paired with expanses of glass in the home’s entrance hall. A large clerestory window was placed above the entrance to the home, which is marked by a simple wood-framed glass door.
Find out more about Timjan ›
Photo is by Ramon Portelli
Mill House, Malta, by Valentino Architects
Architecture studio Valentino Architects transformed a collection of 16th-century stone buildings in Malta into a family home that surrounds a central courtyard.
From a large wooden door, original stone arches line the home’s entrance hall above a polished concrete floor that runs through the entirety of the building. A large planter decorates the entrance hall and visually links to the history of the original 1920s villa.
Find out more about Mill House ›
Photo is by Fabian Martinez
Casa Tres Árboles, Mexico, by Direccion
This home in Valle de Bravo, Mexico was renovated by Mexican studio Direccion and was designed to celebrate natural materials, the contrasts of light and shadows and convey a feeling of refuge and retreat.
The entrance hall at Casa Tres Árboles has a wide span and a double height that allows light to be drawn into the space. Much like the rest of the home, the space was decorated with a simplistic yet rustic interior palette and uses black micro cement and wood across its floor.
Find out more about Casa Tres Árboles ›
Photo is by Adam Scott
A Cloistered House, UK, by Turner Architects
The walls at the entrance hall of A Cloistered House by British studio Turner Architects were covered in pale sage green that allow the home’s original dark wood flooring to be the focal feature of the space.
Dado railings, skirting boards and arch moulding trims were painted white to contrast against the green walls and highlight the London home’s classical details. A black-painted bannister flanks the side of the wooden staircase.
Find out more about A Cloistered House ›
Photo is by German Sáiz
Conde Duque apartment, Spain, by Sierra + De La Higuera
Madrid-based architecture studio Sierra + De La Higuera refurbished this apartment in its hometown by creating an open-plan living and dining arrangement, which are divided by a wood-clad entrance hall.
Wood panelling covers the walls of the entrance hall and complements the mustard yellow glazed herringbone tiling that covers the floor of the space.
Find out more about Conde Duque apartment ›
Photo is by Michael Sinclair
Palace Gate apartment, UK, by Tala Fustok Studio
This apartment in a Victorian mansion block that neighbours Hyde Park in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, was transformed into a “calm sanctuary” by Tala Fustok Studio to balance the business of the city.
The entrance hall was decorated with a woven chair, a large Venetian mirror and a stone plinth that was sourced from MAH Gallery in east London. A large vase from Flow Gallery was placed on top of the plinth and is host to a single stem.
Find out more about Palace Gate apartment ›
Photo is by Jim Stephenson
Made of Sand, UK, by Studio Weave
London architecture office Studio Weave added a two-story timber-clad extension to a stone cottage in Devon, England. The extension was designed to provide accommodation and workspace for the client’s family and visitors.
The interior of the extension and the walls of its entrance hall were clad in rust-coloured clay with subtle curving edges that blend into the door frames and walls. A bench lines the wall of the entrance hall and was topped with two pillows.
Find out more about Made of Sand ›
Washington DC home, US, by Colleen Healey
An arched, tunnel-like hallway marks the entrance to this renovated home in Washington DC’s Logan Circle by architecture studio Colleen Healey Architecture.
The white, tunnel-like entrance hall leads directly into an open-plan kitchen dining and living area that includes an exposed brick wall and diagonally laid flooring that helps to disguise the home’s skewed walls.
Find out more about Washington DC home ›
This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen’s archive. For more inspiration see previous lookbooks featuring split-level living areas, residential lifts and concrete bathrooms.
Spotted: Although not as polluting as cattle or pigs, poultry rearing still contributes around 790 million tonnes of CO2 equivalents each year. The equates to around eight per cent of all agriculture emissions. Much of this comes from feed, heating and lighting, and manure. But now, Dutch egg farm Kipster is pioneering a carbon-neutral approach that could be the future of poultry farming – and the company is bringing it to the US.
Kipster has partnered with Kroger groceries and MPS Egg Farms to bring its sustainable egg farming stateside. Kipster’s techniques begin with reducing greenhouse gas emissions internally as much as possible, and offsetting any remaining emissions with external carbon reduction projects. Internal measures include turning surplus food into chicken feed, rather than growing feed on land that could be used for human food production.
The ‘upcycled’ chicken feed uses by-products from crop and food processing, such as oat hulls and faulty pasta. The upcycled feed has a carbon footprint of around half that of conventional feed. Kipster’s farms are all specially designed to allow the birds to carry out their natural behaviours, reducing the need for trimming beaks and administering antibiotics. Kipster is also the first farm to remove dust, odour, ammonia, and other undesirable particles from the barn air, as well as recovering the heat using a heat pump.
Denise Osterhues, Kroger’s senior director of sustainability and social impact explains: “Choosing Kipster cage-free eggs is an easy way for our customers to help create a more sustainable food system.”
As people become more aware of the emissions cost of rearing animals, many are turning to alternatives – and innovators are keeping up with the demand. Springwise has recently spotted many types of sustainable foods, including cultivated pork made using microalgae, and a sustainable, cocoa-free chocolate.
