Spotted: Fluorinated gases (F-gas) are so harmful to the environment that the EU is phasing out their use, aiming to get down to 20 per cent of the 2014 amount by 2030, and banning their use in new devices where “less harmful alternatives are widely available.” German company Magnotherm is one of the companies creating alternatives that provide refrigeration without the environmental toxins.
Taking advantage of the magnetocaloric effect (MCE) – a process in which some materials heat up when magnetised – the Magnotherm team uses surges in magnetic fields to heat and cool products. The process uses no F-gases and produces zero direct carbon dioxide emissions. When materials are placed in thermally insulated chambers and a magnetic force is applied, the materials heat up. Extracting the heat then allows for products to be heated or cooled, as needed.
The company recently introduced its first product available for commercial sale. The Polaris refrigerator is a fully magnetic beverage cooler that holds up to 150 drinks and cools them down to five degrees Celsius. Importantly, the system requires little power for its low-pressure processes, making it almost noise-free. Magnotherm builds bespoke cooling systems that can be set to specific temperatures, making the technology usable in many industries. Efficiency remains steady regardless of the size of the system.
Cooling is so important to the modern food industry that innovators are improving almost every aspect of the cold chain. Springwise has spotted a supercooling system that prevents ice formation as well as solar-powered refrigerated trucks.
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.
MicroPolis – is a proposal for a new housing typology of micro-homes in metropolitan centers such as New York City. It can be installed in already built, empty urban spaces. The staggering of the units creates a push-and-pull relation, generating balconies for most units. Large public outdoor terraces provide social and co-working spaces and safe places for children to play. Installing these complexes in wealthier neighborhoods and business districts improves living standards for communities of color, immigrant groups, and low- to middle-income families.
Architizer chatted with Esther Sperber, Principal at Studio ST Architects to learn more about this project.
Architizer: What inspired the initial concept for your design?
Esther Sperber: MicroPolis is a response to a February 2020 court case that revoked the building permit for the top 20 floors of a Manhattan luxury condominium because it used gerrymandering-style tax lot assembly tactics to justify the request for a very tall building. We suggested that we should not waste these already built floors but rather use them for affordable housing. The aim is to present creative, inclusive and positive design solutions to the urban affordable housing crisis, which has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The prevalence of unoccupied and unusable space presents an opportunity to rethink affordable housing throughout the city.
This project won in the 10th Annual A+Awards! What do you believe are the standout components that made your project win?
The project is contextual and addresses New York City’s critical issues such as the housing crisis, diversity and inclusion, and lowering the carbon footprint in the construction industry. MicroPolis could help alleviate the affordable housing shortage, which we have a moral obligation to address. The design creates innovative, sustainable and affordable micro-homes within vacant floors of luxury buildings in metropolitan city centers. Cities have always embraced people from all kinds of diverse backgrounds, but the pandemic revealed that the city is more divided than we would like to acknowledge. MicroPolis celebrates NYC’s diversity by increasing equity and valuing the range of people needed to make the city thrive. Adding affordable housing units throughout the city’s higher-end neighborhoods aims to make NYC more integrated, resilient and equitable.
What was the greatest design challenge you faced during the project, and how did you navigate it?
We realize there will likely be resistance to this proposal. Few privileged communities welcome low- and middle- income developments in their neighborhoods, let alone their own apartment buildings. But if we have learned anything during the COVID-19 pandemic, it is that our society is deeply intertwined. The communities that suffered most from the pandemic are those that we depend on most to keep our city running. The same resistance to this project is reason enough to take this typology seriously. It is time to stop averting our gaze from those who are less fortunate economically and invite them to be our neighbors.
How did the context of your project — environmental, social or cultural — influence your design?
NYC’s real estate exposes the city’s socio-economic inequities. Manhattan’s luxury residential market seems to be rebounding. However, at the same time, the Department of Housing & Preservation, which is responsible for maintaining affordable housing, experienced a 40% cut during the pandemic, resulting in the loss of 21,000 affordable housing units. Our unique modular system, which aims to create greater social equity, consists of prefabricated, energy-efficient and cost-effective micro-homes, which can be installed in already built empty urban spaces. The proposal demonstrates how to creatively house key workers and other tenants in need by maximizing space on mid-level floors of currently unoccupied luxury condos, which some developers have designated as mechanical voids in an attempt to increase the height of luxury buildings and gain maximum value for coveted upper floor apartments.
How important was sustainability as a design criteria as you worked on this project?
The issue of sustainability was one of the main driving factors of MicroPolis’ design. Reusing built spaces has environmental advantages: it conserves materials and resources, lowers carbon footprint, and brings old, energy-inefficient buildings up to the current code. Carefully selected building materials and cladding ensure thermal insulation to lower energy use and costs for these micro-homes. MicroPolis is also uniquely designed to enable staggered balconies to provide some sun exposure and shade coverage during extreme weather conditions.
What key lesson did you learn in the process of conceiving the project?
The housing crisis in New York City, or any city for that matter, is a complex issue. With some of the world’s wealthiest residents, New York City is also home to thousands who do not have a clean, warm or dry place to sleep. The city is struggling to address its housing shortage for lower-income individuals and families, and to provide shelter to its 60,000-plus homeless. At the same time, New York City has a record number of empty, unsold, new luxury apartments. Unused space, particularly in tall luxury residential towers, can be reconfigured to accommodate more units dedicated to affordable housing within the existing floor area.
How do you believe this project represents you or your firm as a whole?
My firm, Studio ST Architects, strives to focus on sustainable, innovative and responsible design. Our firm combines unique expertise in architecture and psychology to design inspiring buildings and renovate spaces that transform human experiences, build deep and inclusive community connections, and create a sense of health and well-being. MicroPolis directly addresses these pillars of our practice.
How has being the recipient of an A+Award evoked positive responses from others?
It gave us an opportunity to think and explore issues around the multi-family residential typology, particularly within dense urban centers. This also helped us reach a larger audience to raise an issue we are passionate about, which led to more discussions with our clients and collaborators about responsible, compassionate design that addresses not only people’s basic need for housing, but also human connection.
How do you imagine this project influencing your work in the future?
Studio ST Architects has significant experience in apartment interior renovations and religious buildings, but we are excited to do more work in the multi-family residential sector. Our recently completed Jones Street multi-family apartment building holds a similar spirit of ambition to connect people and address the need for housing within Jersey City. Jones Street creates individual homes and a sense of community for the families and young professionals that live in this growing Jersey City community. It targets the swathe of families and young professionals looking for New York-style buildings just across the Hudson River. We hope to continue tackling the housing crisis by taking on more multi-family housing projects.
For more on MicroPolis, please visit the in-depth project page on Architizer.
As people’s interest in ultra-organised homes shows no signs of abating, we’ve collected eight clutter-free kitchens with smart storage solutions in our latest lookbook.
Spearheaded by Japanese organisational guru Marie Kondo, well-organised interiors have become a global trend. In no room is this more evident than in the kitchen, where pantries are stocked up with decanted jam jars, spice racks are labelled and shelving units are customised to house specific utensils.
The following projects, which range from compact apartments to home extensions, use hooks, nooks, racks, shelves, cubby holes and display units to create tidy kitchens where not a grain is out of place.
This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen’s archive. For more inspiration see previous lookbooks featuring Spanish apartment renovations, cosy cabins and interiors with statement carpets.
Photo is by Edmund Sumner
Map House, UK, by SAM Architects
Paolo Vimercati and Melanie Schubert of SAM Architects demolished a garage hidden behind several listed buildings in south London in order to create this mews house for themselves.
Designed to accommodate their “modern lifestyles”, the home’s interior is clad in vertical planks of charred larch and has plenty of open-plan spaces.
The kitchen has pink, blue and orange plywood units that are filled with cooking books and glassware, while a pegboard display area is used to hang crockery.
Find out more about Map House ›
Photo is by Perry E Hall
Fifth Avenue Kitchen, US, by Handwerk Art and Design
Space-saving storage solutions can be found in Fifth Avenue Kitchen, a compact New York apartment created by interior design studio Handwerk Art and Design for a client who works in the film industry.
Aiming to make the most of the 160-square-foot (15 square-metre) space, Handwerk retrofitted the kitchen with features including a pegboard wall for hanging mugs, aprons and other items.
“Starting with a study of their cooking habits and spatial needs, we designed a set of custom cabinets for the whole kitchen that placed everything specifically and precisely,” said the studio.
Find out more about Fifth Avenue Kitchen ›
Photo is by Megan Taylor
Fruit Box, UK, by Nimtim Architects
Plywood and planed softwood structures with square tiles characterise this playful galley kitchen designed by Nimtim Architects for a home extension project in Forest Hill, London.
A kitchen island features a tiled waterfall countertop above a sink and shelving. The kitchen walls were designed to be filled in to increase privacy, or easily removed to maximise open space depending on the family’s future needs.
Find out more about Fruit Box ›
Photo is by Hey Cheese
The Family Playground, Taiwan, by HAO Design
This family home in Taiwan was reorganised by studio HAO Design so that its occupants could spend more time with each other. In the kitchen, the parents are able to watch their children play games or listen to them play the piano while they are making dinner.
High ceilings in the kitchen meant there was room for a large black steel storage rack to be hung above a white-tiled island. The cage-like storage system serves as a “visual focus” and can also be used to hold plants or kitchenware.
Find out more about The Family Playground ›
Photo is courtesy of Position Collective
Air-BnP, Hungary, by Position Collective
This former studio flat in Budapest was reorganised by Hungarian studio Position Collective to create an Airbnb property suitable for two guests. Rather than rearranging the layout – and mindful of the small budget – the studio installed a plywood furniture and storage system that caters to temporary occupants’ needs.
In the kitchen, it features a modular pegboard storage wall with adjustable shelves to showcase different pieces of local Hungarian art books, home accessories and cooking equipment.
Find out more about Air-BnP ›
Photo is by Megan Taylor
Curve Appeal, UK, by Nimtim Architects
London studio Nimtim Architects transformed a 1920s semi-detached house in Southwark using multifunctional plywood partitions with arched openings and alcoves for storing belongings.
A limited, neutral-toned material palette was employed in the kitchen, comprised of handmade terracotta floor tiles, laminated countertops and sustainably sourced plywood.
Find out more about Curve Appeal ›
Photo is by Richard Chivers
Maison Pour Dodo, UK, by Studio Merlin
For the revamp of a flat in Stoke Newington, British interior firm Studio Merlin added an abundance of storage to form serene, clutter-free living spaces.
An opening in the living room connects the kitchen, where there’s a wall of deep-set IKEA cabinets with smokey blue door fronts and a seating nook. Above this, a series of pantry-style shelves means the owner can easily access jars of cooking ingredients.
Find out more about Maison Pour Dodo ›
Photo is by Cristobal Palma
Punta Chilen, Chile, by Guillermo Acuña Arquitectos Asociados
Named after the peninsula of land that the residential complex sits on, this red home extension was constructed by Santiago-based architecture studio Guillermo Acuña Arquitectos Asociados using pine stilts.
An open-plan room in the heart of the home is a communal space designed for cooking and eating. Large pine shelves filled with ornaments and tableware line the walls.
Find out more about Punta Chilen ›
This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen’s archive. For more inspiration see previous lookbooks featuring homes with sliding doors, earthy bedrooms with natural colours and kitchens with marble surfaces.
Spotted: The number of organisations committing to climate targets and offsetting has been growing rapidly. However, this growth also represents a major challenge, because the voluntary carbon market is still in its infancy, meaning there is a lack of credible emission reduction programmes and questionable investments in carbon projects with no actual reductions.
Climate-tech startup Goodcarbon is working to change this by focusing on nature-based solutions (NbS), such as the conservation and restoration of forests or oceans. Through their platform, Goodcarbon connects NbS projects to capital, giving projects a stream of income and allowing organisations to offset their emissions with verified high-quality NbS projects. Project developers can also use the platform to sell Forward Credit contracts and auction ownership shares in their projects.
All projects listed on Goodcarbon are subject to a stringent verification process. The platform works together with existing verification and standardisation bodies such as Verra and Gold Standard, and also applies its own impact assessment scheme to ensure the platform only hosts the highest quality projects. The advantage for businesses is that not only can they invest, secure in the knowledge they are not greenwashing, but they can also use the platform to turn carbon offsetting into an investment opportunity.
According to many, the voluntary carbon market is largely non-transparent and is swamped with low-quality NbS projects that do not actually work. As Jerome Cochet, Co-Founder And Managing Director Of Goodcarbon, points out, “We have a major supply problem as project developers face significant challenges. They have high upfront costs, but a lack of funding, little appreciation of co-benefits such as biodiversity protection, and a high dependence on brokers. We are here to solve these challenges by converting natural capital into financial products.”
As of September 2022, thousands of organisations, representing $38 trillion, have committed to emission reduction targets approved by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). So it is no wonder that we are seeing a number of innovations aimed at offsetting. These include a platform that makes it easier for farmers to sell carbon credits, and a blockchain infrastructure for trading in forward carbon credits.
Before the current scientific consensus on man-made climate change emerged, many climatologists believed that any extra carbon dioxide released by human activities would be absorbed by the world’s oceans. This proved to be a sticking point in the mainstream acceptance of the greenhouse effect, and it wasn’t until the late 1950s that researchers demonstrated that seawater will not absorb all of the extra carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere.
Oceans have been at the centre of climate science because an estimated 83 per cent of the global carbon cycle is circulated through marine waters. Man-made global warming is, in essence, the short-circuiting of this cycle, so understanding and respecting the oceans—the biggest part of the cycle—is crucial for mitigating the damage we have done.
Although we now know that oceans will not absorb all of our carbon emissions, they have absorbed around a third of the CO2 produced by humans. Moreover, the ocean is home to resources that are extremely useful in the fight against climate change. Seagrass meadows sequester carbon up to 35 times faster than tropical rainforests, and seaweed is used in a wide range of sustainable innovations. In short, when it comes to climate change, oceans are our best friend.
But oceans are also vulnerable to the effects of climate change. Marine eco-systems are sensitive to climate shocks, with coral cover declining by over half since the 1950s. Human activities also impact oceans in other ways. Oceans are the cradle of life, making up 95 per cent of the space available to living things, yet research shows that marine biodiversity is declining dangerously, with humans the biggest cause. And each year 8 million tonnes of plastic waste escape into the sea.
Given the importance of oceans to our shared future, many innovators are looking to the ocean for inspiration. And some of the most exciting ocean innovators will be at this year’s ChangeNOW summit in Paris.
According to research, 60 per cent of chemical leaks, oil spill-offs, and micro-plastics end up on the sea floor. These pollutants damage the environment, but so too do traditional clean-up methods, which rely on excavations and harmful chemicals. Latvia’s PurOceans Technology believes there is a better way.
The company has developed a proprietary process called ‘deepwater rehabilitation’. During this process, bubbles of ambient air are piped to the lowest depths, where they stick to chemical pollutants before floating back to the surface. Once at the surface, the toxic waste can be safely collected and processed into purified water. PurOcean’s approach avoids the damage to flora and fauna that accompanies excavation and chemical-based approaches, improving the health of the entire marine eco-system. And as a further bonus, the process enriches the water with added oxygen.
A WEST AFRICAN WATER COMPANY TACKLES PLASTIC WASTE FROM BOTTLED WATER
Single-use plastic water bottles are both common and expensive in West Africa. And much of the waste plastic ends up cluttering the streets, going to land fill, or polluting the oceans. Addressing this issue is Senegal-based water company MIYA.
Miya provides 11- and 19-litre water bottles that can be re-used under a deposit scheme where customers return the bottles for refills. In addition to preventing plastic from littering beaches and harming marine life, the MIYA scheme has several additional benefits. Drinking water in the company’s native Senegal is not always safe, yet bottled water is expensive. Many people therefore face an unfortunate trade-off between hygiene and cost. MIYA’s water is more affordable with customers paying $2.08 for a 19-litre bottle compared to the average price of $1.73 for 10 litres.
A WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT THAT PRODUCES MORE ENERGY THAN IT CONSUMES
Globally, around 80 per cent of sewage is dumped into the ocean untreated. And all this pollution from wastewater damages marine eco-systems in a number of ways. At the same time, current wastewater treatment technologies are energy-intensive and cause one per cent of greenhouse gas emissions in France.
NXO-Engineering takes a revolutionary approach to wastewater, seeing it as a repository of resources rather than something to be treated. The startup’s proprietary NxSTEP process uses micro-algae and bacteria to convert the wastewater into biomethane that can be used as a source of energy. As a result, the process is not only less energy-intensive than traditional methods, it actually produces more energy than it uses. The company has also developed a flotation unit that separates biomass from water, leaving the water fit for human consumption – a process that can reduce the cost of drinking water.
Photo source Airseas
A SEA KITE THAT HELPS SHIPS SAVE FUEL UNDERGOES TRIALS
Maritime shipping accounts for at least 2.5 per cent of global CO2 emissions. However, this is considered by many to be a gross underestimate of the environmental damage done by container shipping. One study found that, in 2009, a single large container ship emitted almost the same amount of cancer and asthma-causing chemicals as 50 million cars.
French company Airseas has developed a parafoil sail—known as the Seawing—that is designed to be installed on cargo ships to reduce fuel consumption and shipping emissions. The Seawing is designed to deploy automatically, rising up above the ship’s deck on a long cable to grab the steady, strong winds 200 metres above sea level. An automated system monitors and controls the Seawing. The system also monitors forward wind conditions and re-routes the ship to take the most efficient path possible without affecting arrival time.
Airseas is not the only company harnessing the wind to reduce shipping emissions. Rather than using a kite-like parafoil, another French company, AYRO, has developed wingsails—called ‘Oceanwings’—that rise vertically from the deck of a ship.
Oceanwings are compatible with most types of vessel, and can be retrofitted onto existing ships or incorporated into new-build designs. Moreover, operating the Oceanwings does not require the specialist skills traditionally associated with sailing, and the wingsails are safe to use in any weather condition. Sensors on the wingsails measure the wind, generating data that is analysed to adjust the angle and camber of the Oceanwings for maximum effectiveness.
USING DNA TO MAKE ENVIRONMENTAL SURVEYS EASIER AND CHEAPER
Environmental monitoring is key for environmental protection strategies. Monitoring data helps policymakers set priorities and activities. At the same time, businesses are faced with a growing need to report on biodiversity, yet monitoring has traditionally been costly and difficult to perform at scale. For biodiversity startup NatureMetrics, the answer is in environmental DNA (eDNA) – DNA that is released from organisms into the environment through faeces, urine, slime, scales, and other forms.
NatureMetrics carries out tests in a facility purpose-built for metabarcoding – a method of DNA sequencing that can identify multiple species in a single sample. The system can process more than 100 samples in parallel, reducing sequencing costs and time. The company’s marine division provides powerful data on ocean biodiversity, working on projects such as nature-based solutions in coral reef, mangrove, kelp, and seagrass habitats, and conservation monitoring in marine protected areas.
Springwise is a proud partner of ChangeNow, which takes place in Paris 19-21 May 2022. As the world’s largest event for the planet, the three-day international summit brings together entrepreneurs, business leaders and policymakers to accelerate change. To find out more and book your tickets, visit changenow.world.
The world is facing unprecedented challenges – from climate change to biodiversity loss. And this decade is the decade to act. But to effect change we need solutions – today. Thankfully, entrepreneurs and innovators around the globe are working hard to find them.
Many of these innovators will be coming together later this year at the annual ChangeNOW summit in Paris to share their ideas and meet other members of the community working to create a better planet. And with two months to go until the event, Springwise is highlighting six exciting solutions that attendees can look forward to discovering.
Tackling topics from circularity to cities with everything from biocarbons to batteries, these groundbreaking innovators embody the visionary, humanistic and action-oriented spirit that we believe are fundamental for driving real change – now.
BIOCARBONS REMOVE CO2 FROM THE AIR AND REPLACE PETROLEUM-BASED PRODUCTS
Negative emission technologies—known in industry jargon as NETs—remove greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide, from the air. These technologies range from the low-tech—such as tree planting—to the technologically complex. Whatever form they take, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has highlighted that carbon removal and storage is necessary to meet net-zero targets. But as commentators have pointed out, this is easier said than done.
One company that is making progress, is German startup Carbonauten. From 2022, the company will begin producing large quantities of biocarbons made from waste produced by the forestry, agriculture, food, and wood industries. This type of waste would normally be burned, buried, or left to rot, but, instead, Carbonauten’s carbonisation process turns it into useful products that lock away carbon permanently. And by preventing the rotting process, Carbonauten also prevents the release of other greenhouse gases, such as methane and nitrous oxide.
The woody residues that are used to create the biocarbons absorb carbon dioxide during their lifetime, and this carbon is then stored away. This means that the net effect of producing the biocarbons is the removal of CO2 from the atmosphere. Moreover, renewable energy is a useful byproduct of the carbonisation process, and the biocarbons themselves can replace petroleum-based plastics in key applications.
The fashion and textile industries are among the world’s most environmentally damaging. The production of clothes requires a lot of fresh water and contributes significantly to water pollution. Different sources also put the proportion of global greenhouse gas emissions that come from the fashion industry at between two and ten per cent.
To tackle fashion’s dirty secret, non-profit The Sustainable Angle launched the Future Fabrics Expo – an industry showcase that connects fashion brands to more than 5000 commercially available sustainable materials. The exhibition has grown into a huge success and is admired by designers such as Anya Hindmarch.
To support the main event, The Sustainable Angle establishes a set of criteria for sustainable materials and finds innovators who are delivering against those standards. The non-profit also provides much-needed educational resources for sustainability in textiles.
IMPROVING LIVELIHOODS AND SUPPLY CHAINS THROUGH ECOSYSTEM REGENERATION
Regenerative agriculture is a term used to describe a range of practices that acknowledge the interconnectedness of food production and the natural ecosystem. Similarly, agroforestry seeks positive interactions between trees and crop plants.
It was the realisation of this link between agricultural livelihoods and the health of the ecosystem that inspired Tristan Lecomte to start the PUR Project. Working with small-scale farmers around the globe, Lecomte observed how many challenges faced by farmers were directly linked to degradation of the natural environment.
The PUR Project is founded on a recognition that companies rely on healthy ecosystems to operate. The organisation works with those businesses to pursue actions that offset their environmental footprint within their value chain. These initiatives are not separate from the company’s core activities but are instead intimately bound up with the supply chain. For this reason, the approach taken by the PUR Project is called ‘insetting’– as opposed to the more common term ‘offsetting’.
Insetting requires the empowerment of local communities and a traceable, transparent supply chain. And the PUR Project favours nature-based solutions—such as regenerative agriculture and agroforestry—that regenerate the ecosystems companies rely on.
In nature, living things heal, live, and decompose to form new life. But when man-made materials, such as composites, are damaged they must be repaired. And current repair solutions can be costly and time-consuming. Moreover, recycling rates remain low around the world, and many products have frustratingly short shelf lives.
Now, Swiss university spin-off CompPair is taking its cue from nature with a resin that enables composite materials to ‘heal’ cracks and delaminations. All that is required is for the damaged material to be heated up in a process that takes only a few minutes.
The self-healing properties of the composites reduce maintenance costs and manufacturing defects, while extending the lifetime of the material. Moreover, the composites can be more easily recycled, and are designed to be compatible with existing manufacturing processes.
End applications for the CompPair composites can be found in the marine, sports, wind energy, aerospace, and construction industries. For example, the company’s material was recently used by a producer of high-quality catamarans.
USING DATA TO MAKE BATTERIES SAFE, DEPENDABLE, AND SUSTAINABLE
Batteries are therefore set to be at the heart of the 21st Century economy. But battery maintenance can be challenging for engineering teams thanks to issues such as inefficiencies and fires.
Now, Accure, a university spin-off from Germany, has developed a platform that uses cloud computing to help companies understand and improve the safety, reliability, and sustainability of batteries. A modern battery produces a continuous stream of data, and the Accure platform analyses this data in real-time and at scale. This allows companies to accurately forecast the safety and health of their fleet of batteries, while finding ways to optimise performance. For example, batteries age differently, and Accure’s analytics can help companies dramatically improve their lifespan.
Accure’s technology can be used to monitor batteries used in a range of applications, from e-mobility and power tools to stationary energy storage.
A NATURAL WALL SYSTEM FOR HEALTHY, DURABLE, AND SUSTAINABLE HOMES
According to Canadian startup Calmura Natural Walls, modern homes use too many cheap materials that end up in landfill, cause pollution, and contribute to poor indoor air quality. The company believes there are better ways to build using sustainable materials, and its first product is a biocomposite wall system made from lumber mill waste.
The biocomposite walls offer homeowners several immediate benefits, such as protection from fire, mould, pests, and earthquakes. They also ensure a stable temperature, reducing the owner’s energy bills while ensuring a comfortable home environment.
In addition to the cost-saving and comfort benefits, the startup’s walls serve an even greater environmental purpose by storing carbon. The wood waste that is used to make the wall panels would normally be burned, composted, or sent to landfill, leading to emissions of greenhouse gases. Instead, carbon is locked away for the long term.
Springwise is a proud partner of ChangeNow, which takes place in Paris 19-21 May 2022. As the world’s largest event for the planet, the three-day international summit brings together entrepreneurs, business leaders and policymakers to accelerate change. To find out more and book your tickets, visit changenow.world
Dezeen Promotion: Made in Brunel: Above the Fold is an exhibition by Brunel University design graduates taking place at The Bargehouse Gallery and Oxo Tower Gallery in London from 17 to 20 June 2021.
The exhibition presents 100 design solutions to everyday problems, including an app designed to help people with diabetes control their glucose levels, a personalised asthma management system and a tool to diagnose seasonal affective disorder (SAD).
Other projects include a mindful app made to help people living with rosacea and a system to manage medication that was designed for complex medical regimes.
The Dampen headphones by Paramveer Bhachu feature replaceable water-soluble padding
“Brunel designers are well versed in turning problems on their heads to develop effective solutions,” said the organisers.
“However, this year, students have taken these problem-solving skills one step further – discovering how to conduct remote user testing when face-to-face testing was impossible and mastering the poly-jet printers when indoor workshops were inaccessible, were just a few of the adaptations to the design process introduced in 2021.”
Omni by Andrew Nagel-Smith is a modular multi-tool with a range of attachments
As part of the final year programme, the students launched the brand Above the Fold, for which they created a podcast and blog to share “essential” design-related content.
“Above the Fold stems from the newspaper terminology denoting that the information on the top of a broadsheet newspaper front page is always visible when folded,” said the organisers.
“These events and initiatives have all been exciting ways to inspire and connect Brunel designers with each other, alumni and industry experts.”
Pinteq portable card terminal by Gabriele Grigaite enables restaurant guests to make card payments safely
For their final year projects – and as part of Above the Fold – students chose their design briefs, or applied for briefs provided by external sources including the National Health Service and a range of private companies.
By being “immersed” in a range of real-life challenges, the projects aimed to enable students to develop problem-solving solutions.
Diawise by Alex Cummings is a non-invasive glucose monitor and app
Students also studied six design modules that supported the research and development activities of their final projects. The Human Factors module required students to develop a solution to a problem using human-centred design principles.
“Solutions ranged from quieting noisy popcorn eaters in cinemas to reducing self-contamination during the removal of PPE in intensive care units,” said the university.
Viu by Alex D’Souza is a webcam that turns any flat physical surface into a shareable platform
Students who chose the Environmentally Sensitive Design module dismantled a product, conducted a life-cycle analysis on it, then redesigned it using eco-design strategies.
The lifecycle analysis of the redesign “revealed reductions in carbon emissions and energy consumption in production,” according to the organisers.
Rosette by Dani Cropley is a mindful app tailored to meet the needs of people with rosacea
In a third module, called Design and Innovation Management Processes, students designed a business model for their products and services.
“Specifying target markets and creative ways to reach them helped students understand the next steps in commercialising a product,” said the university.
Doset by Joe Ground is a smart medication management system
Students who chose the Computer-based Design Methods module were asked to “surface model a car of their choice, test its safety in Siemens Jack software and optimise the design through analysis in ANSYS“, according to the university.
For the Contextual Design module, students developed a product to solve real-world issues that might be prevalent in 10–15 years. In the Embedded Systems module, they developed projects “which used sensors and hardware components to carry out a function based on their studies of CCS C code, schematic layouts and printed circuit board design,” according to the university.
The Open-source electronics kit by Arthur Dean-Osgood aims to teach users electronics and circuit building using “intuitive” design methods
According to the organisers, the exhibition will showcase students’ response to these themes and offer an “opportunity to experience the incredible work their designers have created, fostering the next generation of innovative thinkers”.
“Something to look forward to will be the chorus of conversations throughout the gallery – we’re far too used to the silence of virtual meetings where only one person can be heard at a time,” said the organisers.
Nova Equino by Daniel Fredericks tracks mounted spotlight utilising daylight chips to create better quality lighting for indoor working spaces, to help Diagnosed Seasonal Affective Disorder
Tickets to Made in Brunel: Above the Fold are free and can be accessed on Eventbrite.
