Hi Five Awesome Environmental Projects Undertaken By Large Cities!.

Hi Five Awesome Environmental Projects Undertaken By Large Cities!.

Environmental conservation is every nation's rallying call in the wake of its massive destruction around the world and the dire need to conserve it for ourselves and the future. Unless proper measures are undertaken to protect and conserve it, we shall only be around long enough to watch it perish and we after it.

Many, if not all the nations of the world, in this realization have come up with ingenious ways and projects to conserve the environment and keep it that way for a long time to come. We will look at least five of these projects carried out in major cities around the world.

Near Albany, NY, a company known as Ecovative Design came up with a low-cost innovative zero-waste, bio-based packing material that replaces foam packaging like urethane, Styrofoam and plastic thermoforms. The process takes place indoors, in darkness and doesn't require any human intervention.

It mainly uses fungi which 'grow' on custom-shaped forms that are made from inedible crop waste like buckwheat husks. There is zero waste because all the raw material becomes part of the final product, and easily becomes compost after the intended use.

This product in essence replaces 196,000 cubic feet of foam plastic packaging parts, thereby saving 77 thousand gallons of petroleum annually, essentially because approximately 10% of petroleum used in America goes to the manufacture of plastics and foams.

In Tokyo Bay, an ambitious construction project is being developed to help in the conservation of the environment. The Shimizu Corporation has an ambitious project of constructing a pyramid that is three miles long, making its height 14 times higher than the Great Pyramid of Giza. There are smaller projects too that have just as big ambitions, the Vancouver Cigarette butt recycling program, looks to make Vancouver the most eco-friendly city by 2020.

The pyramid will be made up of 204 other smaller pyramids and will have at least 750,000 housing units for people in Tokyo. The carbon fibre material used to make the pyramid will be mainly light weight; the pyramid will be host to shopping centres, restaurants, research facilities and private homes. The residences and businesses will be powered by wind power, solar power and algae scum.

In the Maldives, an ambitious project funded both by the government and well-wishers has been started up to conserve corals. Seamarc, a consultancy company in marine matters has engineered an innovative technique where new corals are propagated on metal frames.

This is made possible through a process of transplantation using broken fragments of corals harvested from the natural reef. The coral fragments are then attached to the metal frames where they grow into new colonies.

Discernible difference can be viewed within 2 months of the initial 2-3 weeks that follow the transplant. Proceeds from each frame are used to fund local community initiatives and also towards research in Cocoa Island's marine conservation pro-grammes.

Another construction project in Masdar City, Abu Dhabi is building the 1st carbon-neutral city in a span of 10 years. The city will have all cars banned within city limits; only solar-powered vehicles would be allowed within the city.

80% of all the water in the city will be recycled and all human waste 'repurposed' and converted to energy for use. This city would move beyond the current dependency on oil and will be the world's first zero-waste, zero-carbon city, especially because the city will be built with recycled materials from ground up which will eschew carbon emissions.

In Europe, a recycling process for waste water to be used in hotels was developed by Marco Cremona, an engineer, mainly to be used in hotels. Its system, based on the innovative Membrane BioReactor (MBR), this is a waste water treatment process that is used together with reverse osmosis process (RO) that is well proven. With this process, 70-80% of the water brought in by the hotel will be conserved.

Hi' Tips to Improve Indoor Air Quality;

Hi' Tips to Improve Indoor Air Quality;

Indoor air pollution is considered as one of the top environmental risks to public health worldwide due to increasing number of building-related illnesses. 

Studies have found that concentration of indoor pollutants is significantly higher indoors than they are in outdoor environment, which is two to five times and sometimes hundred times higher than outdoor levels. 

As most of the people spend 80% to 90% of their lives indoor, indoor air quality has significant implication on sustainability.

Decreased indoor air quality can affect quality of life of the building occupant, increase health risks and increase the liability for building owner, decrease the productivity of occupants and reduce the resale value of the building. Poor indoor air quality can cause “sick building syndrome”, which is a medical condition linked to poor health and absenteeism.

Poor indoor air quality is due to many factors including but not limited to improper building design, inadequate ventilation, off-gassing of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from furniture, carpets, paints and coatings, cleaning products, and from human respiration. Airborne particles such as lints, dust, dust mites, mold, bacteria, pollen and animal dander also contribute to poor indoor air quality. Indicators that are used to measure the indoor air quality include total particulate matter, total volatile organic compounds (TVOCs), formaldehyde, carbon dioxide (CO₂), carbon monoxide (CO), ozone (O₃), air temperature, relative humidity (RH). Concentration of CO₂ in the indoor environment indicates whether ventilation is sufficient or not.

In the Middle East region, most of the people live in enclosed air-conditioned indoor environments. With rapidly growing population, increase in number of vehicles on the road, high temperature level, ever increasing construction activities, regular sandstorm, concentration of air contaminants in the region is among the highest worldwide. Indoor environment also reflects outdoor air quality and pollution. Transport of outdoor contaminants to the indoor environment can result in occupant exposure to outdoor pollutants that have serious health impacts. In addition, there are many sources of indoor pollutants present in building materials, cleaning products, indoor mold and legionella growth, and emission from interior furnishings, finishing and equipments.

Tips to Improve Indoor Air Quality;

Indoor air quality is influenced by concentration of outdoor air pollutants as well as indoor source of pollution, characteristic of building and habits of occupants. Appropriate building design and mechanical system and control strategies as well as changing occupant behaviour can improve indoor air quality and health and comfort, performance and productivity of building occupants. There are a host of strategies to improve the indoor air quality.

Appropriate design;

Building envelop, orientation, and location of air intake, location of mechanical ventilation systems can contribute to indoor air quality. Hence, these factors should be considered during the design stage of projects to control the main source of pollutants for the whole building.

Whole house mechanical ventilation;

Properly designed and sized ventilation system can supply adequate outdoor air to indoor. In most of the green building rating systems, industry standards such as ASHRAE Standard 62 or Ventilation for Acceptable Indoor Air Quality are commonly followed.

Mixed mode ventilation:

Use of combination of mechanical and natural ventilation systems in buildings, such as automated window controlling systems and operable windows, can help in maintaining healthy indoor air quality.

Air quality management during construction:

During the construction phase, molds can develop due to exposure of building materials with moisture. Dust and particulates can easily accumulate on building materials if they are not protected. The air quality during the construction period can be protected by protecting the building materials from dust and particles and moistures.

High efficiency air filters: 

Filters prevent transports of outdoor VOCs, dusts, particulates and ozone indoors. Use of good particle filter such as high MERV rated filters in ventilation equipment are found to be the most effective filters in filtering outdoor dust and particulates out.

Maintenance schedule for HVAC filters:

Dirty filter can cause sensory irritation. Hence, appropriate maintenance schedule can prevent this to happen.

Use of low emitting materials: 

Use of materials that have low VOC content for products such as indoor carpets, rubber flooring, sub-floor materials, ceramics and ties, plasterboards, or other sealants and adhesives.  Also internal construction materials with low formaldehyde content can be helpful.

Conduct building flush out: 

Flushing out of indoor contaminants thoroughly in buildings before occupancy will help replacing dirty indoor air with fresh outdoor air.

Green cleaning program:

Select cleaning materials that are made of low emitting materials and employ a green cleaning program to reduce contaminant exposure.

Carbon dioxide monitors: Install CO₂ monitors in ventilation system and integrate them to regulate the supply of fresh air according to the building occupants demand. By doing so, if the CO₂ concentration increases beyond a set point, then the airflow automatically increases. 

Sustainable Cities.

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