If you’ve walked through Glasgow’s city centre in the past couple of years you may have noticed this peculiar looking bench. Two were installed in Glasgow on Royal Exchange Square and Killermont Street during 2017. They were designed and built by the German based organisation Green City Solutions. The young company specialises in global air quality solutions in urban areas. Since its birth in 2014 Green City Solutions has been researching, simulating, implementing and analysing bio-tech filters in various forms by combining cutting-edge technologies with living solutions.
One of their success stories is this self-sustaining structure called ‘CityTrees’ in Glasgow which mimics a unique bench but if you dig a little deeper there’s much more than meets the eye. The dense moss structure filter toxins and particulates out of the air whilst breathing in carbon dioxide and producing oxygen. The moss does this to the same effectiveness as 250 trees by removing 240 metric tonnes of greenhouses gasses annually. These large numbers are due to the moss culture’s high leaf surface area. Green City Solutions has combined the vegetation with modern techniques to monitor and sustain the efficiencies of their systems. Irrigation systems optimally hydrate the moss with collected rain water and are powered by solar panels. Sensors and internal fans are also powered by these solar panels to increase and monitor the ventilation of airflow. All of this collected data can be accessed and processed via any internet connection as it uses IoT technologies to share its information. This real time data is essential to quantify the positive effect these CityTrees are having on the city’s air quality which has been confirmed by analyse from independent experts. It also has an element of public interaction with its inviting curved benches and informative signs explaining its purpose. Its striking presence will, hopefully, encourage people to take note of its existence and question why it is needed in the middle of their city. This is definitely a step in the right direction for Glasgow; one of the UK’s most polluted cities.
CityTrees are an example of great design as a concept and product but it is important to keep solutions in perspective. The World Health Organisation failed 44 towns and cities in the UK for their air quality after they exceeded the safe limit of 10 micrograms of particles per cubic metre, Glasgow’s was 16 in 2017. Whilst two £20,000 CityTrees is a notable investment for Glasgow, with good intentions, it is a very small step to combat an issue that costs the UK £22.6bn per year and causes 40,000 premature deaths. Longevity comes from legislation so in 2017 the Scottish Government pledged to phase out petrol and diesel cars by 2032- is that really enough? For some perspective; Madrid’s Mayor pledged to completely ban cars from 500 acres of the city by 2020, Oslo are executing a similar plan with a 2019 deadline and in Copenhagen half of commuters cycle to work using their 200 miles of bike lanes. The congestion charge in London is meaningful progress but what about our Glasgow. I love the ingenuity of CityTrees and it sparked my interest in the air I breath everyday but real change is needed to combat the source of this immense issue. One exemplar product is the start we need and with continued innovation for reversing environmental impacts and policies to reduce them, there’s hope yet.
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