Our mission is to provide an aesthetic and sustainable solution for the urban built environment. URBAN TREE is an innovative multifunctional urban space furniture that helps to ease the pressure on the sewage systems, while contributing to greening the city, and at the same time having an inclusive social dimension. The modules are made of "zero cement" concrete using waste streams that would otherwise end up in landfills, resulting in a lower CO2 footprint than conventional concrete.
National
Denmark
Copenhagen and Roskilde
Mainly urban
It refers to a physical transformation of the built environment (hard investment)
Yes
Horizon2020 / Horizon Europe
The URBN TREE will be a demonstrator pilot in the Horizon Europe project called AshCycle 2022 (HORIZON-CL4-2021-TWIN-TRANSITION-01)
No
As individual(s) in partnership with organisation(s)
First name: Sophie Krog Last name: Agergaard Gender: Female Please describe the type of organization(s) you work in partnership with: CWare is a research and consultancy organisation with expertise within circular economic modelling, resource efficiency, environmental policies, economic feasibility, sustainable business models, market exploitation strategies, co-creation processes in projects and initiatives supporting the transition to a circular and sustainable economy. Age: 27 Please attach a copy of your national ID/residence card:
By ticking this box, I certify that the information regarding my age is factually correct. : Yes Nationality: Denmark Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: Løgstørgade 2, 1. Town: Copenhagen Postal code: 2200 Country: Denmark Direct Tel:+45 42 78 98 11 E-mail:ska@cware.eu Website:https://www.cware.eu/urbantree/
URBAN TREE offers a green solution to urban spaces in particular where trees have short lifespans due to poor soil conditions, or where underground urban space infrastructure, such as pipes and cables, or underground parking facilities and metro systems makes it very expensive or even impossible to plant trees or establishing plant beds. The URBAN TREE can be placed directly on top of the pavement and does not require excavation like trees or other SUDS solutions such as fascines or plant beds. The URBAN TREE contributes to improving urban spaces by providing a greening option for the cities, improving biodiversity and act as a climate adaptation measure in terms of a cooling effect and as rainwater management.
The URBAN TREE modules are made from an “zero cement” concrete that recycles industrial waste products such as slags from steel production, ashes from incineration plants, mineral wool, aggregates, and sand from demolition projects, etc. which would otherwise have ended up in landfill. The concrete has a CO2 footprint of between 50%-70% lower than conventional concrete. The modules can be stacked on top of each other and formed into a column with a reservoir for rainwater storage. The modules are designed to allow plants to grow in a growing medium with access to the stored rainwater. The URBAN TREE comes in two versions: one that collects water through drainpipes from roofs, the other as a free-standing structure with a ‘crown’ that functions as a collection funnel.
URBAN TREE helps to ease the pressure on the sewage systems, while contributing to greening the city, and at the same time having an inclusive social dimension, as there can be placed a bench around the URBAN TREE, so it can function as a social gathering point or resting place. Our solution is easily scalable, as many cities face the same challenges dealing with extreme and frequent rainfall events, large, paved areas, and lack of green urban spaces, which our idea can help solve.
Greening cities
Urban transformation
Climate adaptation
Urban Heat Island effect
Human well-being
There is a sustainability and the circularity of materials aspect in URBAN TREE, where industrial by-products are recycled in the green concrete, and thereby avoiding these materials ending up in landfill and at the same time decreasing the demand for virgin raw materials when producing concrete. When URBAN TREE has served its lifetime, it can be crushed and recycled to new "zero cement" concrete, as is also the case with conventional concrete.
URBAN TREE contributes to an aesthetic expression and greening of the cities, including other beneficial trade-offs such as the mental health, human well-being, and increased quality of life that is associated with experiencing nature and the community feeling. Urban green spaces can help mitigate the effects of pollution and can bring a positive benefit by increasing the cooling effects in cities offering shady places in the heat during summertime, thus combatting the urban heat island effect. Green areas in cities play an important role in enhancing the quality of environment as well as providing the opportunity to conserve biodiversity in cities.
URBAN TREE has a dimension of inclusiveness as there can be placed a bench around the URBAN TREE, so it can function as a social gathering point or resting place. And there is also an inclusion aspect as people can be a part of taking care of the plants covering URBAN TREE, which is an option we would like for our products to provide
Challenges such as heavy rainfall, loss of biodiversity, longer and more severe heatwaves will result in large costs for the cities, both in terms of economic, environmental, and social costs. Greening of the cities, reconnecting with nature, nature-based solutions are all believed to be the most efficient way to build urban resilience against these challenges. Rethinking how we live and strive in cities within the planetary boundaries and at the same time respecting all aspect of human life will according to the Doughnut economy school of thoughts lead to the regaining sense of community and belonging.
Likewise, the New European Bauhaus initiative, also stresses the importance of inclusion and belonging as a movement for the implementation of the Green Deal to be successful and absolute sustainable. Ultimately circular economy is one of the cornerstones of the European Green Deal, where the main goal is to recirculate as many valuable materials as possible, to avoid exploitation of the Earth's scarce resources.
URBAN TREE will help meet these challenges.
In relation to the stakeholder engagement strategy, we have continuously had conversations with potential customers to get some feedback regarding the possibility of setting up URBAN TREEs in both Frederiksberg and Copenhagen Municipality and different local projects (Områdefornyelse: Sundby, Skjolds Plads, Bispebjerg). They all showed great interest in the concept but wanted to see a prototype before they invest finances in it or want to establish a collaboration. In addition, part of the long-term strategy with the first full-scale prototype is also to get feedback from the users/citizens and customers to adapt the design, user-friendliness, and the possibility of various add-ons e.g., bench, solar cells, lighting etc.
Our solution helps to ease the pressure on the sewage systems, while contributing to greening the city, and at the same time having a circular economy aspect when recycling material waste streams that would otherwise end up on landfills. These combinations in one product are unique and beneficial to cities, as URBAN TREE is multifunctional and fulfills several needs at once.
URBAN TREE is especially ideal for the paved areas of the city, where trees have short lifespans due to poor soil conditions, or where underground urban space infrastructure, such as pipes and cables, or underground parking facilities and metro systems makes it very expensive or even impossible to plant trees or establishing plant beds. The URBAN TREE can be placed directly on top of the pavement and does not require excavation like trees or other SuDS solutions such as fascines or plant beds.
The solution is easily scalable, as many cities face the same challenges dealing with extreme and frequent rainfall events, large, paved areas, and lack of green urban spaces, which our idea can help solve.
We have currently established collaborations with various relevant stakeholders. We are collaborating with BG Byggros, who are leading in the market for green walls and roofs in Scandinavia and will be responsible for providing the growth medium and vegetation for our products. We also have a collaboration with EcoTree, which invests in forests and sells trees to customers with a financial return. They want to be able to offer their customers a product in urban environments. In addition, we collaborate with IBF, Ikast Beton Fabrikker, which produces concrete solutions for the Danish construction industry and has a strong focus on adapting to new markets and developing new types of sustainable concrete. They will be responsible for the production of the mould for the modules and for casting the modules. These will all act as sales representatives for URBAN TREE with their existing network once the product has been finalized and is ready to be sold.
Most of us live in cities, even though cities are not the healthiest places due to poor air quality, noisy surroundings, and lack of recreational spaces. Many cities have few green areas and consist of too much ‘concrete jungle’ and poor biodiversity. As a result of climate change, it is expected that cities will experience more frequent and heavier rainfalls, which will challenge our sewage systems in handling the large amounts of precipitation. Climate change will also give us hotter summers and longer periods with drought. The number of heatwave days in urban areas, due to the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect is expected to increase 3-10 times by 2080 depending on the climate scenario. Thus URBAN TREE is a local solution that can help meet these global challenges.
