The French startup Urban Canopee aims to deploy “islands of freshness” in cities, in the form of autonomous and connected plant structures, easy to transport and maintain.
You will also be interested
[EN VIDÉO] Climate change: how to protect our cities from heatstroke? To limit temperatures in urban areas during summer heat waves, this question must be considered right from the design of developments, residential or business buildings, roads, traffic plans, etc. A European study program, Urban Fluxes, lays the groundwork for better building the cities of tomorrow.
Urban Canopy offers a particularly innovative solution to reduce the deleterious effects of global warming like the heat waves and the strong heat repeatedly in cities. These canopies are intended to restore freshness to the inhabitants while participating in the restoration of the biodiversity urban. These facilities are intended to improve the quality of life of city dwellers, victims of heat islands “.
The idea is to grow climbing plants on flexible and light structures covering large areas in order to vegetate wherever you can’t planttrees. These “islands of freshness” are perfect for reducing exposure to Sun and heat in very exposed places, such as large squares. Depending on the type of plant, it takes up to a year for the structure to be full and fulfill its role perfectly.
Connected plant growth
Heat wave: this French start-up plants “islands of freshness” in cities and businesses. Its solutions are both autonomous and connected. They can be installed on mineralized ground, including with car parks or a water network below since there is no digging to install them. Each installation has its own reserve of water and substrate. Thanks to a connected box, which includes a water level, humidity sensors and a pump controller, the plants are fed when they need it. When the reserve is empty, someone simply comes to fill it. Maintenance operations allow the quality to be maintained, two to three times a year, in order to check that the plant is growing well and that no disease has developed.
Present at VivaTech 2022Urban Canopee has already installed more than 680 plants and 160 corollas in 63 cities, mainly in France, but also in Switzerland and even in Australia. For now, most of Urban Canopee’s clients are municipalities, but the startup also targets companies.
Interested in what you just read?