Reduced emissions

Liko-Noe is a business office building that meets all of its energy demands on its own and has a sophisticated system of water reuse and management. The building features a green roof, a green facade, and water storage ponds on the outside (Ref. 1). The building has a constructed treatment wetland for the wastewater treatment, uses solar energy for photovoltaic panels as well as thermal wall (Ref. 4). The aim of the project is to demonstrate that nature-based building techniques can significantly help address the challenges of soil and water degradation, and climate change (Ref. 1).

The municipality initiated to realize a healthy and climate-proof 'city island' which includes a large variety of projects, including the City Island Park Tour, which is a cycling/walking tour around the island that includes multiple green-blue infrastructure elements along two canals. Together it can be recognized as a large city park (ref. 2, 6). The tour contains the sights of green banks, recreation possibilities, bridges and boulevard-ways, thereby promoting environmental quality, mobility and attractiveness of the area (ref. 6). A food park at Leeuwensteyn is envisioned for 2050 (ref. 7).

The Forest of Belfast is an imaginative label for urban tree initiative launched in the 1990s with the aim of conserving and managing existing trees, increasing the planting of suitable trees, particularly in places of public access like parks, and in promoting an interest in and an appreciation of trees and forestry(Ref 3). The project was officially launched in June 1992 (Ref 1). It is active throughout the urban area of Greater Belfast, including Belfast City. It brings together partners from the statutory sector, voluntary groups, businesses, and individual residents who become volunteer Tree Wardens. It shows how urban forestry can forge partnerships between central and local government, environmental organizations and city dwellers. (Ref 1). Forest of Belfast initiative was wound up towards the end of 2010 (Ref 6).

Situated in park Spilberk, the garden features a building with a green roof and a garden with various plots. The building is designed to be carbon neutral and reuses rainwater for toilet flushing and for watering the garden plots. The garden is used for horticultural purposes and environmental education, as well as animal and beekeeping. The complex improves the local micro-climate through cooling and humidification and promotes biodiversity. (Ref. 1; Ref. 2; Ref. 5; Ref. 6)

The Bio Washing Machine is a combination of an Aquifer Thermal Heat Storage (ATES) system and biological natural attenuation of groundwater and is thereby mainly focused on groundwater decontamination and energy storage. The ATES system accelerates the biological degradation of groundwater contamination and provides sustainable energy because cold water is pumped through buildings during the summer to cool the buildings and hot water during winter for heating. The groundwater decontamination measurements are aimed at protecting water in order to provide safe drinking water (ref. 1, 2, 3)

"This disctrict of "Plateau de Haye" is part of the EcoQuartier approach, is one of the most ambitious urban renewal projects. In line with the development of the New Urban Renewal Program, work was carried out this year [2012] on the challenges of opening up territory to its urban and forestry environment in order to confirm the "Forest City" approach initiated by the architect-town planner Alexandre Chemetoff" (Ref. 1). It received the EcoQuartier National Grand Prize (Ref. 2). A forest, community gardens and a green corridor are being developed with a rainwater recovery system (Ref. 2). Work is set to continue until 2024 (Ref. 10). "It will first allow work to be done on the functionalities of the district : development of spaces freed up by the demolition of the Blanc Sycamore and the Purple Beech, reconversion of the Tamaris and Ombelles into housing, shops and spaces dedicated to companies, creation of green spaces , shared gardens and parking" (Ref. 10).

Vine Court is a student residential complex located at the heart of the University’s city campus. It is equipped with both green and brown roofs, providing environmentally friendly habitats for local flora and fauna, utilizing local plant mixes and building material rubble from the excavated site. (Reference 2). It is at the forefront of sustainable residential development in the UK higher education sector and it was built to a high standard of sustainable design and energy performance. In addition to the eco-technologies incorporated into the structure, the brickwork includes built-in nest boxes for swifts and bats. It has been awarded a design stage BREEAM Excellent certification (Reference 1).

"Nancy Grand Coeur" is the name of an urban renewal planning project in Nancy, which included several blue and green interventions. This area of Nancy received in 2009 the "EcoQuartier" (Eco-District) French label even though the renewal planning works started later, and are still ongoing. "Completely remodeling this district to make it an engaging "facade", adapted to the lifestyles of the time and to the evolutions of modern town planning (diversity of activities, fluidity of travel, sustainable development ...): that is all aims of the Nancy Grand Coeur operation" (Ref. 3).

LIFE VIMINE is a project that aimed to define and apply a new type of integrated approach to the management of the territory, based on the erosion protection of the most indigenous barns and marshes in the Laguna of Venice. These unique habitats are rapidly disappearing due to natural processes and human impacts of varying nature. The project has contributed to repair and protect salt marshes borders as soon as erosion starts, build micro soil bioengineering works that are able to absorb wave energy, reduce erosion, promote sedimentation with a low effort and cost and improve coastal resilience and protection (1).

The data centre for Citi Bank in Frankfurt is the first in the world to put sustainability at its heart, setting radical new standards in an industry at the forefront of the fight against global carbon emissions (1). The functional and aesthetic aspects, as well as their CO2 balance and later reusability, played a decisive role in the selection of all materials. Disguising the full volume of the data hall, the iconic green wall features indigenous plants and is fully irrigated by harvested rainwater. The wall, measuring some 55 m by 12 m high, complements the extensive green roof and helps maintain a constant building temperature throughout the year while reducing thermal gain in the summer months. (1)