Trend Watch, August 2017

 CityTree: intelligent air purifier

CityTree

A German-based start-up, Green City Solutions (GCS), has developed an intelligent natural air purifier, CityTree, that uses moss to trap pollutant particles.

With the environmental benefit of up to 275 normal urban trees, the compact and mobile unit improves the air, cools it and protects the environment from noise. “We’re building a climate infrastructure,” says GCS co-founder Zhengliang Wu.

The moss-covered air purifier, with inbuilt timber bench seats, harnesses the ability of moss cultures to filter pollutants out of the air, bind them to the leaf surface and integrate them permanently into their own biomass.

The technological design of CityTree ensures the survival of the moss through an adequate supply of shade, water and nutrients; at the same time, the filter performance and the plants’ requirements can be measured and analysed.

CityTrees are found across Germany, Macedonia, Oslo, Brussels and Hong Kong, to name a few.

Photo: Green City Solutions.

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