French start-up Urban Canopee has the ambition to fight climate change by deploying cool islands in cities, in the form of autonomous and connected plant structures, easy to transport and maintain.
Urban Canopee offers a particularly innovative solution to combat climate change. These canopies are intended to refresh the population while helping to restore urban biodiversity. Ultimately, these facilities are there to improve the quality of life of city dwellers.
Autonomous and Connected Solutions
The idea is to grow climbing plants on flexible and light structures that cover large areas with the aim of vegetating where trees cannot be planted. These islands of coolness are perfect for reducing sun exposure and heat in highly exposed areas, 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.
Its solutions are both autonomous and connected. They can be installed on mineralized ground, also with parking garages or a water network underneath, as there is no excavation required to install them. Each installation has its own water and substrate reserve. Thanks to a connected box, including a water level, humidity sensors and a pump controller, the plants are fed as soon as they need it. If the reserve is empty, someone will just fill it up. Maintenance work ensures that the quality can be maintained two to three times a year to check that the plant is growing well and that there are no diseases.
Present at Viva Tech 2022, Urban Canopee has already installed more than 660 plants and 160 corollas in about sixty cities, mainly in France, but also in Switzerland and even in Australia. Most of Urban Canopee’s customers are municipalities for the time being, but the start-up also focuses on companies.
(ETX Daily Up)