WE SAVE CITY TREES!
We love trees!
For World Water Day 2022, the Josef Wund Foundation has named us the winner of the UNDINE AWARD in the habitat category.
And that's why we're doing everything we can to protect the trees in our cities from the increasingly frequent dry periods in summer with the help of digital solutions. Our goal is to look after a million city trees via our cloud by 2030 and to protect them sustainably from dying caused by climate change through intelligent irrigation.
THE IDEA -
SMART CUBES
Sustainable and digital!
These are the basic principles of our smart cubes. Local water reservoirs that are controlled by an algorithm in the cloud and, if necessary, irrigate the roots of trees.
And in addition to needs-based irrigation, the storage of water in spring is also sustainable, as this relieves the groundwater and drinking water networks in summer.
A significant reduction in irrigation trips relieves the green space authorities and improves the city's carbon footprint in a variety of ways.
Depending on the tree species, around 100 liters of water every one to two weeks is sufficient to enable the tree to survive in a drought period.
Extreme drought for three years in a row
- Ascending trend!
Climate change is creeping up, but the past three years have given us a dramatic foretaste of dry spells and heat records that our urban trees can only survive with our support.
THE
PROBLEM
Source: UFZ Drought Monitor / Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research
The effects of climate change can be felt more and more clearly. Nine of the ten warmest years in Germany since 1881 occurred after 2000, there is an unprecedented accumulation of heat records, etc.
The pictures each show the UFZ drought monitor 'Total Soil' for the month of October in the years 2016 to 2020, published by the Helmholz Center for Environmental Research.
If there is no rain or if it does not reach the root system in sufficient quantity, the trees will be damaged. In the long run irreparable damage occurs, the tree dies!
Map of Germany, UFZ drought monitor 'total floor'
Trees are the heroes our city!
But today our heroes of the city need our support
so that they can continue to do their work reliably for us humans.
THE MEANING
THE TREES
Trees are of particular importance in cities and they have a major impact on our quality of life. They contribute enormously to high air quality and filter up to 60% pollutants from the air. Did you know what a tree does:
Improve air quality
Effective wind protection
Noise reduction
Regulation of the microclimate
Appreciation of real estate values
Conservation of biodiversity
Shade and a lot more
A smart system -
With support from space
Our cloud takes into account a wide variety of data sources, such as the tree cadastre, regional precipitation amounts and weather forecasts, soil measurements and a few more. All of this in order to determine the time and amount of automatic watering optimally and individually for each tree. We also use satellite images that we analyze spectrally and thereby determine the photosynthetic activity of a tree, which in turn allows us to recognize the nutrient and water deficiency.
DATA DASHBOARD
SMART ALGORITHMUS
SMART WATER CUBE
- precipitation data
- weather forecast
- tree data
- satellite images
- ground sensor data
Cloud-based system
- controls the tree
- specific release of water
and nutrients
- information platform for cities
- citizen participation possible
Decentralized water storage
- are filled when water is available
- can be addressed via radio
- filling levels, city and ground sensors
- integation in street furniture or
bus stops
THE
PRODUCTS
We offer a wide variety of solutions for integrating our cubes, which can be controlled via the cloud, into the cityscape. Here is a selection depending on the growth status of a tree, as a static solution in the form of street furniture or as a mobile and flexible solution.
LOCATION
STORAGE CAPACITY DURATION OF USE
for new plantings
100 liters
3-5 years
trees from 5 years
500-1000 liters
stationary, permanent
current water shortage
1000 liters
flexible installation