GREENFIX f³ Fire Free Fibres Blankets
Climate change has caused extreme weather events to be more frequent. In places like Albania, Southeast Europe, summer is often very dry and hot causing wildfires in many regions, mostly in natural Parks. As recent events in Albania’s neighbour country Greece show, wildfires can be unpredictable and spread in urban areas causing serious damages. In these cases natural fibre blankets have the disadvantage that in sunny periods the fibres quickly become dry and can catch fire by just a cigarette.
That is why GREENFIX f³ combines all the benefits from all other GREENFIX products: Covamats, Eromats, Mulchmats, Rockmats, as well as GREENFIX 75 and provides additional fire protection according to DIN 4102-1.
GREENFIX f³ is composed of unique grass fibres of European origin and specially treated according to best environmental practices, so that these fire free fibres are 100 % biodegradable within 36 to 60 months. Dajti Adventure Park is one hot spot to test the blankets. Being vulnerable to human activities, including hazardous activities like inattentive cigarette smoking, the park is at all times risked by human behavior. Erosion is also a phenomenon that has a bad influence on the Park. Using the GREENFIX Fire Free blankets could potentially reduce the negative impacts.
ProSystem prototype demonstration in operational environment.
Prototype near or at planned operational system. Represents a major step up from TRL 6 by requiring demonstration of an actual system prototype in an operational environment.
Prototype near or at planned operational system. Represents a major step up from TRL 6 by requiring demonstration of an actual system prototype in an operational environment.
GREENFIX f3 has been applied in different relevant environment> There is a necessity to implement these type of techniques in Albania, mostly in Dajti Adventure Park in Tirana. As this technique has not yet been implemented in Tirana we classify this innovation as a TRL6.
How does it work?
The blanket is placed central at a minimum of 30 cm over the channel. The mat is secured by catching the clip-on channel 30 cm distance from each other.
Filled with dough and coated. Sowing seeds and placing the map, is provided with a row of clasps located at 30 cm distance from each other.
This Greenfix fire Free Blanket should be placed in one attractive adventure park inn Dajti mountain in Tirana, as is a new park and is more vulnerable to human activities. placing this blankets in this park should reduce as well the negative impact for erosion.
January, 2019
- Innovation renamed to include the term GREENFIX f3.
- URL path renamed
by Sergio Contreras (WP3 leader)
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Polder Roof (Polderdak)
The Polder Roof stores heavy rainfall on flat roofs to prevent urban flooding, to reduce heat stress, and to use rainfall during droughts.
The Polder Roof transforms a flat roof so that it is able to collect and store water. This storage is controlled and can be drained at any chosen moment. The Polder Roof functions as a foundation for a green roof, roof garden, solar park or roof park.
ProSystem prototype demonstration in operational environment.
Prototype near or at planned operational system. Represents a major step up from TRL 6 by requiring demonstration of an actual system prototype in an operational environment.
Prototype near or at planned operational system. Represents a major step up from TRL 6 by requiring demonstration of an actual system prototype in an operational environment.
The Polder Roof has already been implemented on several pilot roofs in the Netherlands. We want to test en optimize the algorithms that decide to retain the stored water or not. We intend to enhance these algorithms, add (probabilistic) forecasts and models and test them on a Field Lab at the Civil Engineering faculty of Delft University.
How does it work?
The Polder Roof consist of a buffer system and a Smart Flow Control. Rainfall is directly stored in a buffer system on a flat roof. The standard capacitiy of this buffer system is 70 mm. This storage is automatically controlled by our Smart Flow Control (SFC) which collects meteorological data and communicates with a web-application. The Smart Flow Control uses algorithms to decide to retain the stored water or not.
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LeafSkin
Vertical gardens are nature-based solutions that provide many benefits in urban areas: increase biodiversity, reduce heat island effect, improve VOC capture, provide optimal insulation properties, and bring nature to cities in those places where other solutions could not be implemented. However vertical garden systems are usually very expensive to be implemented (250-500 €/m2) and are highly heavy (35-200 kg/m2) which limit the market outreach of these type of solutions in urban areas.
Leaf.skin is an ultralight vertical garden system that can be placed where no other vertical garden systems can be. Leaf.skin is composed by an anti-root waterproof membrane, a technical fabric as a planting support, adhered substrate and seeds with an only 5mm thickness. The installation process is similar to an advertising canvas installation. It is low cost, ultralight and ultrathin solution, of easier and faster installation than other commercial solutions.
ProSystem prototype demonstration in operational environment.
Prototype near or at planned operational system. Represents a major step up from TRL 6 by requiring demonstration of an actual system prototype in an operational environment.
Prototype near or at planned operational system. Represents a major step up from TRL 6 by requiring demonstration of an actual system prototype in an operational environment.
We mounted a 12m2 leaf.skin first vertical garden in March 2018 in a private house in Alicante to test the system in outlab conditions.
How does it work?
Leaf.skin is composed by an anti-root waterproof membrane, a technical fabric as a planting support, adhered substrate designed to maintain humidity with an only 5mm thickness, seeding with plants selected for these vertical and climate conditions.
The leaf.skin vertical garden is assembled, sown and rolled up in workshop to be shipped and mounted in blocks of up to 12 m2 at a time, this speeds up the installation process which is similar to an advertising canvas installation. It can be installed at any wall without concernings about load limitations.
The remote controlled irrigation system is a guarantee of perfect maintenance, seeds will grow and cover the vertical garden with plants in about two months from the installation.
January, 2019
- TRL is updated (from 7 to 5) according to the info provided by the innovator and current status of the solution.
by Sergio Contreras (WP3 leader)
November, 2019
- Testing report approved by WP3
- TRL updated from 5 to 7
- Label "Testing completed"
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ARIEL, soil moisture retrieval by microwave remote sensing
High-resolution monitoring of soil moisture at the land surface level
ARIEL is a microwave radiometer that provides remote soil moisture data. What cameras cannot see beyond surface, Balamis sensors can. ARIEL is a non-intrusive method able to effectively retrieve soil moisture data over small and large areas easily. ARIEL can be placed on-board aircrafts, UAVs (Unmmanned Aerial Vehicles) and ground vehicles.
ProSystem prototype demonstration in operational environment.
Prototype near or at planned operational system. Represents a major step up from TRL 6 by requiring demonstration of an actual system prototype in an operational environment.
Prototype near or at planned operational system. Represents a major step up from TRL 6 by requiring demonstration of an actual system prototype in an operational environment.
Technology has been tested and demostrated in an operational environment, and has passed the BRIGAID's TIF assessment.
How does it work?
ARIEL is a passive microwave radiometer based on the same technology of MIRAS sensor on-board satellite SMOS mission. It measures natural thermal emission at the microwave wavelength of 1.4 GHz, which is strongly related to the content of water in the observed target. It requires a power supply from 12 to 24V, and consumes a max. of 50W. It requires a mechanical interface with the platform to be used on. Its installation takes less than 10 min. in ground vehicles and UAVs, and needs to be homologated in aircrafts. The antenna has to be adapted to existing “holes” for Earth observation in the fuselage, and data is synchronized with other systems using an internal GPS time stamp.
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Seed blanket for Extensive Green Roofs
Green roofs provide many benefits, e.g. storm water runoff reduction; increase insulation properties; reduce heat island effect through evapotranspiration. Although more and more new real estate have a (mandatory) green roof, many old roofs in urban areas remain with a classic roof, as green roofs are heavy systems, not easy to install and relatively expensive.
To lower threshold for consumers and to accelerate the transition to more green roofs in historic urban areas, we offer a lightweight, easy-to-install green roof system that is cheaper than current extensive green roof build-ups, by 1) using cost effective build-up materials and 2) saving money on transportation and installation cost (even suitable for DIY).
ProSystem prototype demonstration in operational environment.
Prototype near or at planned operational system. Represents a major step up from TRL 6 by requiring demonstration of an actual system prototype in an operational environment.
Prototype near or at planned operational system. Represents a major step up from TRL 6 by requiring demonstration of an actual system prototype in an operational environment.
The build-up system has been defined. A successful test set-up in western Europe, ideal conditions (mild temperature and humidity) installed. More testing required in other regions (e.g. south and continental Europe) to validate it can be successful across Europe.
How does it work?
The product is an extensive green roof system which consists of a Drainage layer; Growing medium; Composite Seed blanket and Ballast. Apart from the ballast, all layers of the system are sheets or blankets rolls. All materials are dry, and can be stored for a long period. The seed blanket is an unvegetated composite, which contains a sedum seed mixture that can be customized to withstand different climatological conditions. This allows potential use across Europe. By using geotextile as growing medium, additional substrate is not required. With a weight of ±53kg/m² the system is very lightweight compared to standard extensive green roofs(>100kg/m²). Current system retains 25L/m², which can easily be increased using alternative geotextiles.
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Polderroof
Heavy rainfall events are occurring more frequent and are becoming more intense due to climate change. In dense city areas with a large share of hard surfaces (roads, pathways and buildings) the rainwater creates peak loads on the sewage system, causing nuisance, damage and spilling of sewage in surface water. Municipalities want to limit the runoff of rainwater to the sewage system to reduce investments in the sewage system and damage caused due to excess rainwater.
Rooftops are generally poorly used areas and therefore have enormous potential. The Polder roof uses the roof surface to create a water buffer and create a new roof surface for other rooftop functions. The Polder roof then controls the flow of rainwater to the downspout. When it is raining the rainwater runoff is stopped and when the rainwater in the sewage system is processed the Polder roof starts to empty the rainwater buffer, offsetting the peak of rainwater flow into the sewage system.
ProSystem prototype demonstration in operational environment.
Prototype near or at planned operational system. Represents a major step up from TRL 6 by requiring demonstration of an actual system prototype in an operational environment.
Prototype near or at planned operational system. Represents a major step up from TRL 6 by requiring demonstration of an actual system prototype in an operational environment.
We have made one polder roof last year and are planning to build four more in the next month, however there are still some problems to be tackled in production level and on the IT side of the product.
How does it work?
The Polder roof consists of a water buffer created from modules that create a void where rainwater can be stored in. This buffer is locked in by the edge of the roof or dikes creating a basin. The third element is the “Smart Flow Control” which is a control unit that controls the water level height in the water buffer and ensures the safety aspects of the roof with input of several sensors that measure environmental effects on the rooftop.
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PrHo
TIC solutions for better agriculture and crop management
PrHo is a software for the estimation of greenhouse-grown crop water requirements and actual evapotranspiration based on the FAO model
ProSystem prototype demonstration in operational environment.
Prototype near or at planned operational system. Represents a major step up from TRL 6 by requiring demonstration of an actual system prototype in an operational environment.
Prototype near or at planned operational system. Represents a major step up from TRL 6 by requiring demonstration of an actual system prototype in an operational environment.
The software has been tested and validated in greenhouses experiments for the most typical crop growing cycles in the Almeria province (SE Spain).
How does it work?
PrHo quantifies crop water requirements based on two sub-models: a) a reference evapotranspiration (ETo) sub-model, and b) a crop coefficients (Kc) sub-model. The ETo sub-model computes greenhouse ETo values using outside solar radiation estimates retrieved from a radiation model previously calibrated for local conditions. Outputs from this sub-model make possible to adjust the irrigation scheme to particular crop conditions, such as white washing. The Kc sub-model computes the temporal dynamics of Kc values along the growing period, from the sowing/planting to the effective full cover stages. as a function of thermal time retrieved from greenhouse air temperature measurements.
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Bufferblock
Due to climate change, more and more heavy rainfalls will occur and many cities are now facing the problems of streets being flooded because of the stormwater. Our innovation gives these cities a cost-effective solution which provides high amount of stormwater storage in little space needed.
The Bufferblock is a solution for stormwater drainage and buffering in the urban area. The function is similar to that of infiltration crates, but because of the high strength a much thinner top layer is needed. This results in a less deep installation depth, higher buffering capacities and a more cost-effective solution.
ProSystem prototype demonstration in operational environment.
Prototype near or at planned operational system. Represents a major step up from TRL 6 by requiring demonstration of an actual system prototype in an operational environment.
Prototype near or at planned operational system. Represents a major step up from TRL 6 by requiring demonstration of an actual system prototype in an operational environment.
A pilot with Bufferblocks is placed at the Green Village in Delft since March 2018, where several exprimental test have been performed on the blocks. After succesful results the Bufferblock has been optimized and made ready for mass-production.
In May 2020 the municipality of Capelle aan den IJssel (near Rotterdam) has been the launching customer.of the Bufferblocks. The Bufferblocks have been used here in a residential area to prevent urban flooding and minimize soil settlements. With online sensors the blocks will be monitored to check the water levels inside the blocks and te soil settlements. This data will be shared with other municipalities who want to know more about the effects of the Bufferblocks in preventing urban floodings and minimizing soil settlements.
How does it work?
The concrete Bufferblocks are designed to be placed underneath a permeable/porous street layer, but it is also possible to use closed pavement stones or asphalt on top when water is directed to the Bufferblocks via a street gully. During heavy rainfall the stormwater will go through the permeable top layer or via the street gullies inside of the Bufferblocks where the stormwater is stored and eventually infiltrates into the ground or is redirected to a sewer system. Because the stormwater is temporary stored inside of the Bufferblocks, the main sewer system will not get overloaded by a peak in water discharge due to the rainfall.
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Hydroeconomic DSS tools for drought management
Finding and implementation of optimal operating rules on surface reservoirs and aquifers to efficiently face drought impacts by re-arranging demand deliveries in a way that increases the economic benefits and by adopting efficient conjunctive use policies (combining surface and groundwater resources)
A hydroeconomic DSS tool able to solve both simulation and optimization problems. It requires as input the physical and economic components of the system. The simulation module allocates water resources following a given operating policy implemented through two techniques: priority-based allocation or fuzzy-rule-based-system allocation. The optimization module finds out optimal decisions to maximice the economic benefits during water shortage events. It implements both determinsitic and stochastic approaches, as well as groundwater and stream-aquifer interaction techniques
ProSystem prototype demonstration in operational environment.
Prototype near or at planned operational system. Represents a major step up from TRL 6 by requiring demonstration of an actual system prototype in an operational environment.
Prototype near or at planned operational system. Represents a major step up from TRL 6 by requiring demonstration of an actual system prototype in an operational environment.
It has been tested in the Jucar water basin in the framework of several PhD research projects, and the support of experts of the River Basin Authority (RBA)
How does it work?
Our IT technology is a software toolbox that provides a valuable solution for drought risk management through the integration and combination of hydroeconomic models (with economic characterization of water values at the main uses) and inflow forescasting algorithms.
September, 2017
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Mole: An underground soil moisture sensor linked to the cloud
Soil moisture is an important factor in precision agriculture for enabling flexible and smart irrigation strategies. Measuring soil moisture at 30-100 cm depth through devices connected to the Internet provides a centralized view of the crop status and the overall irrigation system. However, the cost of underground sensors and their connectivity is still limiting the applicability of the smart irrigation concept.
Mole is based on a new sensor concept. The device consists of an underground LoRa transceiver which transmits radiowaves to a buried collector. From measurements of the electromagnetic loss, soil moisture estimates can be retrieved if soil type/texture is well known. The transceiver also embeds the communication capability: a concentrator, located onboard a UAV, will connect to the Internet. The cost of the solution is in the order of 10-30% wrt traditional approaches.
ProSystem prototype demonstration in operational environment.
Prototype near or at planned operational system. Represents a major step up from TRL 6 by requiring demonstration of an actual system prototype in an operational environment.
Prototype near or at planned operational system. Represents a major step up from TRL 6 by requiring demonstration of an actual system prototype in an operational environment.
The communication protocol between the radio transceivers has been designed and implemented by IDESIO. It is a proprietary solution. The communication between the nodes, and with the drone gateway has been tested several times. Two PoCs have been already performed successfully with relevant stakeholders. Next steps will consist in testing the underground communication in a relevant environment and in quantifying the accuracy of soil moisture retrievals.
How does it work?
It is known that radiowaves (below 1 GHz) can propagate underground with a loss rate that depends on the soil type and moisture content. LoRa is a novel wireless technology for the IoT (Internet of Things) even much more robust to power losses than its predecessors. It is expected that LoRa waves can travel underground up to about 10-20 m. Two radio transceivers can exchange signals and make possible to provide indirect estimates of soil moisture content without the need for an ad hoc sensor. The soil moisture value is computed locally and then transmitted by the receiving node to a surface gateway. The latter will forward data to the Internet through, for example, a UAV repeater which is flying above the area.
November, 2019
TRL updated by WP3 leader (from 5 to 7)
Labelled. TIF approved.
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