Through a large-scale design competition of the organisation Battle of Concepts, the Dutch Foundation for Innovation in Greenhouse Horticulture (SIGN) was challenged to design a personal wearable air purifying system, based on the air purifying effect of root substrate (concept named iGreen). This design should be original and believable that it would purify the air of micro-dust and of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) among other things and it should be user-friendly and attractive to wear. The jury chose the ‘Plant bag’ from students of the TU Delft as winners.The Plant bag is a backpack with plants where a ventilation system sucks the air through a root substrate as a hepa filter. Clean air is passed on through a tube system through a shawl collar into the nose or mouth. A backpack is not only practical, it is also user friendly (easy to put on, no weight on the head). Next to that the backpack can also be personalized and can become a trendy item. In the coming month a prototype of the winning concept will be developed by SIGN and field-tested.
Second and third
The Clean Air concept: a personalized scooter helmet with plants and AtMOSSphere a headset with purifying moss finished second and third.
Air pollution issues
The iGreen should solve the increasing problem of air pollution which is posing the main ecological problem worldwide. In the Netherlands our life expectancy dropped by one year due to air pollution. In cities, but certainly abroad in countries like China, the air pollution is far worse. It is obvious that we should solve this problem but for now protection is our only option.
The iGreen is one of the projects of the new innovation program Waard&vol Groen of SIGN. Stichting Innovatie Glastuinbouw (SIGN) is an initiative of LTO Glas-kracht Nederland in alliance with Innovatie Agro & Natuur of the Ministry of Economics.
For more information:
Dewi Hartkamp, Programmamanager SIGNStichting Innovatie Glastuinbouw Nederland (SIGN)
Postbus 51
2665 ZH Bleiswijk
T: +31 10 800 84 06
M: +31 6 531 319 44
F: +31 10 800 84 40
E: dhartkamp@ltoglaskracht.nl
www.innovatieglastuinbouw.nl