https://www.begiant.ca/stories/ideas/montreal-green-bus-shelters
"Canada’s bus shelters offer basic protection from rain and sun – and a
reliable platform for advertising – but do little to temper the effect of
extreme weather on transit riders. It’s not for lack of trying. For decades,
designers developed new shapes, walls, windows and benches, promising greater
comfort but typically delivering few tangible benefits.
They might’ve been looking in the wrong places. In Montreal, a pilot project by
researchers from École de technologie supérieure (ÉTS) has transformed a pair
of standard municipal bus shelters through an almost invisible intervention.
The secret? Beds of hardy greenery were added to the sloped roofs of two
standard Montreal bus stops. Developed in collaboration with Quebecor’s outdoor
advertising subsidiary Out-of-Home and local landscapers Les Toits Vertige, the
augmented shelters sit at the downtown intersection of Robert-Bourassa
Boulevard and Saint-Jacques Street, and on Sherbrooke Street East in the
Hochelaga-Maisonneuve neighbourhood, within a stone’s throw of the city’s
iconic Olympic Stadium.
From a distance, the simple shelters are accented by a jolt of plant life,
animating the urban realm with red and green hues of flowering sedum, a hardy
plant well suited for extreme weather. For transit riders, the greenery acts
as natural insulation, helping to moderate temperatures. The effect is
particularly notable at the peak of the summer heat.
“On average, the green roof has the potential to reduce the temperature by
about 2.9 C above the roof and by approximately 1.4 C inside the shelter,”
notes the ÉTS research team. Since the green roofs were installed in August
2024, the indoor and outdoor temperatures have been closely monitored.
One sweltering day in September, “the temperature outside the shelter reached
36 C, while it was measured at 33 C inside,” notes the ÉTS team. That’s a
significant improvement in comfort at low cost, particularly given the
simplicity of the installations, which are similar to sedum planters found at
Home Depot.
They each measure just over four square metres and offer passive benefits
similar to the much larger green roofs that increasingly top new buildings. The
thirsty yet durable plants absorb stormwater, too, easing the strain on civic
infrastructure. Moreover, the rich sedum offers a habitat for various insects
and birds and pollinators, supporting urban biodiversity while potentially
helping to extend the lifespan of the roof structure below.
As the two-year pilot project nears its conclusion, the promising results make
a compelling case for citywide expansion."
Via
Reasons to be Cheerful:
<
https://reasonstobecheerful.world/what-were-reading-free-buses-or-subway-expansion/>
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
