Cities and nations around the globe are shooting for carbon neutrality, with some experts already talking about the need to ultimately reach carbon negativity.
Cities and nations around the globe are shooting for carbon neutrality, with some experts already talking about the need to ultimately reach carbon negativity. In construction, carbon footprint declarations are used to ease product selection for low carbon building, but these standards don’t yet exist for green elements like soil, bushes and plants. A new study led by Aalto University is the first to map out how green infrastructure can be a resource for cities on the path to carbon neutrality.
The study, done in collaboration with the Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke) and the University of Helsinki, charted out the lifecycle phases of plants, soils and mulches to determine the basic considerations needed to create standards for products commonly used in green urban spaces.
‘Green infrastructure is a building block of cities, yet its products haven’t yet been systematically assessed for their carbon storage potential. We’re now starting to better understand the great importance of these nature-based solutions. Standards for these commonly used products would help us not only better plan our cities, but also help us reach carbon neutrality,’ says Matti Kuittinen, an adjunct professor at Aalto University.
Read more at: Aalto University
Photo Credit: Larisa-K via Pixabay
