IONOSPHERE
The air we breathe is a common good at risk. It's time to take measures to protect our citizens against peaks in harmful particulate matter (PM), resulting in natural disasters of increasing scale and frequency. We suggest the IONOSPHERE project, inspired by the protective qualities of the ionosphere, one of the outer layers of the atmosphere, to combat exposure to dangerous levels of air pollution.
Montreal is usually enveloped in clean air, with the surrounding forests acting as great green lungs. This resource, taken for granted, proved vulnerable during last year's forest fires, when Montreal became the city with the dirtiest air in the world. While some people had the privilege of staying at home with filtered air conditioning, others were exposed to potentially lethal pollution. With the possibility of more forest fires in the future, Montreal will have to determine how to protect its citizens.
We propose to reuse components from the Olympic Stadium, "The Big O", to create air filtration systems for the city's bus networks. The materials will be transformed into electrostatic precipitates that collect particles by inducing alternating charges. This device would draw in air by passing it through a negatively-charged mesh, using reused cables. The ionized particles would then stick to the alternately charged surfaces, while allowing fresh air to be vented into the bus shelters. This would enable us to use the natural anti-adhesive qualities of PTFE material for collection and the insulating qualities of PVC, making it electrically safe. By creating an electrical precipitator in place of large HEPA filters, we avoid the cost of membrane replacement and can take advantage of the existing waste management system, while ensuring safe collection and disposal.
IONOSPHERE's vocation is to create an end-of-life objective, even for the most complex materials recovered from the Stadium roof. By working with the city's bus network and shelters, we are creating a distributed system of climate safety zones, covering the whole city.
The size of the struts, forming the mantle of the system, makes it an imposing object: it stands as a statement of health and resilience. To further expose the project, we envisage the filtration units being painted by local artists and communities, in the context of urban art projects. Material transformation processes are simple and focused on reuse and refurbishment, avoiding more energy-intensive recycling and making use of available infrastructure and local players.
(From competitor's text)
(Unofficial automated translation)
This student proposal was undoubtedly the one that provoked the most discussion among jury members, including experts in environmental issues. Although the operating principle and the relevance of reuse in relation to the properties of the roofing materials did not convince the jury, this project does have the merit of getting people thinking about air quality in an urban environment. The project's deployment across the entire territory and its visual marker, which acts as an awareness-raising element, are also among its qualities.
(From jury report)
(Unofficial automated translation)
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