Sustainable cities: Siemens USA

Improved transportation, green buildings, water conservation and reuse and smart grid infrastructure are just a few of the technologies helping to achieve sustainable environmental development in cities.

The challenges presented by sustainable urban development are immense. In 2010, 82 percent of Americans lived in cities; by 2050 it will be 90 percent. Cities are responsible for around two thirds of the energy used, 60 percent of all water consumed and 70 percent of all greenhouse gases produced worldwide. Because of this sustainable cities are looking at ways to improve their infrastructures to become more environmentally friendly, increase the quality of life for their residents, and cut costs at the same time.

With the world’s most comprehensive environmental portfolio, Siemens is a perfect partner in sustainable city development. Our longstanding expertise has given rise to innovative technology for sustainable solutions in energy efficient buildings, water treatment facilities, transportation infrastructure, public safety systems and healthcare imaging and diagnostics.

For a real-world look at how our solutions can be implemented today, please download "Smarter Neighborhoods, Smarter City". This report contains detailed recommendations on how to help America's largest urban area - the City of New York - plan for more sustainable growth. You can also view the Clean Energy Solution survey results conducted in cooperation with The U.S. Conference of Mayors and sponsored by Siemens in order to understand how to address today’s urbanization challenges. Just how sustainable North American Cities are today, you can see in the “US and Canada Green City Index”.

In an effort to recognize communities that are leading the way in sustainable development, Siemens has partnered with the Business Civic Leadership Center (BCLC) to recognize communities that are successfully taking on the challenges of 21st century sustainable development. For this, the company has created the Siemens Sustainable Community Awards. The nomination period for the 2012 Sustainable Community Awards has just ended. This year’s finalists will be announced in April.

What makes up a sustainable city?

Adobe Flash is needed, to display this content. What makes up a sustainable city?

Sustainable
development

Sustainable development & urban infrastructure

Cities continue to grow as more and more people move into urban areas and with this shift towards urbanization, cities are experiencing an increasing strain on their current infrastructure systems. Roadways, power grids, telecommunications lines and public transportation are all systems which rely on a strong infrastructure to handle demand. Optimizing these infrastructural networks in order to achieve sustainable environmental development is an immense task which requires public and private cooperation.

Power generation and distribution

To meet the growing demand for power, an intelligent and flexible grid infrastructure, is essential. An overloaded power grid can cause the kind of blackout which swept through New York City and much of the Northeast corridor in the US in 2003. Blackouts like these can be prevented with a modern, reliable, environmentally friendly, and affordable energy grid system which works to match the supply and demand balance of our energy systems.

Siemens offers components and solutions for the entire energy conversion chain. This starts with power generation in highly efficient combined gas and steam turbines, solar power plants and wind turbines. The electrical power generated there can be transported to sustainable communities with little loss via high-voltage direct current lines which help maintain and efficient transmission on energy through the country.

Consuming 0.14 gallons per seat per 100 miles

Sustainable transportation

How do we get from point A to point B in the most efficient manner possible? How do we get people out of gridlock and on the move again? For starters, intelligent traffic control systems contribute to helping traffic flow. They reduce fuel consumption, air pollution, and noise by allowing cars to stop less frequently. Additionally, particularly in cities where space is limited, public transportation systems become increasingly important network for connecting people. Trains in particular are an environment-friendly alternative to cars and airlines. The Siemens Velaro is a good example. This fourth generation high-speed train consumes only 0.14 gallons of fuel per seat per 100 miles.

Sustainable healthcare infrastructure

In healthcare, too, a shift in thinking about the use of energy and raw materials has set in. Both ecological and economical requirements must be considered when faced with the challenge of creating sustainable infrastructure solutions. Siemens helps hospitals to pave the way for the future – with green hospitals. With its modular Green+ Hospitals concept, Siemens is firmly gearing its healthcare portfolio towards environmental care and sustainability.

The most decisive factor for protecting the environment and minimizing costs in hospitals is power consumption. Energy costs can be reduced through energy optimization, building automation, and the use of energy-saving equipment. A smooth and safe workflow with structured clinical pathways, short examination times, and the comprehensive use of IT is also key to the economic efficiency of a hospital. And with more comfort and gentle treatment for patients, Green+ Hospitals can attain greater competitive appeal and also ensure a better quality of life.

Green
buildings

Huge potential for improvement

Buildings account for 40 percent of worldwide energy consumption and about 21 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions. At the same time, they represent enormous potential for improvement – with intelligent building technology and comprehensive energy solutions, up to 60 percent of their consumed energy can be saved.

Integrated building solutions

A green building requires efficient infrastructure, accurate information management, and continual real-time maintenance. When all three work together, you can reduce your facility’s greenhouse gas emissions, improve indoor air quality, and maximize efficiencies. Total Building Solutions (TBS) is what we call this at Siemens. This means the integration of all systems that are part of the building services infrastructure, such as heating, ventilation, climate control, access control systems, video surveillance, burglar and fire alarms, and evacuation systems. The integration of all these systems provides greater convenience, and improves security and energy efficiency. Buildings become simpler to run and function more reliably – at lower cost.

Total Building Solutions (TBS) - intelligently integrated total infrastructure solutions

Optimal energy use

Assessing a building’s cost effectiveness means taking into account of all the costs that will be incurred during its lifecycle – not just development costs. Savings potential can be fully exploited through transparency in use and operation, ongoing upgrades, and the improvement of individual components – or through comprehensive energy modernization and accompanying energy services. This type of maximized energy efficiency takes pressure off public sector budgets while protecting the environment at the same time.

Future-proof electricity supply

Reliable power distribution in buildings requires integrated solutions that don’t involve coordination problems, delays and additional costs. With Totally Integrated Power, Siemens offers innovative, integrated and optimally interfaced products and systems that are also well coordinated. Totally Integrated Power provides all the necessary support for power distribution projects from the planning stage onward, and brings important advantages for everyone involved. From electricity planners and installation engineers to users and operators, with fast, cost-effective configuration and low operating costs.

Saving 45 trees a year with OSRAM lights.

Lighting

Modern lighting in offices is designed to create a positive atmosphere that helps employees concentrate and enables an effective and creative working environment. OSRAM’s innovative, coordinated lighting systems provide work-conducive lighting which is not only economically but also improves the working conditions in your building.

Building safety and security

Building safety and security is not just about protecting assets. It also often involves ensuring personal safety. Siemens takes a holistic view of building safety and security: Protecting buildings, assets, and people. The Siemens portfolio encompasses universal safety and security solutions and services, focusing on intruder detection, video surveillance, access control, field service control centers and emergency management systems.

Environmental
impact

Environmental cities: Reducing the CO2 footprint.

Reducing the CO₂ footprint

Siemens helps sustainable cities reduce their CO₂ footprint and protect the environment. The Siemens environmental portfolio offers outstanding products and solutions that make a direct, demonstrable contribution to the environment. Our energy-efficient solutions range from public transportation and building technology to renewable energy technology like solar and wind. Siemens also produces environmental technologies designed to keep our air clean or treat wastewater. In 2010, the Siemens environmental portfolio resulted in a savings of 267 million metric tons of CO₂.

Improved air quality

Apart from carbon dioxide emissions, air pollutants such as nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide also contaminate the environment. Siemens offers a comprehensive portfolio of solutions for cutting air pollutant emissions. Siemens has used flue gas purification systems for decades as an effective means of controlling emissions from coal-fired boiler plants and industrial processes.

Flue gas scrubbers are used in the U.S. to comply with the emission requirements of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The sulfur dioxide of unpurified flue gas is largely absorbed by a scrubbing solution, and ultimately converted into gypsum that can be used for such purposes as the production of plasterboard walls, or as an additive for cement.

Siemens also makes an important contribution to increasing air purity with its newly developed electrostatic precipitators. These are used for waste gas purification at power plants, industrial companies, and garbage incineration plants, and achieve precipitation rates of nearly 100 percent.

Wastewater recycling

Wastewater is a major environmental problem. It comes from households and businesses; from street garbage and construction and demolition waste. Solving the problems of wastewater means requires a myriad of tasks including avoidance, separation, reuse & recycling, safe, environmentally sustainable disposal, and regular documentation and analysis of the amount of waste produced.

Water
treatment

Municipal water treatment and efficient water management

Water concerns everyone. Municipal water supply companies are responsible for supplying water in cities and communities reliably and safely. According to the Commission for Environmental Cooperation, water stress affects 40 percent of US residents, especially in the US southwest. Siemens offers practical products and solutions for a wide range of industries and a full range of technologies for all tasks relating to municipal drinking water supply.

SIMATIC process controllers and SIWA PLAN water management solutions from Siemens provide a seamlessly integrated information environment across the entire plant. Innovative visualization and analysis tools make it easy to operate the process controllers and enable problems to be identified before they happen.

Municipal wastewater treatment facility

The most advanced water treatment methods

Filtration technologies like the MEMCOR^® submersible membrane bioreactor systems (MBR) – the world’s most advanced technologies for membrane filtration and biological water treatment – are combined with Smart MBR^® controllers to deliver reliable results. For example, MEMCOR^® membrane technology from Siemens are helping to meet the long-term water needs of the growing population of Orange County and West Basin in Southern California.

West Basin, California solved its water shortage issue with wastewater reclamation. What began as a proactive measure to ease a potable water shortage has ultimately saved the region more than 65 billion gallons of drinking water:

And the Orange County groundwater replenishment system uses much less energy for treating their water with this three step process than would have been required if this county was forced to import water from outside sources:

The Cannibal^TM process offers a further innovative solution for biosolids management, eliminating the biological solids generated by wastewater treatment facilities that use activated sludge. This reduces the costs of sludge disposal. Water utilities and water management customers all over the world put their trust in Siemens, the market leader, to provide them with solutions for reliable freshwater supply and safe, sustainable wastewater treatment.

Sustainable
Cities Tour

Building Cities, Building Futures

Our vision of a sustainable city at the Sustainable Cities Tour.

The Siemens city tour wanted to highlight the challenges our cities face and brought together leaders from various areas of expertise to help provide insight into the solutions and programs that can help make these cities more lasting, livable and prosperous. The interactive tour illustrated how Siemens solutions can help foster the sustainable development of cities. Visitors didn’t just learn all about sustainable cities and communities – they experienced them first hand.

In 2011 we made our way around the country stopping in different cities to discuss the multitude of challenges facing cities, from public transportation and traffic control to smart grid infrastructure and energy security.

Experience the Sustainable Cities Tour

Virtual City Tour and Interactive Show

In the Virtual City Tour, visitors could “fly” through a virtual city, similar to Google Earth. The virtual city was a presentation platform for the eight topics of traffic/transport, energy infrastructure, industrial production, water, healthcare, building technologies, public affairs and financing.

In the Interactive Show on water, transport, green buildings, and energy/electromobility, three visitors at a time could interact simultaneously on large panels, similar to giant iPads.

iPad presentations, Expert and Download Centers

Visitors who wished to explore these topics in more depth could do so at the Expert Centers or look at a presentation on iPads available throughout the show. At a Download Center, visitors had the possibility put together their own individual information package, download it, and have it send it to their private address.