Invitation to Kajima Biophilic Cities
Easy-to-understand Guide to our ideas of biodiversity conservation and sustainability
Please click on the title to view brief explanation.
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Green Electricity
Rain Garden
Solar Power Generation
Zero Emission
Japanese Pygmy Woodpecker
Rooftop paddy field
Green Wall
Japanese Honeybee
Rooftop Farms
The Chirp Hearing Hood
Healing Gardens
Edible Landscapes
Green Curtains
Lawning of schoolyards
Crab Panel
Wind Power Generation
Solar Power Generation
Growing mushrooms on timber waste
Restoration of Tidal Mudflats
Restoration of eelgrass bed
Green Roof
Green Electricity
Green electricity means electricity produced from renewable sources such as solar power, wind power, and biomass.
Global warming prevention is very important for the preservation of biodiversity.
Reducing the use of fossil fuel leads to decrease the impact on the biodiversity, which is caused by mining.
Rain Garden
Rain gardens are an infiltration technique.
Water is captured in a garden temporarily and then it slowly filter into the ground rather than run off into the storm sewer.
Usually it attracts people as an ordinary beautiful garden, but it helps to improve water quality and to avoid flooding problems when it rains.
Solar Power Generation
Solar power generation converts solar energy to electricity by using solar cells. It is an effective technology that prevents global warming since there is no emission of CO2 during the electricity generation process.
Zero Emission
Recycling of resources leads to reduce the impacts on biodiversity, which is caused by mining of resources and dumping of waste.
Japanese Pygmy Woodpecker
The Japanese Pygmy Woodpecker can be found in various forests in Japan, and since it is a primary cavity excavator, it is recognized as an indicator species that can be used for evaluation of urban biodiversity. “The Ecological Network Evaluation Method of the Japanese Pygmy Woodpecker” made it possible to grasp the relationships of surrounding green space and to measure the effect of green space planning.
Rooftop paddy field
Rice can be grown on rooftops, too. Paddy fields have an excellent evaporation effect that helps to tackle the “Heat Island Effect”. Planting and harvesting involve many exciting events.
Green Wall
The greening of walls by letting ivies grow up a wall or putting modular panels with vegetation on the wall.
Japanese Honeybee
Besides making honey, Japanese Honeybees do pollinate and help the fructification of vegetables and fruits.
“Kajima Japanese Honeybee Project” conducts an experiment on breeding of indigenous honeybees and research the surrounding landscape in order to learn the role of Japanese honeybee as a pollinator and an indicator species.
Rooftop Farms
Rooftops can be used to make farms. Growing number of people have started to enjoy growing vegetables on top of office buildings and apartments. Some shelter from the wind such as simple screen or hedge is required, because the wind on the roof is much stronger than that on the ground.
The Chirp Hearing Hood
Many wild birds can be found in urban landscapes. The Chirp Hearing Hood is a wildlife’s sound recognition system. It can be installed to a portable computer and specify the type of the wild birds from the sound of them. It is an excellent tool for outdoor education programs.
Healing Gardens
Healing gardens are designed to heal people by using the healing effects of plants.
For such reason, some medical institutions are equipped with this kind of garden.
The garden is designed for patients to enjoy it by smelling and touching the plants besides seeing them.
Edible Landscapes
Edible landscape means the environment is mostly composed of edible plants, and we can eat fruits, nuts, berries and leaves from those plants.
It provides both attractive scenery and fresh foods.
Green Curtains
Green curtains are formed by climbing plants, such as loofahs and bitter cucumbers, covering the walls and windows of buildings.
Growing number of schools, apartments and houses have started to adopt them because they block sunlight and keep the room cool in summer.
Lawning of schoolyards
More and more schools have begun to lay lawns in their schoolyards.They have tried to make goats and sheep eat lawns instead of using power lawn mowers.
The benefits of owning goats and sheep as organic mower is they are environmentally friendly and sometimes provide other benefits such as wool and milk.
Crab Panel
Building concrete embankments is not usually friendly to crabs and other wildlife.We have developed the special concrete panel, that is, “Crab Panel,” which features a roughened surface that is easy for the crabs to crawl on and has through-holes with a gravel layer behind the panel that provides crabs with optimum moisture and ideal places to hibernate.This effort made not only crabs but also other coastal wildlife, such as shrimps, gobies, eels, and water birds, come back to the area because crabs are a keystone species in the coastal food chain.
Wind Power Generation
Wind power generation is a generation system that converts wind power to electricity. Suitable sites for wind power generations are mountainous areas, offshore areas, and coastal areas where wind blows strongly. Not only large- scale wind farms, but also small-scale wind turbines at factories can generate electricity from wind power.
Solar Power Generation
Solar power generation converts solar energy to electricity by using solar cells. It is an effective technology that prevents global warming since there is no emission of CO2 during the electricity generation process.
Growing mushrooms on timber waste
Much waste timber is produced from the thinning operations, which is carried out in the forest or green spaces in the site of factories.
Growing mushrooms on timber waste can be a valuable method for recycling and reducing waste products.
Restoration of Tidal Mudflats
Tidal mudflats where the tide flows and reflows, provide an amazingly wide range of important wildlife habitats and playgrounds for children.
We have made efforts to recreate mudflats and tide pools artificially, which are important habitats for crabs, clams, and water birds.
Restoration of eelgrass bed
Eelgrass lives in soft-bottomed marine habitats, ranging from the inter-tidal zone to depths of approximately 5m in temperate latitudes.
Eelgrass bed is recognized as a nursery ground for fishes and shellfishes.
Land reclamation and the deterioration of coastal water quality were considered to be damage factors causing decrease of the eelgrass population.
Efforts to rebuild the eelgrass bed have been made.
Green Roof
The greening of roofs to reduce “Heat Island Effect” and to improve urban environment.
