Seongdong-gu Smart Shelter won the silver prize at the ‘2024 Green Apple Awards’, one of the world’s four major international environmental awards.

On November 18, the ‘Green Apple Awards’, an international environmental award ceremony, was held at Kensington Palace in London, England, and selected as an excellent case in the energy management-carbon reduction category… A futuristic bus that protects public transportation users from heat waves and cold waves, introduced for the first time nationwide in August 2020. Bus stop recognized as a model of smart administration

‘Seongdong-type Smart Shelter’, a smart living facility representing Seongdong-gu, Seoul (Chief Jeong Won-oh), achieved the feat of winning a silver award at the ‘2024 The Green Apple Awards’ held at Kensington Palace in London, England on the 18th. reaped

‘The Green Apple Awards’ is hosted by ‘The Green Organization’, a British eco-friendly non-profit organization, and jointly organized by the European Union (EU), the Royal Society of Arts (RSA), and the British Environment Agency. It is recognized as one of the world’s four largest international environmental awards. Since 1994, government offices, organizations, and companies from all over the world have participated every year, and excellent eco-friendly policies, programs, and best practices of ideas are reviewed and selected.

In August 2020, Seongdong-gu submitted the nation’s first IoT technology-applied ‘Seongdong-type Smart Shelter’ and was selected as an excellent example in the ‘Energy Management – Carbon Reduction’ category. It was recognized for its achievements in providing a safe and comfortable environment for bus users who were exposed to the external environment, such as abnormal weather and fine dust, and encouraging the use of public transportation.

The awards ceremony was held on the 18th (local day) at Kensington Palace, England. Seongdong-gu received a green apple-shaped trophy and certificate, the symbol of the ‘Green Apple Awards’, as an award. As a perk of receiving the award, 100 trees will be planted in Kenya and other African regions early next year in the name of Seongdong-gu, and the recipient will receive automatic entry into the top competition, the ‘2025 Green World Award’.

The ‘Seongdong-type Smart Shelter’ is a futuristic bus stop that protects public transportation users from heat waves and cold waves and is one of Seongdong-gu’s representative smart lifestyle facilities. By combining smart technology with existing bus stand functions, it not only provides real-time traffic information, but also provides 18 different types of convenience services, including heating and cooling, traffic and weather information, public Wi-Fi, and mobile phone charging.

In addition, a hearing loop that helps improve the hearing ability of the hearing impaired and an automatic external defibrillator (AED) that can be used in emergency situations are installed to carefully ensure the safety of residents.

Seongdong-type smart shelters are spreading across the country as a model of smart administration, and residents are also showing high satisfaction. According to a user satisfaction survey conducted in July of this year, 95.1% of users were satisfied.

In addition, the district actively collects residents’ opinions during surveys and improves the function of the shelter in the short or mid- to long-term to increase resident satisfaction. As a result of reflecting residents’ suggestions based on a survey conducted in January, they were satisfied with the following order: ▲ Emphasis on ‘arriving soon’ bus information (76.6%) ▲ Small rest area with backrest chairs (23.7%) ▲ Diversification of information provided (21.8%) appeared.

‘Seongdong-type Smart Shelter’ won the grand prize at the ‘5th Korea Local Autonomy Policy Awards’ in 2020, as well as the excellence prize at the ‘2023 Korea Public Design Awards’ and the President’s Award at the ‘2024 Korea Land Competition’.

In addition, it has been submitted to the ‘A’ Design Award’ and is awaiting an announcement in April next year.

Seongdong-gu Mayor Jeong Won-oh said, “I feel rewarded and happy that the excellence of ‘Seongdong-type Smart Shelter,’ a smart lifestyle policy that represents Seongdong-gu, has been highly evaluated overseas,” adding, “We will continue to add convenience to the daily lives of residents and protect the environment.” “We will actively explore various projects that can have a positive impact on sustainable development,” he added.

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