HYATTSVILLE WIRE: Hyattsville will soon incorporate “living canopies” to its new bus shelters.
This summer, the city will add 10 new stations with solar panels and living vegetation from Cool Green Shelters, an offshoot of the local business Living Canopies.
You may have seen one of the company’s other products, a vegetation-laced umbrella stand, at the Vigilante Coffee in College Park.
University of Maryland professor David Tilley designed the aluminum umbrella stands, which incorporated four pots and a solar-powered standalone watering system.
But the company had to halt production during the coronavirus pandemic, which led Tilley to start noodling around with an old idea to create a greener shelter to help people waiting in the sun and the rain for a bus.
The bus shelters use hardy native plants on top to cut down on heat and direct rain water into a reservoir, while solar panels provide power for USB charging stations and LED lighting, allowing them to be self-sufficient.
He plans to add temperature gauges and other measurement tools to future versions of the shelter.
The shelters cost around $30,000 each, which Hyattsville paid for with grants.
