Seongdong District's “Smart Shelter” Wins Silver at the 2025 Green World Awards in Auckland, New Zealand
Recognized as an Innovative Carbon Reduction Policy Following the 2024 Green Apple Awards
First Introduced in August 2020 to Protect Public Transit Users from Extreme Weather
Seongdong District in Seoul (District Mayor Jeong Won-oh) announced that its futuristic bus stop, the “Seongdong-type Smart Shelter,” which was introduced for the first time in Korea, has won the Silver Award at the 2025 Green World Awards.
The Green World Awards is an internationally recognized environmental prize organized by The Green Organisation, a UK-based non-profit environmental group. Since 1994, it has annually discovered and honored outstanding cases from government agencies, organizations, and companies around the world that have contributed to environmental protection and sustainable development.
This year’s award ceremony was held in Auckland, New Zealand, where Seongdong District competed with over 500 candidates from around the world and achieved the honor of winning the award.
The district introduced and has been operating the “Seongdong-type Smart Shelter” equipped with IoT technology for the first time in Korea in August 2020. In November last year, it won the Silver Award in the “Energy Management ? Carbon Reduction” category at the Green Apple Awards, which qualified it to advance to the higher-level Green World Awards. The shelter was highly praised for providing a safe and comfortable environment for bus users who were previously exposed to extreme weather and fine dust, as well as for encouraging the use of public transportation.
The “Seongdong-type Smart Shelter” is recognized as an innovative facility that addresses climate issues such as heat waves and fine dust while utilizing renewable energy technologies. From the design stage, solar panels, insulation film, and IoT-powered electric blinds were applied to maximize energy savings and carbon reduction.
The installation of 1kWh solar panels and insulation film on the roof has resulted in a 7% reduction in electricity consumption, while the IoT electric blinds block the greenhouse effect and reduce power usage by 1.6%. In terms of carbon reduction, this is equivalent to planting 162 pine trees annually (three per shelter). As of 2024, the number of smart shelter users increased by 174,000 compared to the previous year, resulting in a carbon reduction effect equivalent to planting 2,086 pine trees per year.
This award recognizes not only the outstanding carbon reduction effect of the “Seongdong-type Smart Shelter,” but also its excellence as an eco-friendly business model on a global scale. The “Smart Shelter” project will also be featured in “The Green Book,” an international environmental publication produced by The Green Organisation.
Jeong Won-oh, Mayor of Seongdong District, stated, “Following the 2024 Green Apple Awards, the ‘Seongdong-type Smart Shelter’ has now received the 2025 Green World Award, and Seongdong District’s proactive efforts to address the climate crisis have been recognized worldwide. We will continue to enhance residents’ daily convenience and realize a sustainable city of Seongdong by integrating smart technology with various aspects of administration.”
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