KINETIC TILES ON CAMPUS
With plenty of foot traffic, each step on the tiles generates off grid electricity that could be stored in batteries or used to power low-voltage or off-grid applications.
The more footsteps you get, the larger the output.
Harvesting Renewable Energy. From The Existing Activity.
Introduction
Colleges and universities across the U.S. spend a good portion of their revenue towards energy costs. From small things such as refrigeration and computer use to large scale things such as lighting and cooling, universities spend millions of dollars on electricity to meet their required needs. According to EIA, universities spend about $1.10 per ft^2 on electricity. Normally, a 50,000 ft^2 building at a university can use about $100,000 worth of energy annually. The cost increases significantly since a typical university has more than one building.
Our Purpose
The objective of our idea is to implement a sustainable and an economical way of generating electricity at the University of Houston through the installation of kinetic tiles at various locations. These areas will be selected based on how active they are, such as the Student Center and the M.D. Anderson Library, to increase the efficiency of these tiles. A concept known as ‘piezoelectric effect’ will allow the university to produce green energy while also lowering the electrical expenses. The goal is to be able to have a university that relies less on fossil fuels to light up the campus. This change will contribute to the reduction of dirty energy sources that the university might be dependent on to obtain their electrical power.
