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Investigating the feasibility of implementing Pavegen energy : harvesting piezoelectric floor tiles in the new SUB

University of British Columbia. Sustainability Office

This report is a triple bottom-line assessment which investigates the economic, environmental and social aspects of installing eight energy-harvesting Pavegen piezoelectric floor tiles in the new Student Union building at the University of British Columbia. The Pavegen floor tiles use the kinetic energy of a footstep to strain a piezoelectric material. This strain produces a voltage, which when integrated into a circuit can be used to produce green electricity. This electricity can be stored in batteries and used to power various devices such as a display board in the foyer of the new SUB. The investigation revealed that the installation of the Pavegen tiles would contribute to environmental awareness by promoting sustainability and green energy generation, and the amounts of electricity harvested over their 5 year lifespan could recover the costs of initial purchase, transport, installation, maintenance and disposal of the tiles. Disclaimer: “UBC SEEDS provides students with the opportunity to share the findings of their studies, as well as their opinions, conclusions and recommendations with the UBC community. The reader should bear in mind that this is a student project/report and is not an official document of UBC. Furthermore readers should bear in mind that these reports may not reflect the current status of activities at UBC. We urge you to contact the research persons mentioned in a report or the SEEDS Coordinator about the current status of the subject matter of a project/report.”

Text

University of British Columbia. APSC 261; UBC Social Ecological Economic Development Studies (SEEDS) Student Report

Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library

10.14288/1.0108404

Applied Science, Faculty of

Unreviewed

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/