The Green

Being green is not just about dry numbers and complicated scientific jargon, sometimes it can be about having a great time at a party and contributing to something surprising and positive at the same time. This is very true in Rotterdam, Netherlands, where a nightclub plans to install a new type of flooring solution for their main dance area. The dance floor consists of a large number of floor panels that are fitted to springs which compress and bounce back every time a person shifts their weight on the dance floor. The compression of the springs spins flywheels that act like mini-turbines.



The floor will provide supplementary power to the nightclub, as the technology cannot currently power a whole nightclub by itself. Nonetheless, creating less carbon emissions is always a good thing, and who knows what other applications there might be for this technology. Any place like a train station, post office, shopping mall or even a stairway where there is a lot of foot traffic could be generating energy in this fashion. The technology will likely become cheaper and more efficient the more it is employed and tested out as well.

The company that invented and is manufacturing this new dance floor is called Enviu, and they are an environmental non-profit organization operating out of the Netherlands. Check out the Enviu website [www.enviu.org] for more info.

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