The economic, environmental, and social aspects of placing energy-harvesting piezoelectric floor tiles in the Hall Building at Concordia University were the subject of this research. The piezoelectric tiles take the kinetic energy of a human footstep to produce piezoelectricity, which is generated due to the piezoelectric effect. The system is clean, reliable and requires less maintenance. The tiles can be applied directly to the floor without any modification to the floor structure. The technology enables the harvesting of crowd kinetic energy to generate electricity in highly crowded places like metro stations, malls, schools, and universities.

The piezoelectric tile is estimated to generate a final output of 6.4 watts per step. They are planned to keep in the high traffic areas on the ground floor and a small number of tiles will also be placed on the first floor of the Hall Building. Hotspots in the building should be identified to maximize energy harvesting efficiency. The tile locations are selected based on real-life surveys and by visually monitoring the high traffic areas in the building. A total of 250 tiles are planned to be placed in the building. This electricity can be stored in batteries and utilized to power a variety of equipment, including Projectors, LED TV, and Lights.

Themes: Energy, Resources & Technology, Health & Wellbeing