Environment & Energy
Related: About this forumMIT Invents a Radical New Way to Heat Buildings: Spotlights That Follow You
The heat in big buildings is a massive energy suck. Commercial buildings account for 20 percent of the national energy consumptiona big number on its own, but stunning when you consider that often, those buildings are half empty.
A new project from MITs Senseable City Lab is looking to decrease the amount of wasted energy by creating hyper-localized beams of heat. Called Local Warming, the prototype system uses LED bulbs to beam direct rays of infrared light onto people. This is in direct contrast to HVAC systems, which blanket entire spaces with hot or cool air, regardless of how many people are present.
MITs system is rigged to the ceiling, like highly-efficient track lighting. Using a WiFi-enabled tracking system, the lights can sense when a human is present and will beam infrared heat down like a spotlight. Its almost like having a your personal sun, says Carlo Ratti, a professor in the Senseable City Lab.
The current prototype is on display at the Venice Architecture Biennale until November. It features a large infrared bulb surrounded by rotating mirrors that can direct the light in a focused beam. Its bulkyhardly the type of thing youd like in your homebut Ratti envisions future prototypes will use smaller LEDs for a more compact aesthetic.
http://www.wired.com/2014/06/mit-invents-a-radical-new-way-to-heat-buildings-spotlights-that-follow-you/
silverweb
(16,402 posts)Gidney N Cloyd
(19,847 posts)NYC_SKP
(68,644 posts)I'm in this industry, and to me this is just another exercise in thinking outside the box.
Comparing the carbon footprint of this "solution" compared to employing "Big Ass Fans" for cooling and hyperinsulation and common sweaters, layers, for heating would make for an interesting study.
IDemo
(16,926 posts)I could add that clothes lines and solar cookers would likely mean fewer solar panels required on the rooftop, but most folks are unwilling to go that route.
VanillaRhapsody
(21,115 posts)hangers.....
IDemo
(16,926 posts)Can't have them cluttering up the view.
We don't line dry, but do enjoy the solar cooker.
VanillaRhapsody
(21,115 posts)Joe Shlabotnik
(5,604 posts)Damn you Jimmy Carter!
VanillaRhapsody
(21,115 posts)littlemissmartypants
(22,803 posts)Disco style! Love it!
I hope the tracking light will adjust to the body temperature of the person who is either having a fever or a hot flash.