---

Interactive flooring that can communicate is just around the corner, and Pavegen’s Laurence Kemball-Cook explains why energy-harvesting flooring is the right way to go.

---

A British company has developed flooring that harvests kinetic energy as people walk - or run - over it Pavegen Systems' flooring tile converts the kinetic energy from footfall to low-voltage electricity to power low-energy devices, such as LED lighting.

It installed 51 tiles in Terminal 3 of Heathrow Airport to power LED lights along a corridor, but they could also gather footfall data and carry out heat mapping. Its biggest installation to date took place this September in Morro de Mineira; a favela in Rio de Janeiro, where it installed 200 tiles in a football pitch. They work with solar panels to power six floodlights for up to 10 hours at a time. The tiles have also been installed in corridors in UK schools and at West Ham Underground station in East London.

Pavegen Systems installed 200 of its energy-saving tiles in a football pitch in a favela in Rio de Janeiro this year

As well as generating energy for lighting, some hi-tec floors are light sources in their own right. Electronics firm Philips and carpet company Desso joined forces last year to create the Luminous Carpets showcased at the 2014 Venice Biennale, where festival director Rem Koolhaas included them in the Elements of Architecture exhibition 'as an example of the future of flooring'. They are carpets with LED units underneath that are programmed via an app. It is not too great a leap of the imagination to think that combining similar systems could create a responsive lit-flooring system that generates its own energy.

At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology a team has been working on the concept of interactive surfaces, such as Super Cilia Skin, which it describes as 'a computationally enhanced membrane that couples tactile/kinesthetic input with tactile and visual output'. The cilia are named after the small hair-like structures used by micro-organisms such as paramecium for locomotion. They contain small electronic actuators for movement but also respond to changes resulting from, for example, being stepped on.

Working together Philips and Desso created the Luminous Carpet

The team says that 'as a carpet, SCS might record or replay footsteps over its surface... one could imagine two linked floors allowing an inhabitant to see the movement of people on the remote floor miles away. Such a carpet redefines the architecture around it as conflicted rooms become tactilely linked: mismatched floor plans would be revealed as ghostly footprints walk across the floor and disappear into a wall as a record of remote passers-by walking across a larger space'.

Step changes
With All the recent issues in climate change, the need to find a sustainable alternative to fossil fuels has grown exponentially. Hydropower, wind and solar are all popular examples of how the world's natural resources can be used to generate electricity; but the problem is that, within densely populated locations such as cities and towns, these energy resources are inefficient.

Perceptions on renewable energy are often negative because the world makes the problem sound unavoidable and futile, allowing the individual to dissociate their responsibility when it comes to sustainability. We look at what we can't do, not at what we can. And that's where I come in, with my business Pavegen Systems. It is a clean-technology company that has created a flooring tile that converts kinetic energy from footfall into renewable electricity.

Pavegen Systems technicians fit the tiles on the football surface's sub layer

The potential for energy harvesting has been recognised throughout modern history, utilising a similar technology of piezoelectric to harness energy from footfall. I believe that piezoelectricity is a work in process - inefficient for large-scale usages due to its short, sharp bursts of power. That power can't be stored, and only lasts a few seconds at a time. Piezoelectric shows that the power is tangible and within our grasp. The problem everyone faces is learning to control it. Pavegen's unique technology enables us to bridge this gap.

Footfall, as an energy resource, is indefatigable. It's everywhere, and a constant movement in our cities. The Eiffel Tower in Paris receives the footfall of seven million tourists a year. King's Cross Station in central London sees more than 14 million commuters a year. The amount of footfall traffic in our cities is even more staggering when you think of it in terms of potential energy generation.

I created the concept of Pavegen during my placement year; I realised that footfall was a wasted resource in the urban environment where wind and solar alternatives are ineffective by comparison. It is estimated that 60 per cent of the world's population would be living in cities by 2030.

However, there is no renewable, sustainable resource to accommodate this growth. Pavegen can not only generate renewable electricity, but the tiles complement our digital era, through wireless data analytics. Our unique API opens up a whole new scope of possibilities; collecting and monitoring real-time data, as well as communicating through social media. Our most recent installation with Shell in Rio de Janeiro involved 200 tiles and solar panels, working together to light the pitch and surrounding community.

In collaboration with Shell, the installation of the Pavegen tiles and solar panels generate enough energy through footfall to light not only the pitch but also the surrounding community

This, on a small scale, is ideal for educating people on our sustainable alternative to fossil fuels. But on a large scale, we could radically change the way energy is used within smart cities. Imagine your walk to work in the morning powering the streetlights for your walk home in the evening. Imagine shopping centres changing their advertising process based entirely on footfall 'hotspots' within their stores. Imagine a future where congestion can be monitored by Pavegen tiles, which can then use that electricity to power wayfinding and traffic-calming solutions, both on the road and within populous locations.

Unlike other technology Pavegen manages to integrate the person into the heart of the process of generating renewable energy, ensuring they are as important as the technology they interact with. Encouraging our own generation to become more eco-friendly isn't enough: schools, colleges and universities need to implement renewable alternatives, from wind to solar to kinetic energy.

Innovators and entrepreneurs of the future need to learn and act on the environmental problems that are currently shaping the world, and only then can we ensure a sustainable future for generations to come. I think that's the most important aim, both for Pavegen and for the future of renewable energy. People need to be empowered to take action and become the key factor in their own energy generation. They need to feel as if their contribution can make a difference.