The parents of kids know well that children today need more play time outdoors to help battle many impending physical, psychological and emotional shortcomings. But the rising population and restricted accessible play fields yield very limited scope for such extracurricular practices. In addition to this lack of play areas is the attached high maintenance cost for the existing recreational fields for which the concerned authorities are not finding funds enough. In view of many such dilemmas, NYC architect and Project Designer for Ennead Architects Andrew Burdick, has come forward with a promising eco-friendly solution. He has proposed that instead of building fresh new play areas all over the city, the existing fields could be made well-illuminated by using sustainable power sources and thus extending the hours of its usage well beyond sunset hours.
The proposal states that the existing play areas can be made well lit by ‘Smart Athletic Grid’ lights giving it an extended use during the night hours for the interested athletes and players. The illumination projected by the Solar and wind powered LEDs which comprise the smart grid, would not only make the fields available to the kids’ recreational sports activities well past darkness but also allow athletes and team players excess practice hours.
Burdick, who was a finalist in the Philips Livable Cities Awards, has designed antenna-like fixtures on the grid plates which consist of wind turbines and solar arrays. The solar arrays would during the daytime supply power to the grid and harness power directly out from the grid in the hours of darkness. Similarly, the wind turbines would harness the wind power in areas with strong wind velocity. Furthermore, since LED consumes less power than the normal metal halide field lights the requirement for energy also will be less than normal.
The project however faces a main limitation in the sense that parents of growing children faced with various threats of safety might not allow extra playing time outdoors beyond dusk. Beyond this there are very few negative points against the project as the cost and maintenance of these lights is quite easy. The light grids each would come at an expense of $16,000 to $25,000. Hence with ten such grids illuminating one soccer field, the cost would be about $250,000. However, that would clearly be much less than building fresh new activity areas in new areas by the concerned authorities.
Source: Fastcodesign
