Eco Factor: Sustainable mixed-use skyscraper powered by noise and wind energy.
The rise in the number of cars on the roads has not only increased air pollution but has also added noise. Seemingly harmless, noise is a form of energy that is usually absorbed as heat by the surroundings. A team of American designers including Ryan Browne, Nathanael Dunn, Daniel Nelson and Benjamin Scholten are trying to utilize noise to generate usable energy. The designers have proposed a sustainable skyscraper for Chicago that can be powered by renewable energy including noise.
Dubbed Urban Transducer, the mixed-use skyscraper will include restaurants, offices, residences and public spaces. The skyscraper features facades laden with acoustic reverberation transducers that can convert noise into electricity for use within the building. The panels are adjusted to react to specific wavelengths of present frequencies.
Moreover, the panels remember the most commonly occurring frequencies and their locations, allowing it to preemptively adjust in order to produce maximum efficiency. To assist noise-produced-electricity, micro wind turbines have also been integrated throughout the skyscraper, with a majority of turbines being concentrated in areas of greatest efficiency – on the top of the tower, along the train tracks and above the roads.
Via: Evolo
