Sustainable Heating Using Body Heat from Stockholm Central Station

Swedish real estate company Jernhusen announced they found a way to harness the energy created by the 250,000 daily passersby in Stockholm Central Station. By using the heat that the moving bodies generate, the company accomplished a futuristic project: they managed to heat an office building across the street, decreasing the building’s energy bill by 25 %, a large sum of money for a large building. Jernhusen first came up with the idea that could be a step forward in reusable energy three years ago.  The concept behind this breakthrough is that Central Station’s ventilation system converts body heat into hot water that heats up the building across the street. Sweden has a deadly combination of cold weather and high gas prices which eventually led to a creative and sustainable solution. “ This is old technology being used in a new way. The only difference here is that we’ve shifted energy between two different buildings” , says one of the creators of the system, Klas Johnasson. This project was made possible because a large development real estate firm like Jernhusen owns the land on which Stockholm Central Station and the office building are located, as well as the space in between: “But this doesn’t mean that it cannot be done otherwise. It just means that real estate owners have to collaborate with each other”, says Klas Johnasson. This great project will surely be passed on from mind to mind until it reaches new heights in helping create a sustainable planet. -Via Inhabitat