Energy from Human/ Built processes....

Environmental Design + Construction highlighted a few products geared towards alternative energy development. In the article "Alternate Alternatives," the product that stood out was a revolving door that generates energy as users turn it, storing the energy to provide illumination within the door.

This product doesn't currently generate energy beyond the needs of the door, but has hit on something I've been thinking about lately in regards to energy. Are there other ways in which we can generate energy harnessing human activity or by recovering energy spent through building systems? For instance, in urban environments with subsurface parking, mechanical systems are required for ventilation and exhaust of fumes from the automobiles. No doubt you've felt the blast from one of these sidewalk vents, or the vents from subway systems as trains pass. An art installation at the Denver International Airport helps to illustrate the wind generated from movement of the underground circulator.

Kinetic Light Air Curtain by Antonette Rosato / William Maxwell

Would it be feasible to line these vent shafts with small scale wind turbines to capture the wind velocity and translate that to energy? What about geothermal coils that are circulated through the shafts and warmed/ cooled by the circulating air vs. drilled?

This concept reminds me of a project we photographed in Vancouver, the C.K. Choi Institute (top right on search results) at the University of British Columbia. One aspect of the project was the capturing of waste steam heat that heats the domestic hot water needs of the building. (I thought I had previously read that they had wrapped the drain lines from the showers to transfer the heat from the greywater, but couldn't find mention of it online). A USGBC pamphlet on the project is found here.

Maybe these processes wouldn't generate enough to transfer energy back to the grid, but could help to offset energy demands of a building. Maybe the cost-benefit doesn't provide a great enough economic return or cost offset to incorporate into projects.

Chris