People are finding amazingly strange ways to make sure that they harness the energy of renewable sources and they do that too in a way that is as simple as possible. They do not want to invent a new gadget and want to maximize the available resources that already exist around them. Continuing in that direction, a Dutch office building that is both heated and cooled using heat (or cold) from the asphalt of the road outside the building.
This wonderfully unique idea makes sure that we harness all the heat from the dark asphalt surface by fitting a system of pipes under the surface of the nearest available road. I personally think this works wonderfully well in the tropical and semi-tropical weather and makes a lot of sense. The pipes fitted under the road allow water to flow through them that allow a heat or cold source to collect it in summer and winter seasons. This way one can regulate the temperature of the buildings.
This not only saves your bills on an air conditioning system but also makes sure that the roads do not end up in a very bad state after each summer as the temperature of the surface is kept normal by the flowing water. One needs to have a very good heat and cold source to make this system work. The innovation is indeed nice and it might really catch on in many places across the world. It is simple to execute and does not really need a totally new infrastructure. In this particular case, seasonal storage is accomplished with heat exchangers placed in not one, but two separate natural aquifers near the building. So the system is expected to do just fine.
Via: Jets On Green
