Open Collections

An investigation into energy generating tiles : Pavegen

University of British Columbia. Campus and Community Planning

Clean, renewable and environmentally friendly energy generation has always been an issue that needs to be solved. Technologists have created various methods such as solar panels, wind turbine, hydro electricity and so forth. However, Pavegen has come up with another innovative idea, which is to generate electricity from kinetic energy. Since there are a large number of students patronizing the Student Union Building, the AMS is considering installing Pavegen tiles into the new SUB building in an effort to promote sustainability. This paper will investigate the advantages and disadvantages of the installation of Pavegen using triple bottom line assessment. From the economical aspect, the tiles payback period is much longer than the lifetime of the tiles which means that the cost of this project exceeds its economical benefit. Meanwhile, from the social aspect, there is a possibility that Pavegen can help raise the awareness of sustainability amongst the students patronizing the SUB and strengthen the image of UBC as global leader of sustainability. However, Pavegen may bring up some ethical issues such as harvesting human energy without their consent. Lastly, from the environmental aspect, based on an observation and a few assumptions, the total energy Pavegen will produce in its lifetime is found not able to cover the carbon footprint resulted from the manufacturing and shipping of the product. In conclusion, triple bottom line assessment shows that the implementation of Pavegen in the new SUB will be beneficial to the society but will negatively impact the economy and environment. Unless another company that manufactures a similar product is chosen from the United States or Canada, it is recommended that UBC should not install the tiles. Disclaimer: “UBC SEEDS provides students with the opportunity to share the findings of their studies, as well as their opinions, conclusions and recommendations with the UBC community. The reader should bear in mind that this is a student project/report and is not an official document of UBC. Furthermore readers should bear in mind that these reports may not reflect the current status of activities at UBC. We urge you to contact the research persons mentioned in a report or the SEEDS Coordinator about the current status of the subject matter of a project/report.”

Text

University of British Columbia. APSC 261; UBC Social Ecological Economic Development Studies (SEEDS) Student Report

Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library

10.14288/1.0108425

Applied Science, Faculty of

Unreviewed

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/