Sweden Uses Excess Body Heat for Warming Buildings

No, it’s not from a massive group-hug of Swedes, it’s the excess body heat generated by 250,000 bodies that pass through Stockholm Central Station every day that is now being used to warm an office building instead of gas.

A real estate company in Stockholm, Jernhusen, is behind this simple yet innovative way of heating buildings. Klas Johansson was quoted in a BBC report giving insight into this project:

This is old technology being used in a new way. The only difference here is that we’ve shifted energy between two different buildings.

There are about 250,000 people a day who pass through Stockholm Central Station. They in themselves generate a bit of heat. But they also do a lot of activities. They buy food, they buy drinks, they buy newspapers and they buy books.

The system works by using heat exchangers in the Central Station’s ventilation system to covert the excess body heat into hot water. This is then channeled into the heating system of the nearby building to keep it warm.

The result is 25% savings on energy costs for that office block. Of course the system is very eco-friendly.

Mr. Johansson hopes that this project will become the seed of other similar heating projects that creatively use available resources for a more sustainable and eco-friendly living.

Image by CGPGrey.com