PEOPLE
“Our aim is to motivate people to make a positive impact” Michel Smit
M ISSUE 3 2013
ichel Smit, inventor of a dance fl oor that con- verts people’s dance moves into useable energy, is preparing to
launch a new product designed to widen its appeal to the market. “The Sustainable Energy Floor is espe- cially designed for walking in high footfall areas,” says Smit. “This highly effi cient and sustainable module is designed to be placed in public spaces and to convert the energy available in footsteps into usa- ble electricity.”
The Sustainable Dance Floor was originally created by Smit for nightclubs, with the earli- est model being launched in 2008 in Club Watt in Rotterdam in the Netherlands. Modules in the fl oor fl ex slightly when stepped on, which creates a movement that can be transformed into electric power by a small internal generator. The electricity created is used
to power the dance fl oor’s LED lights, and can also be fed back to the grid or used for other energy applications. Over the past few years, the fl oor has been used in a wide variety of projects, including permanent installations in Miami’s Science Museum and the Franklin Institute Science Museum in Philadelphia and pop up events in Canada, China, Brazil and the United Arab Emirates. In 2012, the Rotterdam-based company changed its name from the Sustainable Dance Club to Energy Floors, with the aim of appealing to new markets. “Our aim is to motivate and enable as many people as possible world- wide to make a positive impact,” says Smit. “By step- ping or dancing on one of our fl oors, people create energy which we use to
create unique experiences. These experiences lead to fun, awareness and effi ciency
around the use of energy.” Energy Floors organises a wide variety of events designed to create awareness about energy pro-
The company provides human-powered fl oor systems for events and venues
duction and consumption. Recent events have included a kick off event for Earth Week at Universal Studios Orlando and Universal Studios Hollywood, US, which included a battle between the two loca- tions to see which one could create the most. “Those events generated a lot of attention and positive energy,” said Smit. “More than three million people have stepped or danced on our fl oors and gen- erated over 8 billion joules,” says Smit. "There's a lot more ground to cover, but we're moving in the right direction." Smit describes himself as a cultural developer. Smit and his business part- ner Denise Geerlings founded Cultural Developments BV in 2000. The com- pany launched Rotterdam nightclub Off_Courso in 2001, and has organised music festivals. Cultural Developments launched Energy Floors in April 2007.
Details: www.energy-fl
oors.com Read Leisure Management online
leisuremanagement.co.uk/digital 7
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