by Rebecca Walker — November 14, 2008—Boon Edam has developed a revolving door for the Driebergen-Zeist railway station in The Netherlands that not only saves energy but also generates energy with every person passing through the door.
The refurbishment of the station was done by RAU, an architect firm specialising in ecological buildings, together with various environmental conscious companies. The station holds a daily capacity of 8,500 commuters and was converted into a multifunctional area with a restaurant, tourist information and a visitor centre.
The Boon Edam revolving door plays an important role in achieving and maintaining the sustainability of the building. The Tourniket revolving door will help primarily to save the carefully generated and conserved energy.
Boon Edam claims to be the first manufacturer in the world to develop an energy generating manual revolving door. The revolving door is equipped with a special generator that is driven by the human energy applied to the door, while the generator controls the rotating speed of the door and makes it safer, says the company.
A set of super capacitors stores the generated energy as a buffer and provides a consistent supply for the low energy LED lights in the ceiling. In case the LED lights have used up all the stored energy, the highly efficient control unit will switch to the alternative main supply of the building. This ensures that the door is illuminated at all times, even when the passenger flow is minimal.
For more information, see the Boon Edam Web site.
