🕺 Clubbers help venues recycle energy - by dancing

BODYHEAT is the name of the nightclub in Glasgow that harnesses energy from staff and people dancing in order to power the club in a sustainable way. The system could help the popular venue save up to 70 tons of CO2 each year. What BODYHEAT does is just what the name itself suggests, it turns the energy of bodies into a source for heating and cooling outlets.

“We’re hugely excited to reveal our plans to introduce a state-of-the-art renewable heating and cooling system to the SWG3 complex, transforming body heat from clubbers and gig-goers into a source of energy to be used again”, a statement from the club says.

BODYHEAT’s system is the first of its kind to be installed in Scotland. It uses heat pumps and fluids to capture the body heat from SWG3’s crowds. Their combined energy gets channeled into twelve 150 meter-deep boreholes drilled beneath the venue. The trapped energy can either be used to cool the audience directly or it can be stored underground until the building needs heating.

While lazily mingling, a human body can radiate about 100 watts of excess heat. In confined spaces, the excess heat can add up fast, especially when people dance at gigs and clubs. If not captured, the energy is ejected into the atmosphere as waste.  

“With this new system in place,” says the club, “we’ll be able to utilize that warmth, consuming minimal electricity and gas on site, and in turn minimizing our carbon emissions.”

“There’s no doubt that the COVID-19 pandemic has brought huge challenges to the events sector around the world,” said Andrew Fleming Brown, Managing Director, “but it has also created a seismic jolt across businesses, underlining the need for a stable and sustainable future.”