Should be standard feature in high-rise neighborhoods
Residents of the small Norwegian town of Rjukan have finally seen the light.
Tucked in between steep mountains, the town is normally shrouded in shadow for almost six months a year, with residents having to catch a cable car to the top of a nearby precipice to get a fix of midday vitamin D.
But on Wednesday faint rays from the winter sun for the first time reached the town's market square, thanks to three 183-square-foot (17-square-meter) mirrors placed on a mountain.
Cheering families, some on sun loungers, drinking cocktails and waving Norwegian flags, donned shades as the sun crept from behind a cloud to hit the mirrors and reflect down onto the faces of delighted children below.
People who live on the north side of high-rises could get sunlight the same way, with remote-controlled mirrors on the south side of adjacent buildings directing reflected sunlight.
Little quality of life amenities like this can reduce the downside of high-density living and increase the number of people who choose that option.
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5 comments:
> remote-controlled
Better be limiters on the traversal of each mirror, or people could get voted off the hi-rise.
I have a north-facing apartment in Chicago, and about the only benefit I've ever gotten from The Donald is that the Trump Tower reflects a good deal of excellent morning sunlight my way.
You need to do it with some care, though, there still can be too much of a good thing.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-23948811
raypierre, I suspect the New York Trump tower's shadow outweighs Bloombergen's white roofs program in mitigating urban heat island effects on the upper east side.
What a curious thought. Sunlight seems to be a premium commodity for such locations, and high-rise window mirrors seems to be a solution for sharing the "light". It's good to have options for utilizing high-rise skyscrapers for other uses aside form the usual ones as a residential or a commercial building.
Jen Lau @ TowerPoint.com
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