Clubbing Goes Green

A club named WATT recently opened in the Netherlands which looks to make clubbing a green experience.  The Netherlands, which experiences a great deal of tourism due to its lax legal restrictions and congenial atmosphere, is known for its outstanding night life.

The new club employs a variety of measures to cut energy use and carbon emissions by 30 percent and water use by 50 percent compared to similar clubs.  In order to accomplish the savings and 

stick to its green theme, the club employs a broad variety of measures.

Among the most attractive elements is the dance floor which generates power when danced upon.  Typically a club uses a lot of electricity in lighting the dance floor.  WATT's dancers power the club's disco lights with their dance moves, and the more power they generate the wilder the light show gets.  A prominent power meter helps to whip patrons into a dancing frenzy.

Daan Roosegaarde, who was involved in its design describes, "When you start dancing, you generate electricity, and it makes the floor come alive. The more you dance, the more the floor comes to life."

The club also collects rainwater, which it uses to refill toilets.  The club's bathrooms are outfitted with special transparent pipes to allow patrons to watch the water running down to fill the toilet.  They call this feature the "pee experience".

Drinks at the club are served in special recyclable plastic cups.  Drinks are mixed and then stored in tanks in the basement, cooled by a central air cooling system that reduces energy use.  The club offers a variety of dishes at its cafe, most of which are organic and locally grown.

Michel Smit of Sustainable DanceClub (SDC) consultants, who helped develop the concept describes, "We want to show that sustainability can be integrated into lifestyles, and integrating it into something fun shows that sustainability can be fun."

Mr. Smit and SDC are planning to bring their design to the U.S. in the near future.  He states, "We are not just focusing on Holland, we want to make as many clubs as possible sustainable, worldwide."