Innovations for Harvesting Hidden Energy in Multi-Family Buildings

Modern high-density buildings generate vast amounts of kinetic and aerodynamic energy from everyday activities that go unnoticed and unused. My innovations focus on capturing these wasted energy streams from trash chutes and elevator shafts, converting them into clean, usable electricity to improve building sustainability and reduce energy costs.

What's the Problem?

High-density buildings waste hidden energy every single day — energy that could be recovered and reused to reduce costs, cut emissions, and help meet net-zero goals.

In most multi-family and high-rise buildings, this hidden energy comes from two overlooked places: trash chutes and elevator shafts. Every bag of trash, every rising elevator — they all create small streams of motion, friction, and airflow that currently go to waste.

My innovative systems are designed to harvest this hidden energy and turn it into clean, reusable power — helping buildings operate more sustainably, earn green credits, and reduce their environmental footprint.

(1) When people throw trash bags down high-rise chutes, the falling weight and impact are lost. Each falling bag carries gravitational potential energy that is lost as noise, vibration and impact at the chute base.

(2) When elevator cars move up and down, they push huge amounts of air through the shaft — like a giant hidden wind tunnel — but this moving air does nothing useful.

Today, these constant streams of everyday motion and airflow do zero work for the building. Instead, the wasted energy simply vanishes, costing owners missed savings and adding to our collective carbon footprint.

In cities with thousands of towers, this tiny wasted energy adds up to a huge untapped source of clean micro-energy. Right now, no practical systems exist to capture it easily in both new and existing towers — so its potential is wasted every day.

What's the Solution?

Practical, low-cost systems that turn hidden energy streams — trash chute motion and elevator airflow — into usable clean electricity that offsets building costs and carbon emissions.

My solution is simple but powerful: capture the hidden streams of motion and airflow that already exist inside multi-family, high-rise, or any multi-story buildings — and turn them into clean, reusable energy.

I’ve developed two practical, retrofit-ready systems:

INNOVATIVE SYSTEM 1: Trash Chute Micro-Energy Recovery

This system captures energy when trash bags slide down and hit the bottom of high-rise chutes. It combines friction panels, an impact base plate, and rotating cylinders to turn this wasted motion into clean electricity.

How it works?

The Trash Chute Energy Recovery System uses three simple parts working together to capture energy every time a trash bag is thrown away.

1. Impact Base Plate:

   At the bottom of the trash chute, there is a special impact base plate. When a heavy trash bag hits this plate, the force slightly bends or flexes the plate. Inside or underneath the plate, small devices called piezoelectric elements convert that bending motion into an electric current.This is the biggest single source of energy in the system — because every falling bag hits the plate with its full weight and speed.

2. Friction Panels:

   Along the inside walls of the chute, there are mounted friction panels made with a special surface that lightly rubs against the sides of each bag as it slides down. These panels contain tiny embedded materials or flexible strips that create a small electrical charge through friction (similar to rubbing a balloon on your hair). The more trash slides down, the more small charges are collected — adding up over time.

3. Rotating Cylinders:

   Halfway down the chute, small rotating cylinders stick out slightly from the walls. When a bag hits them, the force makes them spin many times, just like a turnstile. Inside each cylinder is a small generator that converts this spinning motion into extra electricity. These cylinders add another small boost to the total energy collected.

Putting them together, as hundreds of trash bags move through the chute everyday:

• The impact base plate captures the biggest energy when the bag lands.

• The friction panels capture energy as the bag slides down.

• The rotating cylinders capture energy when the bag hits and spins them.

Each piece by itself makes only a small amount — but combined across hundreds of bags, it adds up to real, clean, reusable energy that was previously wasted.

Let's look at a real example:

• 25-story building

• 350 apartments

• Average bag weight: 10 lb

• Floor height: 11 ft

• Total chute height: 300 ft

• Average chute height: 150 ft

A. Friction Energy

Step 1: The trash bag weighs 10 lbs.
Not all weight rubs the wall — maybe 50% pushes sideways. So sideways force = 5 lbs.

Step 2: The friction factor (plastic on metal) = 0.2. So, 5 lbs × 0.2 = 1 lb force rubbing the wall.

Step 3: The bag slides ~284 ft. So, 1 lb × 284 ft = 284 ft-lbs.

Convert:
1 ft-lb = 1.355 Joules
284 ft-lbs = 385 Joules
1 Wh = 3,600 Joules → 385 ÷ 3,600 = ~0.1 Wh per bag

So, friction: 0.1 Wh/bag

B. Impact Energy

The bag’s weight falling = stored energy:

Potential energy = weight × height

10 lbs × 284 ft = 2,840 ft-lbs
2,840 ft-lbs = 3,850 Joules → 1.07 Wh per bag.

Not all impact is usable — assume 30% captured by the base plate bending:
1.07 Wh × 30% = ~0.32 Wh per bag.

So, Impact base: 0.32 Wh/bag

C. Rotating Cylinders

Each bag hits spinning cylinders halfway down. Let’s add a conservative 10% boost on total.

Extra bump = ~0.1 Wh per bag.

So, Cylinder: 0.1 Wh/bag

Total chute system per bag:

0.1+ 0.32+ 0.1= ~0.52Wh per bag

Daily Building Total:

350 bags x 0.52Wh = 182Wh per day = 0.18 kWh/day

Yearly Building Total:

365 days x 0.18 kWh= 65.7 kWh

INNOVATIVE SYSTEM 2: Elevator Shaft Micro-Turbine Array

This system captures energy from the air moved by elevator cars traveling up and down inside high-rise buildings. It recovers invisible airflow energy that would normally be wasted — turning it into clean, usable electricity.

How it works?

The system has three simple parts working together to harvest this hidden energy:

1. Air Pushed by Elevator Cars:

   Every time an elevator moves, it acts like a piston — pushing a huge column of air up or down inside the shaft. This moving air has energy, but normally it does nothing except create noise and drafts. This system places small turbines where the moving air naturally flows, so it spins the blades instead of wasting the motion.

2. Banks of Small Turbines:

   Inside the shaft walls, there are rows of small, safe axial turbines — like tiny windmills. These turbines spin when the elevator pushes air past them. The spinning blades turn micro-generators that convert the motion into clean electricity. Each turbine is small and fully covered for safety and easy maintenance.

   For elevator shaft airflow recovery, generally needs many small turbines, not a few big ones.
   Here’s a practical size that’s safe and installable in a standard high-rise shaft

   • Diameter: 12–18 inches (30–45 cm)

   • Length (depth): 4–6 inches (10–15 cm)

   • Shape: Compact axial-flow design, like a duct fan — fully caged for safety.

   • Mounting: Arrays mounted in panels inside the shaft walls, recessed so they don’t interfere with counterweights or safety clearances.

3. Smart Airflow Guide Panels:

   To make sure the air hits the turbines with maximum force, special guide panels help direct and focus the airflow.
   These guides create a mini wind tunnel effect, boosting how fast the air spins the turbine blades — which means more energy captured each time the elevator moves.

Putting It Together, as elevators run up and down all day:

• The moving air is pushed through the shaft like a hidden wind tunnel.

• The banks of turbines spin to convert that airflow into electricity.

• The guide panels boost how much air hits each turbine, increasing the total energy captured.

Each turbine alone produces a small amount — but together, hundreds of turbines across multiple shafts create a steady stream of extra clean electricity that would otherwise be lost.

This system works automatically while elevators run normally — it doesn’t slow them down or affect passengers. It quietly turns wasted air motion into real, reusable micro-energy for the building.

Let's look at a real example from the same 25-story building:

• One elevator shaft: 8 ft wide × 11 ft deep = 88 sq ft area

• Air density: 0.075 lbs/ft³

• Assume 1 elevator car displaces air at ~5 mph (7.3 ft/sec) average

Airflow power:

• Power = 0.5 × air density × area × velocity3

  =0.5 × 0.075 × 88 × (7.3)3

  =0.0375 × 88 × 389 =1,283ft−lb/sec

Convert to Watts: 1 ft-lb/sec = 1.355 W
So: 1,283 × 1.355 = 1,739 W

Run time:
1 elevator shaft = ~5 hrs/day (going up & down all day)

So:
1,739 W × 5 hrs = ~8.7 kWh/day per shaft.

Most tall buildings have 4 elevators

So:

Four elevator shafts=

8.7 kWh x 4 =34.8 kWh/ day per building

Daily Building Total: 34.8 kWh

Yearly Building Total:

365 days x 34.8 kWh= 12,702 kWh

What Does 1 kWh Do?

1 kWh powers:

• 10 LED bulbs for 10 hrs

• 1 fridge for a day

• 1 laptop for ~20 hrs

What Can 35 kWh Do?

• Power a 2-bedroom apartment for a full day.

• Keep 34 refrigerators for a full day

• Power an average apartment for about 1–2 days (depending on usage)

• Fully charge an electric car for 100–120 miles of driving

• Charge over 3,000 smartphones

• Light common areas, hallways, or emergency systems in a typical building for a day

Total Projected Energy Recovery Per Building (Daily & Yearly):

Daily Trash chute = ~0.18kWh

Daily Elevator Turbines = ~34.8kWh

• 0.18 kWh + 34.8kWh =

  ~35 kWh/day per building

  ---------------------------------------------

Yearly Trash chute = ~65.7kWh

Yearly Elevator Turbines = ~12,702kWh

• 65.7kWh + 12,702kWh =

  ~12,768 kWh/year per building

  ---------------------------------------------

Every 35 kWh recovered daily by one building adds up over time. If just 500 buildings adopted these systems, they could recover 17,500 kWh every day (6.39 million kWh every year)

Plus, Environmental Impact: recovering just 35 kWh/day with my innovative system keeps about 32 pounds of CO₂ out of the atmosphere daily — or over 5 metric tons every year per building. That’s like taking one car off the road for over 13,000 miles every year, just by capturing hidden waste energy inside the building.

UPSCALE: (City, State, & Nation)

A city with 1,000 buildings:

1,000 × 35 kWh/day = 35,000 kWh/day — enough to power ~1,000 apartments for a full day.

• 35,000 kWh per day

• 12,775,000 kWh per year

A State with 10,000 buildings:

10,000 × 35 kWh/day = 350,000 kWh/day — enough to power ~10,000 apartments for a full day.

• 350,000 kWh per day

• 127,750,000 kWh per year

Nationalwide:

500,000 buildings → 35 kWh × 500,000 = 17.5 million kWh/day

• 17.5 million kWh per day

• 6.39 billion kWh per year

ESTIMATED COST TO INSTALL:

• Trash chute panels & impact plate $7,000

• Elevator shaft turbine arrays (100–200 small fans) $20,000 - $30,000

• Control system, storage, inverter $7,000

➜ Total: ~$34,000–$44,000 per typical high-rise (with four elevator shafts). Final cost depends on building size, retrofit scope, and desired energy storage setup.

*Note: Costs can vary based on the number of chutes, elevator shafts, retrofit access, and desired energy storage or distribution setup.

Estimated Ongoing Maintenance:

Minimal — routine inspection and cleaning can be done during normal building checks. Parts are modular and simple to replace if needed.

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT

1 kWh ≈ 1 lb CO₂ avoided.
So, each building saves ~12,768 lbs CO₂/year.
500 towers: 6.4 million lbs CO₂ saved yearly.

BENEFITS & ROI:

12,768 kWh x $0.16 = $2,043/year
Plus:

• • Lower Utility Costs
  Free, constant micro-energy to offset lighting, elevators, or shared loads — saving real money.

  • Cuts CO₂ Emissions
  Each kWh recovered reduces grid demand and daily carbon footprint.

  • Meet Net-Zero Goals
  Supports city and national carbon targets — easier compliance with green building standards.

  • Earn LEED Credits
  Qualify for LEED Innovation and Energy points, boosting project certifications.

  • Access Local Incentives
  May qualify for city/state rebates, grants, or tax relief for energy-saving upgrades.

  • Attract Tenants & Investors
  Show real sustainability action — strengthens your ESG story for leases and capital.

  • Boost ESG Scores
  Improves green performance reporting to appeal to sustainability-focused funds.

  • Retrofit-Friendly
  Works in existing towers with minimal structural changes — adds value fast.

  • Utility Partnerships
  Open doors to pilot projects or funding with progressive utilities.

  • Future Carbon Credits
  May help qualify for carbon credits as markets and regulations expand.

  • Resilience Edge
  Adds small on-site generation — more energy security during grid challenges.

Intellectual Property & Patent Status

To safeguard these groundbreaking systems, I have filed a provisional patent application which is currently pending with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). This provisional patent protects the core concepts and practical mechanisms behind the energy recovery innovations for trash chutes and elevator shafts.

Filing this provisional patent demonstrates the originality and technical merit of the designs, helping to secure exclusive rights while further development and testing continue.

This step reflects my commitment to delivering patented, reliable solutions that can be confidently offered to building owners, engineers, and sustainability partners.

These systems:

• Fit old & new buildings

• Require no major redesign

• Add a small, steady energy boost

• Make buildings greener, smarter, better for cities

What’s Next?

I’m sharing this idea to find:

• Investors

• Engineers

• Developers

• Cities ready to pilot it

Visit my Collaborate page or email me directly at abdul@aamtStudio.com