GreenLab: GENIUSchool for "Tinquiry"

The first prototype of the GreenLab was constructed in the summer of 2001 to introduce the concept of "Tinquiry" (tinkering as a form of inquiry).

It is the birthplace where our company, InteraXon (which closed a $6 million Series A investment round and now has a commercial product on the market) was originally headquartered.

It is also where the first Spaceglasses were conceived and made; we recently closed a $23 million Serias A investment round for Meta Spaceglasses.

And it is also still the headquarters of FUNtain Hydraulophones, makers of the world's first and only water-based musical instruments and sculptures installed around the world (e.g. Ontario Science Centre, Legoland in Carlsbad California, Chicago Children's Museum, Experimentarium in Copenhagen, and CNIB in Calgary).

GreenLab GENIUSpace, 330 Dundas Street West:

The Greenlab/TinquiryLab contains:

• a "TeachBeach":
  
• a "BlueRoof" with environmentally-friendly summer cooldown area where sand becomes silicon (flexible solar cells are a cleaner grit-free substitute for beach sand) to power and be cooled by various aquatic play features:
  
• the world's first rooftop-mounted wind-turbine:
  
• an indoor "greenhouse for people":
  
  (there are also more pictures here)
• a "natural artificial lighting" research setup. All the lights are placed outside the greenhouse space, shining in, through the ceiling windows, so that the lighting creates a much more natural effect:
  

  The glass ceiling has 32 panes in 8 rows of 4; each panel is a bit more than 4 feet wide by 3 feet high, measured center-to-center of the mounting screws:
  
  about 4 foot, plus 1.25 inches wide by about 3 feet plus 1.75 inches high, center-to-center of the screws (the glass panes are obviously smaller, because some space is consumed by the mounting hardware and framing).

  The slope is about 20 inches drop over 15 feet distance, i.e. at 15 feet (180 inches) back, it has dropped about 20 inches, so that's a slope of about 1 foot down for every 9 feet back:
  

  (Late night "greenhouse" effect with "natural artificial" lighting)

  
  This creates a feeling that the light is much brighter than it actually is, because it mimics natural sunlight using narrowly collimated beams directed from a linear array of narrowbeam outdoor lights.

  We found that when the light is very pleasant and natural, less light is needed in order to achieve a good work environment:
  
  (Students brainstorm new research ideas in an introspective thought-provoking space. With only 88.4 watts of light power, the long shadows, localized bright-spots, and window-frame effect create an environment that feels warm and pleasant.)

• Building-wide brainwave-controlled lighting that anticipates the needs of the building's occupants:
  

  This work was presented at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, open to the public to experience as part of the Ontario Pavillion during the entire time of the Vancouver Olympics, February 12-28, 2010 ("It's the thought that counts", Globe and Mail, 2010jan29; local cache).

• In addition to venues like the Vancouver Olympics, and various museums, galleries, science centres, and the like, around the world, Greenlab is itself an exhibit space and public art+design gallery where students, professors, and researchers can show their ideas on sustainability in a public setting:
  

This project evolved from the summer of 2001 to present, as a series of experiments in sustainability, and we won first prize in the Coram International Sustainable Design Award (10,000 euros).

Links and further reading:

• "The development of urban renewable energy at the existential technology research center (ETRC) in Toronto, Canada", by Steve Mann, Isaac Harris, Joshua Harris, in Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Received 13 November 2004; accepted 24 November 2004. Available online 23 February 2005. pp. 576-589 [14 page(s) (article)] (7 ref.), ISSN 1364-0321
  [link to article in Proprietary Document Format (PDF)]
• Existential Technologies Research Lab
• Reading Toronto article on urban beaches
• Hydraulikos (Water Labs)