Toronto photographer Oliver Pauk is on a mission to help us understand how much heat is lost from buildings, and how much better it would be to recover and reuse this wasted energy.
I have chosen to photograph heating, ventilation and air conditioning units and to use the effect of thermal imagery in order to portray their huge potential for heat recovery.
Pauk says it’s estimated that waste heat recovery “has the potential to satisfy forty percent of total energy requirements . . . simultaneously, decreasing greenhouse gas emissions by twenty percent; the equivalent of taking every passenger vehicle off of the road.”
Oliver Pauk’s website, here.
The Akin Collective, which he founded, here. (Pauk and a colleague are part of the Contact Photography Festival, Motels of Niagara Falls.)
His Flickr site, here.
Categories: Photography
Canadian Art Junkie 
Yes, you’re definitely right. It’s quite astounding.
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Fascinating! I wonder is that actual thermal coloring, meaning do the colors actually correspond to the degrees of heat loss? It sounds like it does, but how would he get that to work over such distances? Maybe he is just coloring these “heat loss spots” after the fashion of thermal imaging to illustrate a point, but not a real thermal depiction? I wonder . . .
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I believe you are right that he is using the “effect” of thermal imaging, rather than an actual measurement and conversion to color. I agree, though, that it’s fascinating. And it certainly makes his point. Thanks for taking the time to leave your thoughts.
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Yes, I am using the effect of thermal imaging to convey the point. Glad you enjoy.
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Thank you so much for stopping by and confirming this. I love this work, especially the colors, but also your reason for doing it. Very cool.
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Thanks for confirming!
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Here is a link to the full essay on the subject.
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http://oliverpauk.com/heat_recovery.html
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Great, thank you again.
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Thanks – it is probably safe to say that there is even more heat loss going on in your photos that isn’t represented because you are focusing on only certain systems. The statistics are quite revealing. Wonder how Denmark is doing it.
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