LEDs Makes Office Buildings a Forecasting Tool

An office tower in Brussels moonlights as a weather forecaster.

It's not the tallest in the world, nor is it exactly new. But the Dexia Tower in Brussels, Belgium is unique because of its array of over fifty-thousand LED bulbs. Over two-thirds of the building's 6000 windows are equipped with red, green, and blue LEDS, which combine to form different colors. These LEDs reflect off the closed blinds at night to turn the entire structure into one big light show.

To cut costs, the building's management now shines the light for ten minutes per hour. Yet that hasn't stopped local design firm lab[au] from turning the Dexia Tower into a nightly weather forecaster. By displaying different colors, the building indicates the projected temperature for the following day.

Yes, Paul the Octopus has proven more accurate than weather forecasting in general. But different temperatures mean that different colors for the Brussels skyline.

lab[au]: weather tower