Several years and prototypes later, Nigg is now seeing his inspiration in action through a pilot project at a Virginia Beach Public Schools bus depot where his rumble-strip like Roadway Energy X system was installed for testing in 2021. The goal is to produce cheap, emission-free electricity from vehicular traffic.

Constructis was one of the six grant winners of the inaugural RISE Coastal Community Resilience Challenge in 2019. Nigg credits RISE for enabling his company to advance its technology in Hampton Roads. As part of the $249,000 grant Constructis received, RISE also provided a $10,000 stipend and business training.

“RISE has been incredible and I sure hope they continue to offer out-of-the box thinkers, products and initiatives opportunities to grow here,” says Nigg. “Novel innovation is the hardest because there is no precedent to measure from; real trailblazers are hacking a path through the technology forest and pitfalls are everywhere. A responsive and supportive team is crucial to success.”

Nigg is a U.S. Navy veteran who served a total of eight years on active duty and in the reserves. He founded Constructis in 2007, through which he has developed Roadway Energy X. The system, designed as a series of strike tubes installed in a roadway that depress as vehicles pass over them, captures kinetic energy from braking traffic that can be stored in batteries to provide power to emergency services, traffic signals and pumps to clear flooded roadway, among other uses.

It can be installed overnight, ideally where traffic is slowing down and gathering, such as at busy intersections, exit and entrance ramps, toll booth plazas, parking lot entrances and elsewhere to capture and recycle energy that would otherwise be wasted. In multiple REX lanes systems capturing high volume traffic, they have the ability to generate over a kilowatt of continuous clean electricity.

The average family home in the U.S. uses around 900 kWH per month and around 30 kWH per day, according to Nigg. “That’s a lot of juice and the brass ring of measuring large power use.” If 200 REX lanes were installed in locations with 50,000 to 100,000 vehicles per day driving over the system, under a 20 to 30 year contract similar to a solar or wind project Constructis could power 10 to 20 family homes in perpetuity, he says.

RISE Innovator Spotlight

Jim Nigg: Constructis Founder and CEO