By Michael d'Estries
April 10, 2008 – 7:33 pm
I’ve always thought integrated building turbines were a smart idea — but generally they could only be found on models or drawings of ‘potential’ green architecture. No longer. The Bahrain World Trade Center made history earlier this week by allowing its new integrated blades to start catching some wind and generating electricity. They are expected to provide between 11%-15% of the building’s power. From the article,
“he elliptical shapes of the two buildings of the architecture funnel and even accelerate the wind towards the turbines. And there’ll be no shortage of wind too, what with the Bahrain World Trade Center in direct path of the onshore breeze blowing from the Gulf coast. According to the project manager, the cost of turbines was reduced to 3.5 percent of the whole project’s, which means that should the turbines work as expected, the project is financially viable.”
It’s about time we create buildings that take advantage of their height and air flow to work for them, rather than against. The Middle East is currently a hot bed for green tech — so look to other projects in the coming months to wow even further.
via goodcleantech
[UPDATE] Metaefficient has posted a sweet video of the three turbines in action. Take a look here.
Share This
By Michael d'Estries
March 15, 2008 – 6:45 pm
If you haven’t been to Chicago, I highly recommend it. It is truly one of the greatest cities in America — and has now been dubbed “the greenest” as well. To cap off a string of eco-friendly initiatives, the “Windy City” is planning on building a 2-mile eco-bridge. A breakwater in the Monroe harbor, it will celebrate Chicago’s new green honor — and potentially give it an edge in a bid to compete for the 2016 Olympic games. From the article,
“The project was also intended to enhance Chicago’s bid to host the 2016 Olympic Games. The observation tower is a prominent and central place to house the Olympic flame. The breakwater provides ample space for rowing and sailing events in calm water and could offer terrific viewer access for these events. The ecological and educational advantages of the project are plentiful. The bridge showcases the ecology of the Great Lakes and provides a haven for fish and water plants.”
The bridge would also be ringed with wind turbines — providing energy efficiency, as well as showing Chicago’s dedication to sustainability.
I think it looks beautiful — and would truly add even more space to the city’s already impressive harbor offerings. For more photos of the proposed “Eco-Bridge”, jump here.
Share This
Of course.
By Michael d'Estries
March 7, 2008 – 5:07 pm
While most green buildings strive to reduce or supplement their power consumption, there has yet to be a building that actually produces more energy than it consumes. Enter the The Masdar Headquarters building outside of Abu Dhabi — the world’s first positive energy building. Even the construction will be eco-friendly, as the first thing to be built will be a solar pier that will provide power for the rest of the assembly. The $300 million, 1.4 million square foot architectural wonder will be the centerpiece of the sustainable, car-free Norman Foster-designed Masdar City, a $22 billion development just outside Abu Dhabi. Absolutely incredible. Inhabitat shares some additional details:
“The building’s aggressive approach to sustainability enables it to offer the lowest energy consumption per square meter for its class, one of the world’s largest integrated photovoltaic systems and the world’s largest solar thermal driven cooling and dehumidification system. The complex will utilize sustainable materials and feature integrated wind turbines, outdoor air quality monitors. Compared with typical mixed-use buildings of the same size, the Headquarters will consume 70 percent less water.”
The United Arab Emirates have been heating things up lately with their green projects. In January, they announced the most ambitious sustainability initiative ever undertaken by a government, with up to $15 billion over five years going to green projects. The way it’s shaping up, the Middle East may become the green capital of the world. Meanwhile, the U.S. is still trying to figure out if it’s a good idea or not.
Tick, tock.
Share This
By Michael d'Estries
January 9, 2008 – 10:13 pm
As if the design wasn’t striking enough, a new 500 ft. tower filled with condominiums in downtown Atlanta is also planning to incorporate some incredible green technology — and produce roughly half of its own energy needs.
Called the Aquarius Tower, the building will feature a five-floor wind tunnel with about 60 small turbines and rooftop solar panels. The construction will also incorporate the use of recycled materials and thermally-efficient products. All the amenities from pool, sundeck, fitness center, lounge, and media room to guest suite and concierge services come with the package.
Even more interesting, a state-of-the-art robotic valet system will automatically store and retrieve vehicles. Supposedly, this action alone helps save on pollution — but we’re wondering how much energy those robots are burning in the process. Then again, if it’s all coming from renewable sources, what’s not to love?
The $70 million project may get underway this spring –with plans in place to finish by 2010.
Aquarius Tower via EcoFriend
Share This
By Bill Hobbs
December 13, 2007 – 3:47 pm
The Associated Press reports that former Vice President and current Nobel Price-winning global-warming prophet Al Gore has greened up his Nashville mansion:
Al Gore, who was criticized for high electric bills at his Tennessee mansion, has completed a host of improvements to make the home more energy efficient, and a building-industry group has praised the house as one of the nation’s most environmentally friendly. The former vice president has installed solar panels, a rainwater-collection system and geothermal heating. He also replaced all incandescent lights with compact fluorescent or light-emitting diode bulbs.
“Short of tearing it down and staring anew, I don’t know how it could have been rated any higher,” said Kim Shinn of the U.S. Green Building Council, which gave the house its second-highest rating for sustainable design.
Gore’s improvements cut the home’s summer electrical consumption by 11 percent compared with a year ago, according to utility records reviewed by The Associated Press. Most Nashville homes used 20 percent to 30 percent more electricity during the same period because of a record heat wave.
Nice to see that someone whose been talking for years like its a crisis has finally started acting like its a crisis.
Share This
By Bill Hobbs
December 10, 2007 – 3:02 pm
Hydrogen Fuel Cell Corp. is working to make the hydrogen-powered home a reality, and will be demonstrating its system for generating residential electric power from a hydrogen fuel cell stack at two homes in Texas and Florida.
The company, a subsidiary of American Security Resources Corp., has already installed its HydraStax fuel cell system at a residence in Texas - the company claims it is North America’s first residential hydrogen fuel cell system - and will be installing one this week at a home in Miami, Florida. Jim Twedt, President and CEO of Hydra, said the company will be demonstrating its “very robust beta fuel cell system” and plans to roll out a production model early in 2008.
“The production models will be smaller, significantly more efficient and include the ammonia-to-hydrogen fuel system being developed by American Hydrogen Corp. That fueling system is scheduled for delivery in about 60 days and will deliver hydrogen at a price that we expect will make the electricity generated by HydraStax fuel cells much less expensive than the electricity purchased from the grid.
ARSC’s hydrogen production technology was developed at Ohio University. ARSC is commercializing it under a deal that gives the university a stake in the company.
Gerardine Botte, an associate professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering in at Ohio University, developed the patent-pending ammonia catalytic electrolyzer technology which efficiently converts ammonia into hydrogen, inexpensively.
ARSC is a holding company developing clean energy technologies. Besides Hydra Fuel Cell Corp., the Houston-based company also owns American Hydrogen Corporation and American Wind Power Corporation. The ARSC’s stock is traded on the OTC BB market.
Share This
By Bill Hobbs
December 9, 2007 – 6:01 pm
A developer in Christchurch, New Zealand, has decided to put a wind turbine and solar panels on the roof of a new high-rise hotel, even though it will take years for the systems to pay for themselves. Developer Ernest Duval says he wants to motivate others to start thinking differently about energy.
“On pure economics you wouldn’t even bother. The payback is pretty long at this stage.” However, if every new building in the country put in similar measures it would save a power station every year, he said.
Duval’s hotel won’t have conventional wind turbine - instead, he’s looking at a German-designed vertical axle turbine, thought to be was safer than having a high-speed rotating propeller that could cause serious damage if it became dislodged. The building internal environment also is a factor in the choice, he says. “We are on top of a building. We can not have anything that vibrates or emits sound. It’s got to be very smooth.”
Duval also plans to install a pyramid of solar panels on the roof.
Vertical axis wind turbines are a growing segment of the wind turbine industry. Mercedes Benz recently installed one at one of its facilities in Great Britain.
The company said that the 20m-high turbine, developed by wind energy company Quiet Revolution, was one of only six in operation in the UK and had been designed to work quietly and efficiently in urban environments where the wind direction changes frequently.
Mercedes-Benz plans to use the energy generated to power electric cars and has installed three charging points next to the turbine. It estimated that the installation will generate enough power for 30,000 miles of driving a year using its electric Smart fortwo cars, equivalent to the electricity needed to power two average homes. Wilfried Steffen, president and chief executive of Mercedes-Benz in the UK, said that the installation was part of a project to ultimately generate 10 per cent of the company’s energy onsite through a combination of wind energy, ground-source heat pumps and solar water heating.
From London to New Zealand, vertical axis wind turbines appear to be gaining popularity as a way for just about any business to get in on the generation of power from the wind.
Share This
By Bill Hobbs
December 3, 2007 – 2:55 pm
Check out the Power House kit, a toy designed for children from which both kids and adults can to learn valuable lessons about renewable energy sources. The Power House kit, through dozens of possible experiments and building projects, teaches basic concepts and principles in physical science, focusing on heat and light energy from the sun, energy from the wind, and also electrochemical and plant energy.
With this Power House kit you can build a model house complete with solar panels, windmill, greenhouse, and desalination system. You can build and operate an electric train, windmill, solar cooker, solar hot water tank, hygrometer, electric motor, power hoist, sail car, and more! You can plant watercress, prepare sauerkraut, and make chewing gum - and learn how plants convert sunlight into energy for your body and your engines.
The Power House kit is available at the Discover This website for a $129.95. This looks like a wonderful Christmas gift for kids 12 and up, a fun way for them to learn about science and renewable energy through play.
Share This
Time for regulations in the consumer market?
By Sarah Boll
November 30, 2007 – 3:56 pm
There have been to two reports in the news recently that indicate it might be time for some governmental regulations in the area of energy efficiency in order to mitigate climate change risks in the U.S.
The first was the 4th and final report from the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in 2007, released on 17 November, which summarized and integrated the most significant findings of three sections of a climate-science review that were released between January and April. Because the data had not previously been reviewed as a whole, scientists said the synthesized report was more explicit, creating new emphasis and alarm (especially about the rate and scope of sea-level rise). This report elicited a response from UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon calling specifically on China and the US to step up their game, as the 2 largest GHG emitters, in the area of emissions reductions.The second, from McKinsey & Company and created for DTE Energy (the parent company of Detroit Edison), Environmental Defense, Honeywell, National Grid, the Natural Resources Defense Council, Pacific Gas & Electric and Shell, states that the United States could shave as much as 28 % off the amount of greenhouse gases it emits at fairly modest cost and with only small technology innovations. It focuses on more energy efficient homes and consumer products, such as computers, where currenlty, the supplier sees no competitive advantage to supplying low energy products which in turn leaves the average consumer with no choice but to purchase the energy inefficient house or computer. Hence the need for mandatory regulations to force the system to correct these deficiencies.
Now is the time to turn the tide. Suppliers have not historically spent the extra money on more expensive energy efficient products, not willing to take the risk that they will be in demand by consumers, which in turn does leave most consumers with no choices. If the only way to get suppliers to start creating these options for the average consumer (ie not the folks in the highest tax bracket) is to make it mandatory then perhaps that is the next step that should be put into play, and the sooner the better. As far as the consumers go, having to incur higher up-front costs for a more energy efficient product may take some getting used to, but shouldn’t be that hard to stomach when compared to a larger savings over the life-time of the product. The craziest thing of all is that producers will still be making profits and consumers will be saving money, these are the side effects of cutting out the 28% of carbon emissions mentioned in the McKinsey & Company report. Why is this such a hard sell?
Share This
