Wind Energy Technologies for use in the Built Environment

Abstract

Technologies are being developed to harness power from the wind using buildings. These are described with their current stage of development and with the plans and possibilities of further developments. These technologies may be able to make valuable contributions to the renewable component of an urban area's power supply. This new market is potentially enormous. Feeding power directly into the building's own electrical circuits avoids costs otherwise associated with a separate connection to the local utility electrical distribution network. The economic value of the energy is equal to that otherwise charged by the client's electrical supplier, which is considerably higher than would normally be paid for wind energy supplied directly to the grid.