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Innovation

London's Strata: World's first skyscraper with integrated wind turbines

A new London skyscraper nicknamed "The Razor" has a trio of wind turbines built into its facade.
Written by Andrew Nusca, Contributor

A new London skyscraper nicknamed "The Razor" has a trio of wind turbines built into its facade.

The Strata, which stands at 42 stories and more than 485 feet high, is projected to generate 8 percent of its own electricity needs thanks to the turbines.

Placed on top of the building where 35 mile per hour gusts are possible, the 30 ft. diameter, 19 kW, five-blade turbines are the icing on the cake of the structure, a £113 million (or approx. $170 million USD) tower that's part of a £1.5 billion (or approx. $2.26 billion) project to revitalize the area around London's iconic Elephant and Castle roundabout.

The entire Strata development, which comprises the tower and a smaller building called the Pavilion, houses 408 apartments with prices that range from £230,000 to £2.5m, or approx. $347,000 to $3.8 million USD.

The turbines in the Strata differ from standalone turbines in that they plan to use the Venturi effect to accelerate air through them. Developers estimate the turbines will generate 50MWh annually.

Under new government regulations, London builders must make all new buildings zero-carbon by 2019.

While the Strata is the first skyscraper to integrate wind turbines, it's not the only one on the drawing board. The Bahrain World Trade Centre already has wind turbines between its two towers, and both China and France have plans to either add or integrate wind turbines into structures.

[via The Guardian]

Image: Strata SE1/Flickr

This post was originally published on Smartplanet.com

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