Distributed Subtropical Coastline Emergency Energy Generation Using Building Integrated Wind Technology

Global population growth over the next 30 years will be largely concentrated in developing urban areas, many of which lie in coastal regions at high risk of exposure to sea level rise, heat waves, increasingly intense storm events, and other effects of global climate change. Reliance upon traditional fossil fuel-extracted energy sources during such events in these regions has proven to be inadequate with rapid expansion of coastal urban centers, many of which are characterized by a subtropical climate, whose energy needs are expected to increase many-fold by 2020 due to a globally emerging middle class. Energy resource provision in subtropical urban coastal areas must therefore be critically re-evaluated to meet these rapidly changing demands and conditions, with a technologically synergistic design approach that is cost-effective and focuses on renewable, site-available resources. In coastal urban developments, wind energy generation represents a viable alternative to strictly fossil fuel dependent energy economies. This paper will survey the viability of distributed energy generation in light of recent disaster events, such as Hurricanes Sandy and Katrina. If building-mounted wind turbines are deployed along with aerodynamic modification in multi-story building design in urban coastal bluff conditions, then critical energy production at the building envelope is possible using the sustained wind resource. During coastal flood and storm events, locally available emergency power is critical for maintenance of basic building operation, search & rescue efforts, and deployment of emergency medical services. Widespread design for building-sited wind energy generation could sustain a community’s essential power supply through a spectrum of coastal disaster scenarios by providing consistent localized energy at the coastal condition. Aerodynamic modification for amplification of air flow can demonstrate the potential for high energy yields within a simulation environment. Air flow in a coastal condition, where the atmospheric boundary layer is characterized by a low Reynolds number and high-velocity flow, as opposed to the unpredictable turbulence of the built-up urban condition, represents a viable opportunity for capture and energy production. Precedents that have implemented wind capture, such as the Pearl River Tower and the Bahrain World Trade Center, capitalize on the provision of an increased laminarity index by placement of capture devices at substantial height above the majority of obstructions; however, this solution is only partially effective, and can be optimized by placement before flow separation occurs.Utilization of consistent site-available wind energy at urban coastal conditions through aerodynamic modeling on bluff buildings can prompt a novel distributed model for harnessing wind energy on an unprecedented scale. Results from investigating the cumulative effects of airflow behavior can prompt implementation of a series of design standards that mandate inclusion of wind harnessing strategies in appropriate geographic conditions, thereby rendering coastal urban communities better equipped to deal with both long-term energy and climate challenges and acute disaster events.

Volume Editors
Anthony Abbate, Francis Lyn & Rosemary Kennedy

ISBN
978-0-935502-90-9