flexiblefullpage
billboard
interstitial1
catfish1
Currently Reading

Wind Power, Windy City-style

Wind Power, Windy City-style

Building-integrated wind turbines lend a futuristic look to a parking structure in Chicago’s trendy River North neighborhood. Only time will tell how much power the wind devices will generate.


By By Jeff Yoders, Contributing Editor | November 2, 2010
This article first appeared in the November 2010 issue of BD+C.

The Greenway Self-Park in Chicago’s River North neighborhood shines like a beacon of enlightened green design on a block crowded with office and residential towers. The 285,000-sf parking structure’s green-tinted glass exterior doubles as a ventilation and daylighting system. Its signage gives parkers tips on how to live greener. River North developer Friedman Properties is planning a residential tower next door so that the parking garage’s green roof can serve as a garden for future condo owners.

What sets the 800-car parking structure apart, however, is its 12-paired array of wind turbines. The vertical axis turbines, manufactured by Helix Wind, Poway, Calif., are positioned on the southwest corner of the building near the relatively wide corridor of Clark Street, a busy thoroughfare. Todd Halamka, director of design at the Chicago office of HOK and lead designer on the project, calls the turbines “a kinetic and functional sculpture piece.”

Weather data from collection stations at O’Hare and Midway airports and weather buoys off of Chicago’s lakefront, coupled with wind tunnel tests taken from nearby buildings, were used to evaluate the amount of wind that could be harvested from the site. Estimates by the Building Team put the average wind at that corner at 10 mph at grade level over a year, which, according to the manufacturer, should be sufficient to generate electricity for the structure. The turbines, which extend from the second story to the very top of the structure on the southwest corner of the building, should generate enough power to light the building’s exterior and still send some energy back to the grid through the structure’s reversible electricity meter, Halamka said.

The first day I visited the site there was a strong breeze blowing in from the southwest and the long helical blades of the turbines, shaped from corrugated metal, appeared to be rotating quite actively. On another less windy day, however, they did not appear to be moving at all. Because the parking facility has only been open since September, not enough reliable data has been collected on how much power the turbines have generated.

The Building Team of designers HOK/Cubellis and general contractor Bovis Lend Lease took extra steps to green the parking structure. Greenway Self-Park’s signage gives garage users tips on living more sustainably. Each floor has a different nature theme, such as water, air, and earth conservation. The garage has electric-car charging stations and priority parking for hybrid gas/electric vehicles and for Zipcar and I-Go car-sharing vehicles. Its planned green roof has rainwater cisterns for water collection. Almost all of the building materials were locally sourced. Light sensors control the building’s interior lights and shut them off if enough daylight is coming through the translucent glass-walled exterior.

HOK says the building is registered with LEED and is currently in the commissioning process. “Rather than design a traditional closed garage which has an MEP system and has to run 24/7, working with the city of Chicago we were successful in creating a naturally ventilated garage,” Halamka said. Each floor maintains at least 20% open exterior wall area that provides natural ventilation. “We varied the openings (on the channel glassed walls) so that the glass panels have different spacing that creates a subtle visual tapestry, so that each façade takes advantage of the natural light and air,” he said.

As Chicago’s River North neighborhood continues to develop, Halamka says he believes a more sustainable urban strategy would be to build out the surrounding surface parking lots with ground-floor retail capped with office and residential space and then condense the parking into a more vertical arrangement that promotes local live-work opportunities. “Cars are an inevitable means of transportation,” said Halamka. “It is how we choose to live and use our vehicles in a more sustainable lifestyle that is important.”

For now, building-mounted wind harvesting like that at Greenway Self-Park is still in its infancy. HOK says both its Chicago office and building owner Friedman Properties are committed to monitoring exactly how much energy the wind turbines at the Greenway Self-Park are generating two years from now, when there will be enough data to gauge actual production. BD+C

Related Stories

Cultural Facilities | Mar 9, 2015

London council nixes plans to rebuild the Crystal Palace

Plans for the new Crystal Palace Park were scrapped when the city and the project's developer could come to an agreement before the 16-month exclusivity contract expired.

Office Buildings | Mar 7, 2015

Chance encounters in workplace design: The winning ticket to the innovation lottery?

The logic behind the push to cultivate chance encounters supposes that innovation is akin to a lottery. But do chance encounters reliably and consistently yield anything of substance?

Architects | Mar 6, 2015

Study suggests our brains prefer curvy architecture

A research team at the University of Toronto at Scarborough worked with several European designers to see what sort of spaces pleases our brains more. Their finding: People are far more likely to call a room beautiful when its design is round instead of linear.

Justice Facilities | Mar 5, 2015

New courthouse blossoms into a civic space for one California town

The building's canopy suggests classical courthouse features of front porch and portico. It also helps connect the building with a public plaza that has re-centered civic activity and public gathering for the town.

Justice Facilities | Mar 5, 2015

State of the state: How state governments are funding construction projects

State budget shortfalls are making new construction and renovation projects a tough sell, leading lawmakers to seek alternative funding for these jobs.  

Museums | Mar 5, 2015

A giant, silver loop in Dubai will house the Museum of the Future

The Sheikh of Dubai hopes the $136 million museum will serve as an incubator for ideas and real designs—a global destination for inventors and entrepreneurs.

Sports and Recreational Facilities | Mar 5, 2015

New HOK designs for St. Louis NFL stadium unveiled

Missouri Governor Jay Nixon has assembled a task force to develop plans for an open-air NFL stadium on the North Riverfront of downtown St. Louis.

Codes and Standards | Mar 5, 2015

Charlotte, N.C., considers rule for gender-neutral public bathrooms

A few other cities, including Philadelphia, Austin, Texas, and Washington D.C., already have gender-neutral bathroom regulations.

Codes and Standards | Mar 5, 2015

FEMA cuts off funding to Indiana after Kokomo continues building stadium in flood zone

FEMA will withhold funding on $5.5 million worth of projects such as building tornado safe rooms in schools.

Reconstruction & Renovation | Mar 5, 2015

Chicago's 7 most endangered properties

Preservation Chicago released its annual list of historic buildings that are at risk of being demolished or falling into decay.

boombox1
boombox2
native1

More In Category


Warehouses

California bill would limit where distribution centers can be built

A bill that passed the California legislature would limit where distribution centers can be located and impose other rules aimed at reducing air pollution and traffic. Assembly Bill 98 would tighten building standards for new warehouses and ban heavy diesel truck traffic next to sensitive sites including homes, schools, parks and nursing homes.



halfpage1

Most Popular Content

  1. 2021 Giants 400 Report
  2. Top 150 Architecture Firms for 2019
  3. 13 projects that represent the future of affordable housing
  4. Sagrada Familia completion date pushed back due to coronavirus
  5. Top 160 Architecture Firms 2021