London Completes World’s First Skyscraper with Design-Inherent Wind Turbines

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In Central London, a landmark structure called the Strata Tower (or Strata SE1, aka the Multiplex Living Tower, Castle House, Electric Razor, or “Razor”, as it’s known locally) creates enough weather of its own that architects decided at the inception of the building plan, in 2005, to add wind turbines.

The measure was described as energy conservation, but the dirty little secret behind the project is the fact that the Razor’s energy profile is 6 percent over the limits imposed on buildings by the UK Climate Change Bill, which mandates zero-carbon for new commercial buildings by 2019 (and homes by 2016).

Other energy efficiency measures include using a natural, “whole house” ventilation system (with heat recovery) instead of air-conditioning – a feasible approach given the island nation’s mild climate, which ranges from about 0ºC (32°Fahrenheit) in winter to a balmy 32ºC (89.6° Fahrenheit) in summer. (Global warming notwithstanding, the hottest temperature in the UK so far occurred on August 10, 2003, when the thermometer reached 38.5ºC, or 101ºF).

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London Completes World?s First Skyscraper with Design-Inherent Wind Turbines | Jeanne Roberts