Tuesday, April 26, 2005

London's Green Flats

From WorldChanging, news of an upscale housing development in Central London "which can be entirely self-sufficient for power." Among the energy-generating features:
A wind turbine fitted to the roof of an apartment block [...] compliments other eco-friendly features such as solar panels to convert the sun's rays into electricity, a hot water boiler powered by wood pellets, produced from wood waste and riple-glazed and krypton-filled windows to provide thermal and noise insulation. Also the exterior walls are exceptionally well insulated with a 300mm cavity filled with rock wool, the ceilings and floors are concrete slab construction which acts like super large storage heaters, storing heat in winter and coolness in summer and roof-mounted wind cowls provide innovative high levels of ventilation and heat reclamation inside of bow imageThe stylish apartments are at the leading of carbon emission-saving building technology and are a fine example for other architects and builders to follow. [...] [The] Swift near-silent wind turbine on the roof is one of the first domestically available of its type that generates power at mains voltage. When combined with the solar panels it enables the development to generate as much electricity as it consumes.
While Jamais is correct in calling this a "small step" (there's only four apartments in this development, and they're pretty pricey), I think we should celebrate further evidence that renewable energy technology can work in urban settings. One doesn't have to build a cabin in the woods (not that there's anything wrong with that) to take advantage of solar, wind and geothermal power.

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