London Skyscraper to Generate 8 Percent of Its Own Energy Needs

A new skyscraper in London, which has been nicknamed the Razor, will take a big first step towards becoming the world’s first building with wind turbines built into itself. However, this brings up a good question…just how helpful are these wind turbines going to be?

Well at the base of this big tower, the wind speed is so low that it would render a wind turbine pretty much pointless. The wind is blocked by many other buildings and structures. However, at 42 stories the building sees wind gusts of up to 35 miles per hour. Thus, this project could actually generate 8 percent of its own electricity needs.

This building, which is officially named the Strata tower, is a £113 million milestone in the £1.5 billion project to regenerate the Elephant and Castle area. This development, which will be made up of the tower and a smaller Pavillion building, is a statement of the new demographic that the Southwark council hopes will be attracted to this area.

The tower also marks new heights in the building sector as well. The UK government’s new regulations will cause all new buildings being built to generate zero carbon by 2019. This building shows just one of the many ways that builders can go about making buildings produce less carbon emissions.

Director for Brookfield, which is the company that is the developer of the tower, Justin Black said that the decision to choose wind was a “conscious decision to experiment.” He went on to point out that the entire southern face of the building would have had to be covered in solar panels to generate the same amount of energy.