The Warm Breezes that Blow

There is a lot of criticism to be found about wind energy.  I am all for not killing birds by changing the atmospheric pressure, or having people go crazy from a dull constant hum, but I am also for cleaner forms of energy and this Design III project has me thinking of the simple forms of energy production and how it really cant be that hard.

We already use photo-voltaic panels in our own department, that combined with geothermal heating and cooling makes our 3 buildings the most energy efficient buildings on campus.  What if we harnessed a little wind?  The Aiken village site we are looking at is bordered on the north by HWY 182 and on the East by HWY 12.  there are a steady stream of cars helping to produce wind all day and the wind isn't selective to the daytime alone, solar energy has to be stored, but wind energy is a little more around the clock. If all 3 of the above systems were incorporated into the building site, it could in theory have a negative footprint, it could be receiving more energy than it is using and all of it is renewable!

I just wanted to provide a few links to back up my theory of how easy this all could be.

just a little side note, play around Appalachian State's websites, they do some crazy cool sustainable practice stuff!http://sustain.appstate.edu/

http://www.carbontrust.com/resources/reports/technology/small-scale-wind-energy
http://www.windustry.org/home-and-farm-scale-wind
http://www.windspireenergy.com/

http://sustain.appstate.edu/strides/attributes/id/972
http://www.renewablegreenenergypower.com/solar-energy-facts-concentrated-solar-power-csp-vs-photovoltaic-pv-panels/
http://www.tva.com/environment/technology/solar_photovoltaic.htm our LA building is on the TVA site

http://www.mississippipower.com/residential/geoexchange.asp
http://www.conserve-energy-future.com/GeothermalEnergyFacts.php