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INTRODUCTION

It is UK Govement policy (Planning Policy Statement PPS22[1]) that all future non-residential or mixed-use developments above 1000 m2 will be expected to provide at least 10% of their energy requirements form on-site renewable energy generation. Wind energy produced from building-mounted wind turbines could be expected to provide a proportion of this renewable energy.

The BRE Trust recently published the results from a study into micro-wind turbines in urban environments in a BRE Trust Report [2] which was well received and generated a lot of positive comment from industry.

This work led to a further BRE Trust report [3] and a BRE information Paper [4] on siting wind turbines on low-rise domestic dwellings. The recently published BRE Trust reports are restricted to low-rise residential buildings and so will not provide the necessary information of inform the siting of wind turbines on the larger industrial and commercial developments covered by Planning Policy Statement 22[1].

Wind turbines are likely to be more viable on taller and larger buildings than on residential buildings because of the increased wind resource. However, without guidance, the most effective locations for siting wind turbines cannot be easily determined, with the result that this potential renewable energy source is not always most effectively utilized; inappropriate siting can lead to an ineffective installation with severely limited power generation possibilities. Hence the need for this research.

The project, supported by the BRE Trust and Marks & Spencer plc, aims to provide guidance on the siting of micro-wind turbines on high-rise and large plan-form buildings.

The primary objectives of this study were to:

• Measure (at model scale in the wind tunnel) the wind speed-up factors over a range of high-rise and large plan-form buildings typical of commercial and industrial building forms commonly found in the UK

• Use the results from the wind tunnel study by building owners and developers for determining the optimum positioning of wind turbines, both in terms of position on the building and height above the building.

A summary of this study can be found in BRE Information Paper 1/10[5]