Assessing the Potential of Building-Integrated Wind Turbines in an Urban Eco-Village

The undertaking of a sustainable community project is not a straight forward task and it requires collaboration of a multidisciplinary team to address different design aspects. This is especially true when the integration of some renewable energy systems into buildings have been more explored than others. This paper describes the design process of an Urban Eco-Village master plan at the University of Nottingham, U.K. Emphasis was given to the integration of small wind turbines in high rise buildings. A finite volume numerical method was used to assess the wind resource from various design configurations. Results were analysed against data obtained in wind tunnel simulations. A factorial design with two factors at three levels each showed the effect of orientation and building density on wind velocity.