IRWES · Integrated Roof Wind Energy System

Wind is an attractive renewable source of energy. Recent innovations in research and design have stagnated to a few alternatives with limited impact on residential construction. Cost effective solutions have been found at larger scale, but storage and delivery of energy to the actual location where it is used remains a critical issue. This proposal attempts to explore the physics, engineering and architectural features of an Integrated Roof Wind Energy System for residential construction to supply individual homes with independence from the power grid. The new added function to the roof structure, where the roof becomes a large capturing inlet to generate wind energy, generates about 500% incremented wind speeds with direct correlation to the amount of energy that can be harvested. Based on the average wind velocities in Europe, there is the potential to harvest multiple times the consumption amount of single-family households. Looking at the wind energy potential and today’s energy usage in Europe, effective designs of wind energy harvesting systems can bring solution of our renewable energy shortage. The Project focuses on bridging knowledge gaps among existing theories of fluid mechanics, wind power generation, computational fluid dynamics, wind tunnel testing, structural design and material engineering. From a multidisciplinary perspective, these studies address a spectrum of topics including skewed flow, geometry, curvatures, dimension scales and turbulence compression, directionality, influence of capturing louvers, fatigue loading, and novel material use with respect to architectural aesthetics, sustainability, constructability and functionality. The Fellow, appointed for this investigation, is a young researcher with international experience and a multidisciplinary engineering background which enables her to address the challenges in the Project and develop herself as a mature European professional in one of the most emerging topics of today and the future.""