Abstract
The human migration from rural to urban areas has triggered a chain reaction causing the spiking energy demand of cities worldwide. High-rise buildings filling the urban skyline could potentially provide a means to improve the penetration of renewable wind energy by installing wind turbines at their rooftop. However, the above roof flow region has not received much attention and most results deal with low-rise buildings. This study investigates the flow pattern above the roof of a high-rise building by analysing velocity and pressure measurements performed in an atmospheric boundary layer wind tunnel, including four wind directions and two different roof shapes. Comparison of the surface pressure patterns on the flat roof with available low-rise building studies shows that the surface pressure contours are consistent for a given wind direction. At 0° wind direction, a separation bubble is detected, while cone vortices dominate at 30° and 45°. The determining factor for the installation of small wind turbines is the vicinity to the roof. Thus, 45° wind direction shows to be the most desirable angle by bringing the substantial amplification of wind and keeping the turbulence intensity low. Decking the roof creates favourable characteristics by overcoming the sensitivity to the wind direction while preserving the speed-up effect.
Highlights
The world has been rapidly urbanising for the past five decades, with ~54% of the population currently living in urban areas, expected to reach ~66% by 2050 [1]
While the predominant wind energy production comes from large wind farms, having received enormous resources to optimise their output [5], an opportunity may arise from distributed generation [6], with small wind turbines installed in optimal locations close to consumers
A recent study showed that, in a hypothetical scenario, having small wind turbines installed on 1500 high-rise buildings in major cities in the Netherlands, urban wind energy has the potential to annually yield
Summary
The world has been rapidly urbanising for the past five decades, with ~54% of the population currently living in urban areas, expected to reach ~66% by 2050 [1]. Cities are transforming with more high-rise buildings being planned to cope with the increasing dwelling demand, living. Sci. 2020, 10, 5283 standards and sustainability [2]. This unprecedented societal change goes in parallel with a meteoric rise in the energy demand, estimated to increase by 56% before 2040 [3]. Renewable energy needs to play a crucial role to meet the demand without affecting urban resilience and sustainability. A recent study showed that, in a hypothetical scenario, having small wind turbines installed on 1500 high-rise buildings in major cities in the Netherlands, urban wind energy has the potential to annually yield
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