According to this story by Sarah Krouse in the Washington Business Journal, the new Ellicott Gardens apartment complex in Columbicott City will utilize a windmill to supplement the power requirements for the projects common areas.
"The windmill will contribute to the energy needed for the building's public areas including the corridors, lobby, parking garage, and gym. The windmill will generate about 400 kilowatt hours per month - to offer a little perspective, a compact fluorescent light bulb used all month would equal about 18 kilowatt hours."
While some developers contribute public art to their projects, Old Town Construction gave this project a gift that will keep on giving…as long as the wind blows anyway.
It produces about $60 a month in electricity. I wonder how much it cost?
ReplyDeleteI think it's probably more of a statement thing?
ReplyDeleteWhat's the Return On Investment (ROI)? I'd expect that you'd need about 20 of these to actually make this worthwhile for this complex.
ReplyDeleteAnd how long will it take to pay off this paltry ROI?
How many decibels does it produce? What is the environmental impact of having this windmill there? Let's ask the Kennedy family about their stance on offshore wind farms.
Will a massive wind farm sprout up from every open hill top in HoCo?
I'm an advocate of SMART alternative energy sources, but I abhor window dressing. Either approach this from a realistic standpoint or just go with energy sources that continue to be cheaper--like coal derived electricity or nuclear energy.
Or, just decide to get off the grid and go it alone...with a variety of energy generating techniques.
I know for a fact that the HoCo planning board would disallow this on my house, just because of the noise it generates and the blight on the horizon.
If you really want to impact energy use, call me.
This is just propaganda.
It's a step in the right direction, and beautiful to some.
ReplyDeleteI thought all developers hate the environment and only do things for the bottom line?
ReplyDeleteWB: Long time reader, first time commentator.
ReplyDeleteThe ROI for the county is indeterminable, because they did not pay anything for the windmill. If you were to buy one of these specifically for your home, that would be different. And why? Because this windmill generates 3 phase power that is used in commercial applications and costs more to buy from BGE. Therefore it also generates more dollar-wise. Freemarket, you also have good blog that I sometimes follow, but please do some research before posting.