Chicago Garage Fires Up Helical Wind Turbines for Attractive, Earth-Friendly Parking

I live in Chicago and I've never seen this. I don't believe it.

That's really cool other places should install them for sure

wow. not one mention of the reason for using that type of turbine. Go back and do your research. This style of turbine (and others like it) are designed to work in turbulent winds like he kind that are created when wind whips through a downtown street. The buildings im downtown areas cause wing currents to go down a channel so to speak and become turbulent and the wind in these areas would tear the blades off a standard turbine. Why am I doing your job for you.

Looks like that turbine is there for more looks than anything. Notice that it is lit by a series of lights inside the triangle cage....I wonder if it makes enough electricity to cover the usage of lighting up the wind turbine at night?? Good idea but at first glance appears more form than function.

@SLNuke87 - The building was just completed.

Also this type of turbine generates less vibrations.

Why do people have to comment so negatively regarding a few details? The article was interesting, and if you didn't get all of the information you wanted, perhaps use the 10 second rule and ask yourself if you are using your manners.

Wind turbines on large building seem to work very well from what I understand. Plus they look cool :)
I say bring'em on!

America is imported oil dependent - any other form of domestic energy creation saves the economy - no cash out to other countries! Bravo Chicago! Do more, after all the Prairie Wind Corridor has been estimated to waste enough wind power to supply the whole U.S.A. with clean, free, domestic electricity! We do nothing about this? We pay at the pumps to the likes of OPEC for oil? We must have "suckers" tattooed on our foreheads! Apparently we waste the same electrical energy in the South Western states as Solar power! Who cares? Nobody! They only worry from election to election - not long range, so we pay through the nose for dirty foreign and expensive oil! Look at the Hoover Dam! Still going! Free electricity! We need more like this! Good on Chicago!

How is a green parking garage an oxymoron? Cars (or what ever we call the machines we use to travel around in) will one day be green as well. Thinking ahead and building a garage that's already there isn't a bad idea.

@IlanMan, do you think it's too much to ask for a science magazine to include something scientific in their article? I'd settle for something as simple as the turbines capacity for making electricity, or what percentage of the buildings operating cost they hope to offset. Sometimes it feels like PopSci isn't really doing the work.

So how much energy does this thing generate?

Very cool concept. I have seen it many times from the train platform at the Merchandise Mart but I yet to see it moving at all.