Long Description:Text of the
"http://www.mercurynews.com/search/ci_14191622"target="_blank">San
Jose Mercury News article by Brandon Bailey:
What's that on the sixth-floor deck of Adobe headquarters in
downtown San Jose? Those slender silver spires, spinning quietly in
the breeze, are actually turbines producing environmentally
friendly electric power.
Workers installed the
"http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM82M8">20 wind turbines
over the December holidays at
"http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM225X">Adobe Systems'
high-rise offices at Park Avenue and Almaden Boulevard. Officials
at the big software company say it's part of a larger effort to tap
renewable sources for the power they need to keep the lights,
computers and other equipment running at Adobe's facilities here
and around the world.
Renewable energy isn't a new idea for Silicon Valley, where
Google, Microsoft and other big tech companies use solar panels to
supply some of the power for their local sites. But wind turbines
are more typically found in rural or suburban areas. City officials
say Adobe is the first to install them on a building in downtown
San Jose.
"You just don't see this going on in an urban environment,"
acknowledged Randy Knox III, Adobe's director of facilities and
environmental programs. "But it kind of looks like art."
Each turbine is 30 feet tall and 4 feet wide, with an open
framework that rotates slowly on a vertical axis. Unlike
traditional windmill designs, which have wide propeller blades, the
manufacturer says the vertical turbines are designed to turn slowly
and are unlikely to harm passing birds.
The installation is expected to produce about 50,000 kilowatt
hours of electricity a year, according to Knox. That's enough to
power five or six average homes, though it's less than 2 percent of
the total energy consumption at Adobe's three downtown towers,
where more than 2,000 programmers, sales reps and other employees
work in nearly 1 million square feet of office space.
Adobe has already won "green building" certification for the
complex, by taking numerous steps to lower its energy use. Knox
said the company is also evaluating the potential for using solar
power and fuel cells, which make electricity from renewable
sources.
But unlike other tech firms, which have more space on their
sprawling suburban campuses, Knox said Adobe probably doesn't have
enough room for a significant solar installation at its downtown
site.
One thing Adobe has is the wind. Air currents swirl around the
three buildings, which extend 16, 17 and 18 stories into the sky.
The buildings themselves help channel the wind so it blows at an
average of 13 to 14 mph across the top of a five-story parking
garage that sits between the three taller buildings — creating what
Knox calls "a really nice wind tunnel" about 50 feet above street
level.
City height restrictions preclude putting turbines on top of the
office buildings, because they're so close to the flight path of
Mineta San Jose International Airport. But Ed Tolentino, San Jose's
chief building official, said Adobe had no problem winning approval
for installing them on the roof of the garage, which also serves as
an open-air patio for Adobe employees.
Adobe placed several of the turbines in planter boxes that line
the deck's perimeter, where they're not expected to disturb anyone
using the patio to eat lunch or play on its basketball and bocce
courts. The turbines rotate in near-silence. Knox said their
"bird-friendly" design was also an important consideration, since
peregrine falcons and other species are known to visit the
buildings.
The spires turn slowly enough to remain visible, so birds are
unlikely to fly into them, said Amy Berry, a spokeswoman for Mariah
Power, the Reno-based startup that sells the turbines.
Adobe won't disclose how much the installation cost, although
Knox said the turbine's output should lower Adobe's spending for
outside power enough to make up the cost in about eight years.
"We're looking at it as an investment in technology that needs
to be developed," he added.
A spokesman for the American Wind Energy Association, a trade
group, said he was glad to hear of Adobe's installation. Ron
Stimmel said wind power is seeing increased adoption in the United
States, but it's still rare in urban areas. At Adobe, one row of
turbines stands above Almaden Boulevard, where they're easily
spotted from the sidewalk across the street.
"I like that it's in a place where people can see it," Stimmel
added. "It brings renewable energy to people's backyards, instead
of being out in a big field somewhere."
Adobe"s wind turbines: Each turbine is 30 feet tall and four
feet in diameter, with a steel spindle and three narrow vertical
airfoils. The turbine turns on a vertical axis at a top speed of
about 400 rpm, at a quiet 5 decibels. Each 1.2 kW unit is designed
to produce 2000 kilowatt hours of electricity per year in 12 mph
average winds; an average U.S. home uses 8,000 to 10,000 kilowatt
hours per year.
Adobe"s 20 turbines were designed and sold by Mariah Power of
Reno, NV, which calls them Windspires. Mariah Power says it has
sold more than 500 units since introducing the product in 2008.
Typical installed cost is $9,000 to $12,000 for each, before
rebates and tax credits for renewable energy, according to Mariah
Power"s Website. Adobe did not disclose the cost of its
installation.