Almost 15 percent energy would be saved if towers were built the other way round.
In the first MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) a free online course which started on 28 April, Prof.Dr.Ir. Bert Blocken from Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) said "The designers of the Bahrain World Trade Center didn’t think carefully enough about the building’s ‘innovative’ design."
If the towers had been built exactly the other way round, it would have resulted in almost 15 percent more energy per year, Blocken, professor of Building Physics at TU/e showed his results using wind tunnel measurements and computer simulations on a model of the Bahrain WTC.
According to Blocken the Bahrain WTC is no exception. "Mistakes were also made in the design of the Strata Tower in London," he says. "The turbines hardly ever turn, and when they do it’s almost impossible to work in the offices below because of all the noise." To build better projects like this in the future, Blocken is now leading a workgroup in a large European consortium. The aim is to carry out effective research to formulate guidelines for the generation of wind energy in the built environment.
The incorrect design of the Bahrain World Trade Center is one of the striking results that is discussed in the MOOC free online lectures which last for six weeks from 28 April. Blocken also promises to come up with some interesting results in the field of sports.
Source: TU/e.nl
