Designer REVOLUTIONIZES urban wind energy with turbine made for city streets and buildings

Designer Joe Doucet presented his Airiva turbine, a modular wind energy system designed to visually integrate into urban environments.

Currently in the prototype phase, Airiva has two-meter-high vertical blades, with a sculptural helical design, differentiating itself from traditional large propellers wind turbines.

According to an article on the news portal dezeen, these blades create a fluid, mesmerizing movement when they spin, which is essential to Joe Doucet.

He believes this design makes desirable systems for buildings, campuses and roads. According to the creator of the novelty, “elevated design plays a significant role in adopting and integrating the architecture and infrastructure of our urban and suburban landscapes, bringing clean energy closer to where we live and work.”

Airiva represents a form of distributed energy generation, which occurs in smaller locations such as rooftops and gardens, directly benefiting property owners and the local community.

Proponents of this approach argue that there are fewer energy losses when it is used locally and that these systems provide greater resilience against interruptions in the electrical grid.

The Airiva system is modular and scalable, with four blades in square “wall segments” that can be joined together to form a unit of virtually infinite length.

“The Airiva wind energy system complements and coexists with other renewable energy systems, expanding the applications for distributed wind energy,” said the designer to the cited website.

Joe Doucet created the first version of Airiva in 2021 after noticing a lack of distributed energy products with an eye for aesthetics.

The project, initially called Wind Turbine Wall, generated a lot of interest online, leading Joe Doucet to launch Airiva in partnership with Jeff Stone, a technology industry veteran.

The perfect shape of the wind turbine

The helical shape of the blades emerged as the most efficient after evaluating 16 concepts and testing in wind tunnels.

Although the turbines are not as powerful as industrial ones, each wall segment with four turbines can generate 1.100 kilowatt-hours per year, according to initial tests.

To meet the energy demand of an average home in the United States, ten segments, or 40 turbines, would be needed.

Complementary energy

Airiva is designed to complement other energy sources such as grid electricity. The company expects its systems to contribute significantly to the energy needs of urban buildings, primarily targeting the commercial market, including buildings and campuses, municipal facilities, airports, and coastal areas.

Airiva's segments are made from aluminum with injection-molded plastic blades, and the company aims to use 80% recycled materials in manufacturing.

A full-scale prototype, consisting of two wall segments with four turbines each, will be tested later this year.

The company plans to begin pilots with customers in the second half of 2024, with the aim of receiving the first orders in 2025.

Other similar projects include the Papilio wind street light and the 2018 James Dyson Award-winning O-Wind multi-directional turbine.