The city of Chicago recently installed four vertical axis wind turbines at the newly constructed LEED Gold-certified maintenance facility for the 7th and 10th Wards at 9160 S. Harbor Street. This is the first wind turbine-powered government building in the Midwest.
The general contractor was Pacific Construction. Millwrights erected the poles and turbines and union carpenters worked on the concrete foundations. More than 20 carpenters and millwrights were employed on the project.
The turbines were shipped in two sections due to their massive size. One section included the stainless steel shaft with the sails; the other section was the generator. Millwrights and carpenters performed the on-site assembly of the two sections before the unit was lifted and attached to the concrete pole. Thanks to their efficiency the four turbines were lifted into place in one day.
The city of Chicago selected this specific wind turbine from six different types because of its quiet operation, low cut in speed and friendliness to wildlife. This particular location in south Chicago is in a natural bird migratory path, which was a concern and influenced the decision in favor of the vertical axis turbine.
