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“We were captivated by the ingenuity and brilliance of Rand and his firm’s design of the ultimate clean and green skyscraper”

“We were captivated by the ingenuity and brilliance of Rand and his firm’s design of the ultimate clean and green skyscraper,” commented Mary Mélon, publisher of The Journal Record. “Rand and his firm have carved out a global reputation for creative and distinctive architectural design. His wind-powered skyscraper, which he cleverly trademarked as Turbinomics, is one more creative concept in a line of breakthrough ideas. We are fortunate Rand elected to build his firm in Oklahoma, because a number of his award-winning projects are located here. Our “Innovator of the Year” program honors businesses and individuals who embrace both the entrepreneurialism and innovation that make Oklahoma such a special place to live and work. Rand and his firm embody these qualities.”

Rand Elliott entered an international competition in 2008 to design the “Skyscraper of the Future.” “I’ve always wanted to design a skyscraper,” said Elliott, FAIA, with Elliott + Associates Architects in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. “What architect hasn’t? My challenge was to design something that would be visually new and conserve our precious energy resources. This was the beginning of an intense journey that culminated in what we call Turbinomics.”

After 500 sketches over the course of 69 days, Elliott’s thoughts consistently turned to a natural Oklahoma resource - the wind. Oklahoma City is the second windiest city in the country, with daily wind speeds of 12.2 mph, behind only Dodge City, Kansas. “A typical skyscraper is an energy hog,” Elliott continued. “Buildings are known to consume half of the world’s energy. But if we could design a structure that engaged the wind as a resource, we could turn it into something wonderful.”

Elliott’s design is a shapely skyscraper that incorporates vertical axis turbines in the interstitial space between floors. The turbines generate power for the building. Environmentally friendly thin film solar coatings with low-E glass windows provide additional energy conservation. “Wind turbine studies conducted by Oklahoma State University engineers show that on a day when the wind speed is 13 miles an hour, the building would generate ten percent of the power it needs to operate. When the wind is 28 miles an hour, which happens frequently here, the building would in fact be energy neutral – generating 100 percent of the power for operation. This building would not only create power for operation, but it would actually send power back to the grid. On those few occasions when the wind is calm, natural gas, a clean-burning abundant energy source, could efficiently power the building.”

That idea has captured the interest of America’s strongest voice for the greater use of wind and natural gas to curb America’s dependence on foreign oil: Boone Pickens. Wind generation has been an element of the Pickens Plan to reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil through an expanded use of natural gas, wind and solar power. “Rand is on to an idea that’s different, unusual, and exciting, and I like that the energy developed in the turbines at 28 miles an hour allows us to have everything covered,” said Pickens. “Anything over that and you’ll be able to sell energy back to the grid. It’s an intriguing concept.”