Abstract:
A multi-storied garage having an energy efficient ventilation system that incorporates a unique window array and vertically mounted energy producing wind turbines located in a corner of the garage structure that would otherwise be unusable for vehicle parking.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0002]    The present invention relates to the field of multi-story parking garage structures and, more particularly, to an energy efficient garage structure. 
         [0003]    2. Discussion of the Background 
         [0004]    Multi-story self park garages generally are constructed in urban areas, often near or adjacent to office towers, residential buildings or other commercial structures or stadiums. More recently these structures are provided with facades that are more esthetically appealing to better fit the surrounding environment and to complement adjacent structures. Also, for convenience of nearby residents and office workers, in recent years the first or ground floor of these structures has been used for retail space, such as for example drug stores. For those garages that are completely enclosed, an expensive heavily mechanized ventilation system is required to eliminate the vehicle exhaust gases that otherwise might accumulate. Most major cities have specific building codes that control the ventilation requirements. For those garages that use an open air approach (thus vastly eliminating the bulk of the mechanical ventilations system), there generally also is a requirement that at least 20% of the facade be open to permit adequate ambient ventilation allowing noxious fumes to escape. This has resulted in a variety of facades, none of which are esthetically pleasing and generally do not complement the nearby environment. 
         [0005]    Multi-story garages also generally require at least two elevators; extensive lighting on each floor and use a multitude of other energy drawing equipment during their daily operation. Most such garages have a typical floor plan (for vehicle traffic) that tends to be of a spiral nature with up/down ramps. This leaves an unused area of the floor plan in at least one corner on each floor. To economically use this space, the elevators frequently are located in the corners. However it would be economically wasteful to build elevators in all four corners, as not that many are required. 
         [0006]    It is a primary purpose of the present invention to provide both an air efficient ventilation system that has a unique and esthetically pleasing façade, and an energy producing system employed to take advantage of wind turbines for generating some of the power requirements of the facility. Preferably these turbines will be stacked and disposed at a corner of the garage to therefore make more efficient use of the dead space created by traditional vehicle flow patterns. 
       DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART 
       [0007]    The present garage structure makes use of various commercial components, but to applicant&#39;s knowledge they have not been combined in the manner claimed herein. The façade structure in part consists of a unique arrangement of arrays of energy efficient translucent linear channel glass, of the type known as Pilkiington Profilit glass channels. They are described in greater detail at www.tgpamerica.com/structural-glass/pilkington-profilit. The preferred wind turbines of the present invention are know as Aerotecture International wind turbines, and are generally described at: www.aerotecture.com. Several different arrays are disclosed, including an independent structure of stacked arrays. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0008]    In view of the foregoing esthetic and energy deficient disadvantages inherent in known multi-story parking garages, the present invention provides an energy efficient garage which uses both natural ventilation in an esthetically pleasing arrangement, combined with wind turbines uniquely located for energy generation and placed for efficient use of structural space in the garage facility. 
         [0009]    To attain these advantages, the present invention, in its preferred embodiment, generally comprises a multistory garage structure having a series of vertically stacked wind turbines for energy generation preferably disposed and integrated into the building structure in a manner that allows air flow against the turbines in an least two directions. 
         [0010]    In a preferred embodiment, the wind turbines are located at what would be an interior corner of the garage facility thereby to efficiently take advantage of what would be unused space in the garage floor plan, while efficiently permitting multi-directional exposure of the turbines thru an open corner vertical facade without requiring an outbuilding area of the structure. 
         [0011]    Yet another object is provide a glass façade for the structure which permits natural ventilation of the facility with an esthetic facade arrangement that has vertical openings arranged in a plurality of arrays, thereby seemingly providing a particular pattern of glass which enhances the building structure while effectively minimizing the visual effects of the openings. 
         [0012]    A preferred objective is to provide a pattern of glass channels in which some overlap while others are spaced and which are arranged in a progression across a façade providing the structure with a dynamic quality for viewers while the spacing between the glass is calibrated to balance the garage natural air flow distribution and day-light distribution. 
         [0013]    The vertical spacing of the glass channels and the use of the stacked wind turbines also cooperate to enhance air flow through the garage structure, integrating the benefits of both structures. 
         [0014]    These and other objects of the invention, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the invention, are pointed out with particularity in the appended claims forming a part of the disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and the specific objects attained by its uses, reference should be made to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which there are illustrated preferred embodiments of the invention. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0015]    The invention will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein: 
           [0016]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a new energy efficient garage structure according to the present invention; 
           [0017]      FIG. 2  is an enlarged elevation view of one exterior wall of the novel garage structure; 
           [0018]      FIG. 3  is an enlarged elevation view of an adjacent wall of the garage structure, and also depicting the wind turbine structure in a corner thereof; 
           [0019]      FIG. 4  is a typical floor plan view as would exist in the garage of  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0020]      FIGS. 5A and 5B  schematically depict elevation and plan views of a first pattern of the glass channel arrays used in the garage façade; 
           [0021]      FIGS. 6A and 6B  depict a second pattern of the glass channel arrays of the façade; 
           [0022]      FIGS. 7A and 7B  depict a third pattern of the glass channel arrays of the façade; 
           [0023]      FIGS. 8A and 8B  depict a fourth pattern of the glass channel arrays; 
           [0024]      FIGS. 9A and 9B  depict a fifth pattern of the glass channel arrays used in the façade; 
           [0025]      FIG. 10  is an enlarged elevational view of an exemplar array of glass channels as may be used in the invention, and showing one form of mounting the channels; 
           [0026]      FIG. 11  is a sectional view of the array of  FIG. 10 , taken along the section lines A-A in  FIG. 10 ; 
           [0027]      FIG. 12  is a sectional plan view of the array of  FIG. 10 , taken along the section lines B-B on  FIG. 10 ; 
           [0028]      FIG. 13  is a sectional plan view of the array of  FIG. 10 , taken along the sectional lines C-C in  FIG. 10 ; 
           [0029]      FIG. 14  is a sectional view of the array of  FIG. 10 , taken along the sectional lines D-D thereof; 
           [0030]      FIG. 15  is a schematic perspective view of a single wind turbine of the type stacked for use in the garage of  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0031]      FIG. 16  is a plan view of the wind turbine of  FIG. 15 ; 
           [0032]      FIG. 17  is an elevational view of the wind turbine of  FIG. 15 ; 
           [0033]      FIG. 18  is an exemplar plan view of one floor showing the position of the wind turbine structure in the corner of the garage facility; and 
           [0034]      FIG. 19  is an elevational view of the corner of the garage wall and structure of  FIG. 18 , without the wind turbine in place. 
       
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
       [0035]    One example of a preferred form of garage structure incorporating the various inventions is depicted as  20  in  FIG. 1  in perspective form. In this embodiment, the garage  20  is shown as a free standing structure to be located at the corner of a city block. While only two side walls are illustrated, the opposite sides may be mirror images (if for example the garage is located near a sports facility) or the opposing walls may be designed with less elegant facades if the garage will abut adjacent buildings where the facades will be partially or fully hidden from view. 
         [0036]    In this instance, the garage  20  may consist of a ground or base line level  21  of retail space and employ internal ramps of various kinds (not shown, but different routing being well known to those in the art) permitting, in this case, effective spiral movement of vehicles from bottom to top and reverse for exiting. This particular version has roughly ten floors available for parking above the retail level, generally designated as  22 - 31  in  FIG. 1 . 
         [0037]    The garage  20  has roof line  32  that may or not be decorated and may or not provide for additional parking at the roof top level. In the preferred embodiment the garage roof is provided with plantings to provide an esthetic and air friendly environment. The planted roof will provide both visual and recreational amenity as well as localized climatic cooling of roof and garage summer heat gain. 
         [0038]    Each of the two sides walls or facades depicted in  FIGS. 2 and 3  has a particular arrangement of vertical glass channels spaced in a variety of arrays for both esthetic purposes and to facilitate the required air flow to evacuate noxious exhaust fumes from the vehicles within the garage. These will be explained in greater detail hereinafter. 
         [0039]      FIG. 4  depicts a typical floor plan for this particular garage. It will be understood that the parking slots in this version consists instead of ramps  98  and  99  going up or down and with horizontal sections  97  at the ends of each  5  ramp and in the corners. In this particular embodiment, two sets of elevators  96  (and stairwells  97 ) are depicted in opposite corners. 
         [0040]    As is apparent from the lines  92  and  93  which delineate parking lanes for vehicles, certain corners become “dead” space where no vehicle can be parked because of the interference with an adjacent vehicle. Thus at the lower left hand corner of  FIG. 4 , designated as  99  on the drawing, it is clear that the angled lines  92  on the ramp  98  and the horizontal lines  93  on the end section  97  that no vehicle could be parked in the corner. 
         [0041]    To make efficient use of that “dead” or otherwise unusable space, the wind turbine schematically illustrated as  100  in  FIG. 4  is disposed in that corner is 99. 
         [0042]    Before describing the facade and wind turbines in detail, it should also be understood that sometimes parking structures are not located at corners of a block but are disposed between adjacent buildings, and therefore would have no “free” corner. While the wind turbines still could be used at a corner and integrated into the building structure, this may inhibit sufficient air flow to adequately power the turbines to make them cost effective. In such case, a supported overhead parallel to the top  21 A of the retail space may be provided, and the wind turbines mounted exteriorly of the building to allow for air flow. 
         [0043]    Turning now to  FIG. 2 , it will be seen that the facade appears to have at least five different arrangements of arrays of glass channels designated as Patterns  1  through  5  and generally referred to as sections  40  through  80 . In the preferred embodiment, the glass channels may be of the type known as a Pilkington Profilit translucent linear channel glass which are supported by extruded metal tubes. This provides a facade wall that partially obscures vision but allows light to be both partially reflected and to pass thru to provide interior lighting during daylight hours. The glass may be selected for various tint and degree of translucency. 
         [0044]    In the preferred embodiment, slightly green-tinted glass formed into a 10″ wide C-shaped vertical channel or plank, and arranged in various arrays, are supported at the top and bottom by an aluminum tube. As can be seen in  FIG. 2 , the garage typically has concrete horizontally disposed beams at the perimeter which, when coupled with appropriate internal columns, permits adequate support of the internal ramps and landings. In the depicted embodiment, the angled ramps  98  are at the perimeter; in some structures the inclined ramps are centrally located while the horizontal landings extend around the entire inner perimeter. 
         [0045]    As will be seen in  FIG. 2 , the concrete floors  38  at the exterior perimeter are clad in well known fashion with some type of complementary metal casing which also provides the structure for holding the glass channels, as described hereinafter. 
         [0046]    Five arrays or patterns are provided on each side will, and are created with the glass channels by varying the spacing and orientation of the channels. The densest pattern overlaps the channels by ⅔ of their width, while the most open spacing has a 10″ gap between channels. These arrays are best depicted in  FIGS. 5-9 . The variable glass channel spacing is carefully calibrated against opposite walls to balance the garage&#39;s natural air flow distribution and meet local building requirements which may, for example, require 20% open wall space. 
         [0047]    As illustrated in both  FIGS. 2 and 3 , each of the side walls uses five different patterns of channels which are arranged in a progression across the facades, transitioning from the densest spacing to the more open. This subtle effect will lend the structure a dynamic quality as people walk and drive by, while the glass itself and spacing shields views into the garage. During the day, the channel glass will catch and reflect sunlight. At night exterior, projecting up-lights above the ground floor retail spaces will wash the façade with light, providing an enhanced appearance, much like an office building. It will be understood that by appropriate calibration other arrays and spacing may be provided both for esthetic reasons or to satisfy air flow requirements. 
         [0048]    As seen in  FIGS. 5-9  there are schematically illustrated the five different array patterns of the type distributed across the building facades. Pattern  1 ( 40 ) is depicted in  FIGS. 5A and 5B . Upper and lower aluminum tubes  111  and  112  hold the glass channels  113  in position. In this array, referenced as a 3/3 spacing, each of the channels  113  are spaced 10″ apart, edge to edge providing an open gap as at  114 . As each channel is 10″ wide, the pattern is thus 3/3 and repeats for 60″ (3-10″ channels and 3 ten inch spaces). 
         [0049]    Pattern  2 ( 50 ) is depicted in  FIGS. 6A and 6B . This is referenced as ⅔ spacing. The gap distance  114  between each ten inch channel  113  is 6.75″. 
         [0050]    Pattern  3 ( 60 ) is depicted in  FIGS. 7A and 7B . This is ⅓ spacing, where the gap distance  114  between adjacent channels  113  is about 3.25″. 
         [0051]    Pattern  4 ( 70 ) is depicted in  FIGS. 8A and 8B . This is referenced as ⅓ overlap, wherein two adjacent channels  113  overlap by about ⅓, or 3.25 inches; and there is a gap  114  between adjacent overlapping pairs of channels of about 3.25″. 
         [0052]    Pattern  5  ( 80 ) is depicted in  FIGS. 9A and 9B . This is referenced as ⅔ overlap, where two adjacent channels  113  overlap by two thirds of their width and there is a gap  114  between adjacent pairs of channels of about 3.25″. 
         [0053]    Where the channels  113  overlap, one will be reversed so that the appropriate spacing in the aluminum mounting tubes  111  and  112  can be provided. It will be apparent to one skilled in the art that numerous spacing patterns may be provided, in part depending upon the visual effect desired and the required spacing for ventilation purposes. 
         [0054]    Schematically illustrated in  FIGS. 10-14  are exemplary mounting structures. These illustrations are taken from the Pilkington web site and are simply demonstrative as to how the glass channels or planks  113  may be held in place. Upper and lower tubular channels similar to  111  and  112  are provided to essentially anchor the upper and lower ends of each channel  113 . To keep the channels mounted to the building and from moving laterally, and thereby preserve the necessary patterns, angled blocks, such as  115  and  116  in  FIG. 11  are fixed at appropriate positions in the upper and lower tubes  111  and  112 .  FIGS. 12 and 13  demonstratively illustrate overlapping channels with no gaps between adjacent pairs but depict the general concept. Where partial overlapping and gaps between adjacent pairs of channels is desired the angled blocks such as  115  and  116  in the upper and lower tubes  111  and  112  will be fixedly positioned. A screw/nut arrangement (not shown) will permit easy lateral adjustment of the blocks  115  and  116  in each tube  111  and  112 . 
         [0055]    As an additional advantage of the energy efficient garage  20 , the present invention includes six vertically stacked low-speed and schematically illustrated Aerotecture wind turbines  100  positioned in the “dead” corner  99  of the garage. As illustrated, they extend from the base line  21 A above the first floor to slightly above the roof line  32  but may be positioned at different vertical spacing in this area. 
         [0056]    These turbines are ideal for use with an annual on-site average wind speed in excess of 10 mph. These highly efficient turbines will work at low wind speeds from about 1-2 mph and higher and are expected to generate 10-15,000 Kilowatt-hours of power per year of electricity. This is enough power to light the exterior garage glass channel facades. All energy generated is fed directly into a 2-way meter so that it contributes directly to the grid and will result in direct energy savings and reduced grid demand. Moreover, in addition to efficiently utilizing what would be dead space in the building, it adds a unique and distinctive architectural feature to the structure. In this instance, the wind turbines are those produced by Aerotecture International as their model 610V. A schematic version, from that company&#39;s web site is attached and depicted in  FIGS. 15-17 . Essentially each turbine  120  includes an outer support cage  121 , capable of being vertically stacked; the vanes  122  positioned for rotation within the cage, and appropriate electrical connection facility  123  at the lower end of the vanes. In the illustrated embodiment, six turbines  120  are stacked vertically in the “dead” corner  99  of the garage structure (see  FIG. 18 ). 
         [0057]    As seen in  FIGS. 18 and 19 , there are numerous horizontal concrete beams  125  disposed angularly across the corner  99  of the garage. These beams provide several functions; they allow for anchoring of the cages along a vertical spine  126  running the full height of the corner and they also preclude vehicles from inadvertently running out of the garage! 
         [0058]    To complete the esthetics and to facilitate air flow out of the garage, there are provided a series of vertically extending colored translucent glass panels  130  disposed behind the turbines  100  and extending vertically the height of the garage. The areas designate  8   128  are open areas permitting air flow and exhaustion of fumes from the garage. One form of glass panel may be that known as Vanceva which is also tempered so that if there is some impact of stones or the like they will not shatter. The glass panels  130  will provide a finished appearance consistent with the façade 
         [0059]    The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, the invention is not limited to the preferred embodiment and all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention.