If you’ve talked to me in person for more than a couple hours, you’ve probably heard me say something like, “if every building had a windmill and some solar panels, think how much clean energy we’d have.” Seriously, it seems like a no-brainer. If we expect every building to have it’s own systems to use energy (water heaters, furnaces, air conditioners), why don’t we expect every building to have systems to obtain energy?

That’s not to say every building would be getting all the power it needs all the time, but if every building could harness wind and sun when it’s available at its location the aggregate amount of incoming clean and free energy could be substantial.

Miyoko Ohtake has posted an article on Dwell Blog outlining the basics of getting a residential wind turbine up and running in San Francisco, including testing your location’s wind strength, obtaining a permit, choosing and installing the turbine and connecting it to the grid in order to receive energy credit when your turbine is producing more power than you’re using.