I love these chips. Oregon-based Kettle Foods just received the LEED Gold certification for their new 73,000 sf chip facility in Beloit, Wisconsin. As you would expect with a LEED certified building, it has a lot of green aspects, including energy-efficient equipment, water filtration and conservation equipment, and low-VOC, healthy materials. They also installed 18 wind turbines on the roof, which, according to a press release, will generate enough electricity to produce 56,000 bags of chips every year.

More precisely, those 18 Aerovironment parapet wind turbines are projected to produce 28,000 kilowatt hours of power per year under normal wind conditions.

The turbine design is gaining in popularity and has received critical praise, receiving the Red Dot International Design award and a 2007 Annual Design Review award. It's meant for quick, easy installations on new or existing tilt-up or pre-cast buildings, and several companies are starting to experiment with the product.

[+] Read more about this AeroVironment installation.

Credits: Avinc.com.