Earth and Industry » Building & Architecture

One Plug to Rule Them All: Unifying Electric Car Fast Charge Systems

LiveOAK Staff — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 10:48:08 +0000

by Olan Dantes

The dream of gasoline freedom is becoming a reality as electric cars are slowly filling showrooms and attracting a lot of customers. The Nissan Leaf, for example, has its sales reaching 10,000 as of August this year. Other manufactures like Mitsubishi, Porsche and Audi are poised to join in. Greener cars are indeed hitting the mainstream with one thing dragging their progress: a standard charger plug.

The problem with the older charging systems of electric cars was the amount of time needed to charge one. The Level 1 Charging, as it is called, plugs the car into a 120 volt power. Hybrid cars can use it for overnight charging but for a pure electric car like the Nissan Leaf, it would take 20 hours to fully charge its battery. A second level has been made using a 240 volt power supply which can fill up a Leaf within eight hours.

Users though are still are not satisfied with an eight-hour wait on charging. This was addressed with the direct current fast charging system developed by Japanese car manufacturers and Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO). The system which is named CHAdeMO can deliver 62.5 kilowatts of high-voltage direct current and can refill a Nissan Leaf to 80 percent of its capacity in only half an hour. Interestingly, CHAdeMO is a pun for a Japanese term that means “How about some tea while charging?”

Level 1 and Level 2 charging systems has the connectors standard SAE J1772 but none has been named for the CHAdeMO. Instead it uses a separate connector and is not compatible with older levels. It is incorrectly called a Level 3 charging system as Magne Charge claimed that title years ago but was discontinued because of its inefficiency being an inductive charger.

The CHAdeMO is poised to become a global standard for DC Fast Charging Systems. 532 charging systems have been installed in Japan and 17 are available in the U.S. Something is coming though that may alter its fate.

Daimler made a statement last October 11 of this year that they will be showcasing a prototype combination plug and port that will be used by hybrid cars and pure electric vehicles. The system is a joint effort by other car manufacturing giants such as Audi, BMW, Porsche, and Volkswagen. This has been the clearest indication that European automakers are not favoring the CHAdeMO. Instead they are considering the standard proposed by SAE International.

Facebook to Share Data Center and Server Designs

Timothy Hurst — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 03:51:37 +0000

Citing open source software as its inspiration, Facebook today launched the Open Compute Project, an initiative to share the technology in its new data center in Prineville, Oregon, a data center that Facebook says uses 38 percent less energy, while costing 24 percent less to build out than its other data centers. If a quarter of the data center capacity in the U.S. were built on Open Compute Project specs, Facebook says it would save enough energy to power more than 160,000 homes.

"These advancements are good for Facebook, but we think they could benefit all companies," said Jonathan Heiliger, vice president of technical operations at Facebook, the Palo Alto, California-based social networking giant.

Facebook will be publishing specifications and mechanical designs for hardware components like motherboards, power supply, server chassis and cabinets, as well as the mechanical and construction designs for the data center including battery back-up systems and passive cooling designs.

The slimmed-down server design saves more than 6 pounds of materials per server. In a typical data center, this would save more than 120 tons of material from being manufactured, transported, and, ultimately, discarded or recycled.

The lighter servers also have "vanity-free design with no paint, logos, stickers." What exactly does a "vanity-free" server mean? According to Facebook's Heileger, "It's not beautiful but it gets the job done." (Photos: Alan Brandt)

In early 2010, when Facebook announced their intentions to build the Prineville data center, the company faced pushback because the location necessitated they purchase electricity from a utility that uses more coal-fired power than any other source.

Greenpeace singled out Facebook in a campaign encouraging them "Unfriend Coal," arguing that they should put more emphasis on renewable energy. Specifically, Greenpeace says it wants Facebook to develop a plan to be coal free by 2021, educate users about how Facebook powers its services and its carbon footprint, and advocate for clean energy at a local, national and international level. Faceboook answered with a campaign of their own, of sorts, by launching Green on Facebook, a green portal share sustainability developments at the company and participate in the green social media community.

Greenpeace says it is giving Facebook until Earth Day (April 22) to unfriend coal, but has not specified what happens if the $50 billion company fails to comply.

Solar Companies Turn to Energy Efficiency to Boost Value Proposition

CleanTechies — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 12:10:19 +0000

When solar energy companies think about how to reduce the cost of their product, typically a lot of time and money goes toward increasing the efficiency of solar panels and their manufacturing process. Reducing the production cost decreases the final cost the consumer will have to pay.

However, few solar companies start by making the building more energy-efficient, even though this effort can significantly drop consumer costs. Energy efficiency lowers the demand for energy in a building. If a building needs less energy, it requires fewer solar panels, which drives down the cost of the installation for the building owner.

But you may be wondering, how significant are the energy savings in a building after energy efficiency upgrades?

Buildings are large energy consumers, accounting for 40 percent of US energy consumption, according to the US Department of Energy. Homes make up 22 percent.

Not only are buildings big energy users, but they are also big energy wasters. In fact, 40% of the energy we use in buildings is wasted due to poor insulation and air leaks.

So the first thing to do is improve the building envelope. After that, it’s important to consider how solar energy will be used in the building and what kind of installation is most efficient. People tend toward solar photovoltaic panels because PV has become the image of solar energy, said Rick Reed, president of Solaray Corporation, at the Solar Power International conference in Los Angeles earlier this fall.

But solar PV is typically only about 20 percent efficient, whereas solar thermal is about 90 percent efficient. “Many people are heating their water from solar PV instead of using solar hot water systems,” he said. “This doesn’t make any sense.”

Solar thermal systems use much simpler, reliable technology and are much cheaper to install than PV systems. Still, they are largely an after-thought in the US.

For consumers, the cost of solar thermal and energy efficiency upgrades are typically much less than solar PV installations. However, most consumers interested in upgrading their homes to solar do not realize how much energy their houses could save before installing solar PV. And historically their solar installers have not told them either. Why would a solar PV installer want to promote energy efficiency if it would translate to selling fewer panels?

Thankfully, that’s changing, partly because new financing options focus on reducing the overall cost of solar for the consumer, rather than on simply selling them solar panels. As a result, more solar companies are beginning to move into the energy efficiency business. SolarCity is one example of a company that now combines energy efficiency services with solar installation.

This has huge implications. Retrofitting 40 percent of the residential and commercial building stock in the US would create over 625,000 full-time jobs over a decade, spark $500 billion in new investments, and generate as much as $64 billion a year in cost savings for ratepayers, according to a September report by The Center for American Progress, "Efficiency Works:Creating Good Jobs and New Markets Through Energy Efficiency" (pdf).

So if you have been scared away by daunting up-front costs of solar, now may be the perfect time to get a home energy audit and begin discussing solar financing options available in your area. You may be surprised what you find.

Article by Christopher Wold, Editor of the Energy Efficiency Markets newsletter. Republished with permission of Cleantechies.
Photo: mjmonty at flickr

Waste Solutions for a Growing Green Building Market

Wes Muir — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 12:00:14 +0000

Earlier this month, construction and building professionals from around the world gathered in Chicago for the annual Greenbuild International Conference and Expo. Nearly 12,000 conference attendees heard General Colin Powell kick off the two-day event, which has grown in registration by more than 450% since its launch in 2002. The conference’s growth over the last eight years reflects a significant increase in the growth of the green building industry worldwide. From 2008 to 2010, the value of green building increased by 50% and, according to McGraw-Hill Construction’s “Green Outlook 2011: Green Trends Driving Growth” report, the green building market will reach $135 billion by 2015.

Behind energy efficiency, waste management rates as one of the most important aspects of green building. Accounting for the steady increase in sustainable waste management practices are waste management regulations from state and local governments, customer demand and green building certification through the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) program. In fact, as of September 2010, green building legislation and initiatives were present in 12 federal agencies and 33 states. Local government initiatives have increased just as rapidly— from 156 localities in 2008 to 384 localities in 2010.

By EPA estimates, 136 million tons of building-related construction and demolition debris are generated each year in the U.S. By comparison, that’s equal to nearly 70% of all solid municipal waste produced annually in the U.S. Recognizing that landfill space is a limited commodity and realizing the business impact of improving waste generation, contractors have begun to adopt more environmentally friendly waste removal practices. In addition to improving C&D waste diversion and recycling processes, contractors are also building more and more LEED-certified residential and nonresidential projects.

LEED is a voluntary certification program that can be applied to any type of building in any phase of the building process. Its criteria provide a specific framework for the development a building or community based on energy savings, water efficiency, emissions reduction, indoor environment quality, and stewardship of resources. Since its launch in 1998, LEED certification has influenced the design and implementation of more than 1.062 billion square feet worldwide, and has improved C&D waste diversion at the same time.

With the increase in LEED-certified construction comes change in the way construction projects manage and divert waste. Waste Management's Construction Solutions offers several services which help contractors meet their green building goals through increased materials diversion and recycling and also help them earn points toward LEED certification. Some of these services include waste audits for businesses through programs like Green Squad and Upstream, materials management and recycling through WM Recycle America, WM LampTracker® and Bagster, as well as self-powered trash receptacles, WM Solar Compactor. These services can help reduce landfill waste and streamline the green building process, allowing builders to increase efficiency and work toward LEED certification.

The result of all of this green building can be seen not only in increased profitability, but in improved quality of life for building occupants and the communities they comprise. As green building continues to evolve and grow, we expect to see concurrent improvements in the productivity and health of the occupants of green buildings. With the continued growth of green building and LEED-certified waste removal, diversion and recycling, Waste Management will seek to continue to provide environmentally sustainable waste removal services for the green builder.

Photo: Pat Corkery/Dept. of Energy

Despite Recession, Green Building Soars in U.S.

Timothy Hurst — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 06:01:18 +0000

One-third of all new nonresidential construction is "green"

Not only are new homes in the U.S. getting smaller, they are getting greener. Despite overall sluggishness in the U.S. construction sector, the U.S. green building market is accelerating at a substantial rate, according to a new report from McGraw-Hill Construction.

The report, "Green Outlook 2011: Green Trends Driving Growth," found that green building represented 25 percent of all new construction activity in 2010 and that the value of green building construction starts was up 50 percent from 2008 to 2010 — from $42 billion to $55 billion-$71 billion.

And the growth spurt isn't over. According to projections, by 2015, the size of the green building market is expected to grow to $135 billion.

"It's an amazing area of opportunity at time when the construction market is extremely challenged," said Harvey M. Bernstein, vice president, Global Thought Leadership and Business Development, McGraw-Hill Construction.

"In today's economy, firms that specialize in green or serve this market are seeing a tremendous advantage — and they're doing good at the same time. Green building leads to healthier places for us to live and work in, lower energy and water use, and better profitability," Bernstein said.

The rate of growth in green building has been particularly impressive in the nonresidential sector. One-third of all new nonresidential construction is green. And in five years, nonresidential green building activity is expected to triple, representing $120 billion to $145 billion in new construction, or, 40 to 48 percent of the entire nonresidential market.

According to building owners, factors driving the decision to develop green properties include lower operating costs (eg. heating, cooling, lighting, water), higher building values, and an increase in return on investment.

But building owners are not only building greener because it makes good business sense, an increase in local and federal government regulations and incentives has had a considerable impact on recent trends.

As of September 2010, green building legislation and initiatives were present in 12 federal agencies and 33 states, and at the local level, government initiatives have increased at an aggressive pace — from 156 localities nationwide in 2008 to 384 localities in 2010.

Photo: Arlington County

Green Solutions for Construction, Renovation and Demolitions Waste

Wes Muir — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 13:47:30 +0000

Earlier this month, the C&D Recycling Forum brought together key experts from a variety of backgrounds, including general and demolition contractors, government officials and waste and recycling representatives. During this event, much of the discussion focused on ways to divert the waste that is generated during construction, renovation and demolition projects, through recycling and other diversion methods.

During this event, my colleague, Jim Halter, Vice President for Construction Solutions for Waste Management, shed light on some of the issues and challenges the construction and demolition sector faces, particularly in terms of diverting this waste away from landfills. Of note, during 2008 alone, the U.S. generated 143.5 million tons of building-related construction and demolition debris. And according to the Waste Business Journal, only 28 percent of this waste was reused, recycled or sent to waste-to-energy facilities. Today, at more than 40 percent of the national waste stream, C&D waste represents the largest single source of our waste. This clearly presents a need for effective and environmentally conscious management of this large volume of waste.

Although the composition of most construction waste varies by location, project type and season, building debris generally consists of asphalt, brick, glass, plaster, insulation and roofing materials, cardboard, concrete, wood, drywall and metal. Each of these types of debris is vastly different, affecting the ease of the materials’ recovery, separation and recyclability. The differences in recycling methods for these various materials have posed a significant challenge to contractors as they seek to implement sustainable waste strategies. Not only is it difficult for contractors to locate suppliers and vendors to help them achieve their green building goals, but also the availability of recycling markets differs by region and the type of materials that need to be processed.

For instance, Jim looked at the ability to recycle shingles and insulation. When recycling shingles, the biggest concern is the potential presence of asbestos. Additional costs arise to test for asbestos and have it removed. With insulation, he suspects the presence of fiberglass may contribute to its low recycling rate since the formaldehyde content may lead to health concerns resulting from the recycling process.

From a regional perspective, some restrictions apply to the types of materials that can be recycled. In the West, asphalt is readily more recyclable than in the South or Midwest and ceramic tile are easier to recycle than in other regions of the country. In the Midwest, carpet is easier to recycle than compared to the South; however, plaster is harder to recycle than in other regions of the country. In the East, cardboard is easier to recycle versus in the South and Midwest. And in the South, this region has the lowest recycling frequency compared to other regions, particularly when it comes to wood.

As contractors become more conscious of the potential environmental impact of construction and demolition projects, they have also become more attuned to the need for responsible management of the subsequent waste from these projects. Contractors recognize the substantial impact that sustainable construction waste management can have on their businesses, and a growing number are adopting environmental conscious practices to divert and recycle more materials and reduce disposal to landfills for their own companies, regardless of their customer’s goals. Of note, construction firms are seeking environmental solutions companies that are committed to sustainability with their own complementary goals. However, a lack of readily available suppliers and vendors that have sustainability expertise impedes contractors’ ability to practice sustainable waste management.

In fact, just last year The McGraw-Hill Companies’ SmartMarket Report found that a growing number of contractors see construction waste management and the reuse of existing structures among the most important factors when implementing sustainable building methods. The study, which was produced with support from Waste Management, also revealed that 61 percent of contractors rate waste management plans as the second-most important aspect of green building, behind energy efficiency. Interestingly, despite the recession, waste diversion activity among construction firms is increasing, with 20 percent diverting half of their construction waste on 60 percent or more of their projects throughout the year.

As the green building trend continues to grow, it is important to realize the needs of contractors working to create sustainable solutions, including their desire for construction waste management and reuse processes. Events like the C&D Recycling Forum help bring expertise to the table in terms of finding solutions to these latent issues. As Jim demonstrated in his remarks, the waste industry remains aware of the constraints placed on contractors to use sustainable practices to meet recent trends, government regulations and so forth. With new technologies and environmental regulations taking shape each day, contractors, waste industry experts and government officials will continue to work together to ensure construction, renovation and demolition waste is responsibly disposed. Not only does proper construction waste management have a substantial business impact, but also it is an environmentally conscious practice that can benefit our entire nation.

Photo: USACE Europe District

Richard Cook on Sustainable Architecture (video)

LiveOAK Staff — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 23:12:28 +0000

The New Yorker's Paul Goldberger talks with Richard Cook of Cook + Fox Architects, the designer behind the new Bank of America Tower, the largest LEED Platinum certified building in the world. Cook and Goldberger discuss sustainable architecture, the use of nature in design, and the debates over the LEED standard.

Video via The New Yorker
Image via Cook+Fox