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February LEED Project Update

Posted on February 20, 2017February 20, 2017 by abrahamwien18

By Julie Lundin, Founder, LEED AP ID+C, NCIDQ, ASID
Director of Sustainable Interior Design for Emerald Skyline Corporation

Emerald Skyline Corporation in conjunction with Golden Spiral Design, is designing, renovating and repurposing an unoccupied industrial building located in Boca Raton, FL. This building was formerly an auto garage that stood vacant for several years and was environmentally contaminated. Our renovation includes many sustainable features with the intent to obtain LEED certification from the USGBC.

We are getting close… to completing the build out of the interior of our project. I would like to share some of the design details and finishes that we have chosen. This building is an old auto garage so we are keeping the existing open floor plan of the main garage space with minimum interior walls being constructed. The perimeter concrete walls will remain intact without the addition of a drywall finish. The walls have so much character; the imperfections on the concrete block that have accumulated over the years are too interesting to cover up. The walls will be painted and some of the imperfections enhanced with paint layering. The 3 overhead garage door openings have been replaced with impact windows and doors with the center opening now serving as the main entrance. Since it is important to our design concept to retain as many of the auto garage components as possible we designed this elevation to keep the overhead doors in place behind the new glazing. Manual lift mechanisms have been installed to enable us to raise and lower the garage doors. We are using the roll down doors as large metal shades for both privacy and sun control since the openings are located on the south façade. Broad horizontal stripes will be painted on the interior of the overhead doors to add a bold touch to the space when lowered.

Due to the absence of interior walls we will have an open workspace. Open work spaces can offer important benefits. Our windows and doors are south facing which will allow natural light to filter through the entire office and provide views of the outside. Studies have shown that natural light and views of the outdoors provide occupants attributes of increased patience, productivity and physical health. Open work spaces can be beautiful but do lend themselves to noise issues that need to be addressed in order to function well. Since we are not constructing interior walls, the spaces and their usage will be delineated by furniture and lighting placement. “Floating” furniture and fixtures will create visual separation as well as help control sound transference. The existing concrete floor will remain but be polished and stained. Hard surfaces do a poor job of absorbing sound, so we will be using large area rugs to help minimize noise. The ceiling height is 12 ft. in this portion of the building and is a great architectural element, yet can also contribute to unwanted noise. Once we are in the building and experience the day to day noise levels, additional soft acoustical materials may need to be added. In addition, plants provide sound absorbing capabilities that can work just as effectively in an indoor environment as an outdoor setting as well as provide health benefits, including improving oxygen levels. We may even include a living wall!

Since this is a LEED registered project the specifications for the interior build out as well as exterior choices will contribute to the certification of the building. There are many products available that are not only attractive but have the attributes needed to create a beautiful and sustainable space. Some of our selections include:

Low flow toilets and faucets
Energy Star Appliances
Low VOC paints and finishes
Bamboo wood flooring
LED Lighting
Reuse of demolition materials
ChargePoint Electric Vehicle Charging Station
Water Collection Cistern
HVAC Condensation Drip Lines for exterior vegetation

Two of my favorite sustainable design choices are on the exterior of the building. A recycled glass mosaic of an abstract nautilus shell was created to adorn the south elevation. Metal “green screens” will be attached to the front apex of the building to create a green wall that will add beauty and provide shading to the stucco exterior.

There is still much to be accomplished but we look forward to being in our new space and sharing the completed details and photos with you.

The electric car market is growing 10 times faster than its dirty gasoline equivalent

Posted on October 26, 2016 by abrahamwien18

There will be two million electric cars on the road by the end of 2016.

Written by: Alejandro Dávila Fragoso
View the original article on ThinkProgress

Despite low oil prices, plug-in electric vehicles (EV) are charging forward worldwide, with more than 2 million expected to be on the roads by the end of 2016, according to recent market figures.

Around 312,000 plug-in electric cars were sold during the first half of 2016, according to analysts at EV Volumes — a nearly 50 percent increase over the first half of 2015.

The rise in sales is attributed to a growing Chinese market, followed by sales in Europe and the United States, where Tesla Motors Co. is now dominating the luxury sedan market, according to recent reports.

And though EVs are a fraction of the global vehicle stock — less than 1 percent— the industry is growing about 10 times faster than the traditional vehicle market.

“What we have seen over the past few months is a complete culture change.”

This increase could be significant for public health and the environment in the United States and elsewhere. In the United States, transportation is now topping the electricity sector as the largest source of carbon dioxide emissions, a key factor in human-caused climate change.

Moreover, fossil-fuel vehicles are known to be major contributors of air pollution associated with asthma, allergies, cancer, heart conditions, and premature death, according to the United Nations. And while EVs can reduce air pollution in cities, they also mean less oil extraction, which comes with air pollution and environmental issues of its own.

Right now, EVs’ presence is too small to affect fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector, according to a 2016 International Energy Agency (IEA) report. However, the IEA noted this could soon change, with countries like Norway, the Netherlands, and China boldly turning to EVs as they aim to slash emissions in the next few years.

Norway, a small but rich nation, is now leading the world in EVs. One in three new cars sold there is electric, and that proportion is increasing due to tax breaks and investment in charging infrastructure, The Guardian reported. The Netherlands is following closely, since, like Norway, it wants to phase-out fossil-fuel cars within the next decade. According to a Transport & Environment report released Thursday, EV sales in Europe doubled last year to 145,000.

In China, the rise of EVs is noteworthy, too. One in four electric cars sold worldwide is sold in China. “What we have seen over the past few months is a complete culture change,” said Greg Archer, clean vehicles director at Transport & Environment.

This growth is expected to continue around the world. Some studies suggest that by 2030, EVs could account for two-thirds of all cars in wealthy cities like London and Singapore. That is likely to happen thanks to stricter emissions rules, consumer demand, and falling technology costs.

Batteries, a major factor behind high EV costs, are getting 20 percent cheaper every year, according to EV Volumes.

The State of the Electric Car Market in 4 Charts and Graphs

JOSH GOLDMAN, LEAD POLICY ANALYST, CLEAN VEHICLES
View the original article here.
I’m guessing that over the past 3 months (or more), your news feed has been dominated by election-related stories. So you may have missed the recent good news about the electric vehicle (EV) market in the United States. To bring you up to speed (and provide a brief break from election hullaballoo) here are 4 graphs that explain what’s been happening in the world of EVs.

Graph 1 : EV sales are charging ahead (see what I did there?)

EV sales in the US just hit a new record. Over 45,000 EVs were sold in the third quarter of 2016, up more than 60 percent from the same time a year ago.

The sales increase can be partly attributed to the second generation Chevy Volt, which became widely available in March 2016 and includes 50 miles of electric range along with a backup gasoline engine. Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) like the Volt allow many drivers to do all of their normal daily driving purely on electricity, without any fear of running out of juice because they can just fill up with gas if the batteries are drained.

Confused about the difference between PHEVs like the Volt and battery electric vehicles (BEVs) like the Nissan LEAF? Check out this explainer post.

Graph 2 : EVs are selling despite lower oil prices

EV sales reached this new high-water mark despite spotty availability of EV models across most of the country and continued lower-than-average oil prices, a factor often cited as hampering EV sales.

Low gas prices do take some of the spotlight off of EVs, despite their lower operating costs compared to gas-powered vehicles. But even with gas hovering around $2.30 a gallon, driving on electricity remains cheaper.

The US Department of Energy estimates that driving on electricity is like paying $1.15 per gallon of gas, and electricity prices have historically been much more stable and predictable than gasoline.

Graph 3: Sales would be even higher if they were more widely available

Generally speaking, EVs are not readily available outside of California. The current lack of availability is due, in part, to the fact that a major policy pushing automakers to offer EVs—theCalifornia Zero Emission Vehicle Program—does not require automakers to sell EVs outside of California (yet).

The requirements of the California program are set to expand to 9 additional states (ME, CT, VT, NY, MA, RI, MD, NJ, OR) in 2018, which together made up 28 percent of combined vehicle sales in 2015. So, the expanded role of policy pushing automakers to sell EVs in major vehicle markets outside of California will likely accelerate aggregate EV sales over the next couple years.

Graph 4 : More automakers are getting in the EV game

2017 should be an exciting year for EVs. Chevy is about to drop the Bolt, an all-electric car with over 200 miles of range and a price tag of around $30,000 after the federal tax credit. Toyota is releasing a new Plug-in Prius, now called Prius Prime, and recent pricing announcements put the cost similar to the price of existing Prius models.

Also in 2017, Tesla is aiming to ship their much-anticipated Model 3, and Hyundai will launch their Ioniq series that will include several electric drive train options. In 2018, Audi is slated to launch an all-electric 300-mile range SUV. Check this post for more detail on other EVs coming to showrooms soon.

Overall, more EV options mean more choices for drivers to choose a vehicle that is cheaper and cleaner than a comparable gasoline model (and fun to drive). Though the EV market still has to overcome some hurdles , the state of play right now provides real reason to be optimistic about where EVs are headed.

The rapid growth of electric cars worldwide, in 4 charts

Posted on June 10, 2016June 10, 2016 by abrahamwien18

The article below puts a spotlight on the swift growth of electric vehicle use worldwide. So speedy in fact, EV use has tripled since 2013. This is one of the few areas that the world’s nations are on track to keep climate change below 2 degrees celsius. Let this be a reason to keep up the good work with EV deployment, and highlight the other energy initiatives that could use improvement. With every electric vehicle that hits the road, the demand for places to charge up increases. What if I told you there was a way to not only install a charging station, but an independently owned business that can set its own pricing, access settings, and much more? Keep reading to find out…

The rapid growth of electric cars worldwide, in 4 charts

An increasingly common sight

Written by Brad Plumer on June 6, 2016

One million down, another billion or so to go.

In a new report, the International Energy Agency estimates that 1.26 million electric cars hit the world’s roads in 2015, passing a nifty (if symbolic) milestone. Here’s a chart showing the very rapid growth of both battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and plug-in hybrids (PHEV):

(IEA, Global EV Outlook 2016)BEV = battery electric vehicles; PHEV = plug-in hybrid vehicles, which typically have both an electric motor and a conventional engine.

The United States now has 400,000 electric vehicles on the road — a massive increase since 2010, though well short of Obama’s goal of 1 million by 2015. Meanwhile, China has become the world’s largest market, overtaking the US in annual sales last year.

Is 1 million a lot? It depends how you look at it. It’s jaw-dropping growth given that there were only a few hundred electric vehicles on the entire planet back in 2005. And the total number of electric vehicles worldwide has tripled just since 2013.

But to put this in perspective, there are more than 1 billion gasoline- and diesel-powered cars on the world’s roads — and demand will keep soaring in the decades ahead as China and India’s middle classes expand. So we have a long, long way to go before electric cars take over the world.

In order to avoid more than 2°C of global warming, the IEA calculates, we’d likely need to see about 150 million electric cars on the road by 2030 and 1 billion by 2050 as part of a broader climate strategy. The good news, the agency says, is that this ambitious electric vehicle target seems much more feasible than it did just a few years ago.

Two big reasons for the rapid growth of EVs: public subsidies and falling battery prices

For starters, more and more countries are enacting policies to build up charging infrastructure and incentivize vehicle purchases. The table below details some of those policies, which include everything from tax breaks to tailpipe emission standards (which favor cleaner electric cars) to HOV lane access:

IEA, Global EV Outlook 2016

“Ambitious targets and policy support have lowered vehicle costs, extended vehicle range and reduced consumer barriers in a number of countries,” the report says.

As a result, electric vehicles now make up more than 1 percent of sales in China, France, Denmark, and Sweden. They make up 9.7 percent of sales in the Netherlands, and 23 percent of sales in Norway, which offers some of the most generous tax incentives around, worth about $13,500 per car.

The other huge driver here is falling battery costs, which have fallen by a factor of four since 2008. Since batteries make up around one-third of the price of electric vehicles, getting this number down even further is crucial for widespread adoption.

IEA, Global EV Outlook 2016

The Department of Energy estimates that battery costs need to fall to $125 per kilowatt-hour by 2022 to achieve cost-competitiveness with conventional vehicles. The IEA says this “seems realistic” given current rates of technological improvement, and points out that manufacturers like Tesla and GM have set even more ambitious cost targets.

The amount of energy that batteries can hold (known as energy density) has also improved significantly. The IEA cites various reports that electric cars will soon be able to travel more than 180 miles on a single charge — also critical for boosting consumer adoption and alleviating “range anxiety.”

Meanwhile, electric cars get all the attention, but the IEA points out that the electrification of other modes of transport, including motorcycles and buses, is just as important. Particularly in countries where these vehicles are widespread:

The electrification of road transport modes other than cars, namely 2-wheelers, buses and freight delivery vehicles, is currently ongoing in a few localised areas. With an estimated stock exceeding 200 million units, China is the global leader in the electric 2-wheelers market and almost the only relevant player globally, primarily because of the restriction on the use of conventional 2- wheelers in several cities to reduce local pollution. China is also leading the global deployment of electric bus fleets, with more than 170 000 buses already circulating today.

To help solve climate change, electric cars need to do much, much more

Here’s one last chart from the IEA, showing what electric car deployment would have to look like to help meet the emissions-reduction promises put forth at the Paris climate talks last year (around 100 million electric cars by 2030). It also shows the even faster deployment that would be needed to keep global warming below 2 degrees Celsius (about 150 million):

IEA, Global EV Outlook 2016

We’re on track now, but it’s early. In fact, as the IEA points out elsewhere, electric vehicle deployment is basically the only area where the world’s nations are on track to hit the targets needed to stay below 2 degrees Celsius.

One final caveat: As David Biello recently explained at Scientific American, electric cars aren’t inherently greener than their gasoline-powered counterparts. If you use coal-fired power plants to charge all those electric cars, the climate benefits are minimal (or, worse, negative). The IEA is well aware of this, although it also notes that electric car deployment can help support the rollout of cleaner renewable energy, too:

The climate change-related benefits of EVs can be fully harvested under the condition that their use is coupled with a decarbonised grid, an additional challenge for countries that are largely dependent on fossil fuels for power generation. Investment in EV roll-out can support this transition, e.g. increasing the opportunities available to integrate variable renewable energy.

Cleaning up the grid is a sine qua non for electric cars to help ameliorate climate change, although this hardly seems like a deal breaker for the technology. Think of it this way: If we don’t clean up the world’s electric grid, we have little chance of stopping global warming either way. The two have to go hand in hand.

End article.

Following Emerald Skyline’s recently announced partnership with ChargePoint, we have realized more and more the importance of the growth of electric vehicle use worldwide. Equally important as these EVs are the charging stations and infrastructure needed to support them. This rapid growth necessitates installation of charging stations. The industry standard for functionality and aesthetics are ChargePoint stations which are independently owned businesses that set their own pricing, access settings and much more.

To find out more information about the installation of a ChargePoint Electric Vehicle Charging Station at your home, office building, shopping center, hotel or transportation hub and join the EV revolution for a greener tomorrow, please contact us at 305.424.8704 or [email protected]

The future in automotive transportation is available now: The Growing Market for Electric Vehicles and ChargePoint Charging Stations

Posted on May 11, 2016 by abrahamwien18

By Paul Jones, Director, Emerald Skyline Corporation

plugged in electric vehicles Five years after the first mass-market electric car hit the market, plug-in electric vehicles (EVs) have not met with the success expected, but they are pacing the rate of hybrid cars. Numerous challenges are being overcome in the evolution of the electric vehicle – not least of which is the automakers approach to the production and marketing of the cars, the range EVs travel on one charge and the availability of charging stations.

The new generation of electric vehicles began with the introduction of the first Tesla car in 2008 and began its embryonic growth in 2010 when mainstream electric cars like the Nissan LEAF and Chevy Volt went on sale. Throughout this time, plug-in car (PEV) buyers have repeatedly complained about poor consumer experiences. Last year, Consumer Reports published the results of a secret shopper study of 85 dealerships in four states, finding that staff at 35 of those dealerships (over 40%) attempted to steer buyers toward internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles instead of the PEV in which they had expressed interest. Thirteen of those dealers tried to entirely discourage shoppers from buying an EV. Legacy profits from on-going maintenance of ICE vehicles, most of which are not required for an EV, is considered a major incentive for dealers to steer customers away from EVs. Increased demand from consumers will be the key driver in forcing manufacturers and dealers to change their perception of EVs from a necessary regulatory evil to a new product category.

Range anxiety is the fear that a vehicle has insufficient range to reach its destination and would thus strand the vehicle’s occupants. The term, primary used in reference to battery electric vehicles (BEVs), is considered to be one of the major barriers to large-scale adoption of EVs. The main strategies to alleviate range anxiety are the development of higher battery capacity (Tesla S now sports a model with a 265-mile range and other manufacturers are working to follow suit with over 200-mile range EVs), battery swapping technology, and the deployment of charging station infrastructure.

Despite the obstacles in creating a new market, the fleet of plug-in electric vehicles in the United States is the largest in the world with over 400,000 highway legal plug-in electric vehicles (EVs) sold in the country since 2008 when Tesla introduced its first car through 2015.

As of March of this year, there are 26 highway legal plug-in cars available in the American market from over a dozen manufacturers plus several models of electric motorcycles, utility vans and neighborhood electric vehicles (NEVs). The number of EV drivers has increased ten times in the past four years and EVs are expected to comprise over 8% of all car sales by 2020. New EV cars with increased range are being developed by many auto manufacturers – and some new entrants like Apple which has its first car, code name “Project Titan” planned for release in 2019.

However, consumers have been cautious about putting the car before the charging station. “Infrastructure for EVs is crucial to the adoption of use of electric cars. You’re not going to buy a car if you don’t know where and how to charge it,” says Erin Mellon, Director of Communications with ChargePoint, which operates the world’s largest EV charging network. The first place drivers need to be able to charge is at home. Being able to charge at work is second most important.”

Equally innovative but decidedly less exciting is what is happening with the growing infrastructure of EV charging stations, a stimulant for expansion of the market for plug-in electric vehicles. As of January 2016, the US had 12,200 charging stations across the country, led by California with nearly 3,000 stations. In terms of public charging points, there were 30,669 public outlets available across the country by the end of January 2016, again led by California with 9,086 charging points (29.6%).

The following excerpt from an article published last September by Jones Lang LaSalle (“JLL”), a premier international commercial real estate brokerage, property and investment management firm headquartered in Chicago, entitled “Charging into the future: The rise of electric cars,” reflects cutting edge planning and action – much like being an innovator at the turn of the 20th Century who invested in gasoline stations rather than livery stables:

Sean McNamara, General Manager for JLL Property Management, began looking at electric charging stations for an office building in San Francisco several years ago. “In the beginning of the discovery process, there was just not enough demand or infrastructure,” he says.

U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu initiated the “Workplace Charging Challenge” in 2013 to increase the number of US employers offering EV charging stations – tenfold – by 2018.

“The proliferation of electric cars, has made these stations much more relevant over the past two years,” McNamara says.

Trophy and Class AA office buildings, such as the Georgia Pacific Center in Atlanta, were among the first to respond to Chu’s challenge. “Ownership and JLL are compelled largely because it’s the right thing to do for our environment. We are a LEED-certified building and our objective is to maintain the highest status possible,” explains Michael Strickland, a VP & Group Manager for JLL in Atlanta.

Strickland says that the Building’s 10 EV reserved parking spaces plus two public parking spaces equate to about one percent of the total parking spaces. “The Building has immediate access to public transport, which plays a role in how many building tenants drive and utilize the parking garage,” Strickland says. “It’s definitely a growing trend. But it’s not currently on par with having a sundry shop or a dry cleaner – yet….”

Today, McNamara is the General Manager of Southeast Financial Center, a Class A trophy office building in Miami. He oversees an 1,100-space parking structure with valet services and two EV charging stations. “In a Class A building, if the demand is there, the spaces will be added. Once the setup is done, sealing the delivery is even easier. Ultimately for landlords, it is not a matter of cost, it is a matter of appropriateness.”

Porsche Latin America, for example, a tenant in the Southeast Financial Center, installed two electric charging stations with special adapters, as a unique term of their lease. Then again, Porsche is not the average tenant. Earlier this month (September), the car manufacturer unveiled its first all-electric Mission E concept car at the Frankfurt Auto Show. It looks like a futuristic 911.

The Mission E, along with Audi’s e-Tron Quattro (scheduled to be launched in 2018), a hybrid SUV, would challenge Tesla’s Model S in the luxury category. Like Apple’s Project Titan, though, these models will take years to develop.

Until then, drivers can take their pick from available models such as the Nissan LEAF all-electric car, the Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid, the all-electric Tesla Model S and the Toyota Prius Plug-in hybrid, and a growing public infrastructure in which to park and charge them.

For buildings being designed and built, or undergoing a major renovation, to achieve LEED certification under the 2009 rating system, providing one of the following earns up to three points in the SS Credit 4.3, Alternative Transportation for Low-emitting & Fuel-efficient (LEFE) vehicles category:

Preferred parking (closed spot or price discount of ≥ 20%) for LEFE vehicles for 5% of site’s Parking Capacity (parking discount must be made available to all who drive LEFE vehicles and must be available for a minimum of two (2) years) OR
Alternative refueling stations for 3% of site’s parking capacity OR
LEFE vehicle and preferred parking for 3% of FTE OR
One (1) shared LEFE be provided for 3% of FTEs with a minimum of one per 267 FTE for at least two (2) years (minimum one LEFE required)

Further, projects may be awarded one point for EP for instituting a transportation management plan that demonstrates a quantifiable reduction in the auto use through implementation of multiple options.

Even at this stage in the development of the market for EVs, which represents the future of automobiles, an EV driver plugs into a ChargePoint station every five seconds, saving over 12.5 million gallons of gas and over 41 million kilograms of greenhouse gas emissions.

Today, Emerald Skyline is proud to announce that it has partnered with ChargePoint to provide for a greener tomorrow – for an emerald skyline!

“As a sustainability and resiliency consulting and LEED project management firm, this partnership allows us the latest technologies and largest and most open network available to provide our clients,” reports Abraham Wien, LEED AP O+M, Director of Architecture & Environmental Design for Emerald Skyline. “We are always looking for ways to provide superior products and services to meet our clients sustainability and resiliency needs.

With almost 28,000 charging stations, ChargePoint is the world’s largest network of electric vehicle (EV) charging stations in the US, Europe and Australia. ChargePoint stations set the industry standard for functionality and aesthetics and their innovative, cloud-based software gives station owners flexibility and control of charging operations. Stations on the ChargePoint network are independently owned businesses, which set their own pricing, access settings and much more.

Beyond the workplace, EV charging stations are a distinctive and value-add amenity for hotels, restaurants, shopping centers and entertainment facilities – and a growing necessity for communities serving an ever-increasing demographic demanding an alternative to fossil-fuel driven vehicles.

An electric car will have to be able to travel long distances for EVs to break into the mass market. Like few other parts of the plug-in ecosystem, this has been demonstrated by Tesla Motors, which has built out its network of sites not only in the US, but in all their major markets. An 80% recharge that provides 200 miles or more in less than an hour enables Tesla owners to travel coast-to-coast with recharging breaks every three hours. And, despite the reticence of many in the industry about the prospect of being stationary for a half hour to hour break every three hours, Tesla drivers seem entirely satisfied with the network, to the point that congestion is an occasional problem while range anxiety is not.

The availability of a charging station will attract that additional guest or customer who will pay extra for the charge (yes, EV-charging stations can be an additional source of revenue by monetizing an EV-enabled parking spot). It will attract new customers to your business and encourage loyalty from a growing customer base of EV drivers.

Emerald Skyline Corporation will be providing ChargePoint EV Charging Station services and installations for corporate, municipality, and private entities. Together, we’re transforming the energy industry by developing intelligent energy management solutions to help people and businesses shift away from fossil fuels.

ChargePoint stations set the industry standard for functionality and aesthetics and their innovative, cloud-based software gives station owners flexibility and control of charging operations. Stations on the ChargePoint network are independently owned-businesses which set their own pricing, access settings and much more.