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I N · T H I S · I S S U E
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FLANIGAN'S ECO-LOGIC
Conscious Driving
It may be an oxymoron but this piece is on “conscious driving,” both doing less of it and doing what you need to more efficiently.
Disappointed I was this past week when I read an LA Times article titled, “Drivers are burning a little less gasoline.” Gotta be good, I thought. Due to two years of record high prices, Americans are driving less for the first time in two decades. How much less? 0.4% nationally and 0.6% in California. A pittance.
Shocked I was: The first “good year,” but less than 1% less driving despite overwhelming national security and the climate change impacts facing our nation. Isn’t it necessary to get out of the single digits of change? Compelling cases are being made that we need bigger levels of savings: 5, 10, 25, and 50% and more. Auto makers understand big changes: Chrysler officially joins Ford and GM with record losses, while Toyota and Honda have enjoyed a marked up-tick in sales of hybrids.
But far from rational, long-term decision-making, Americans are responding to prices. Record-high gas prices had a near-immediate effect: Riders on LA Metrolink trains increased more than 6% in 2006. In Tulsa, Oklahoma, bus rider-ship increased 28% when gas topped $3.00 a gallon. There has already been an erosion of this “drive less” trend since prices have fallen. Is price the only thing “driving” our behavior? If so, hold the phone! Pump prices may drop below $2.00. Must we suffer a quick erosion of progress? The average American driver drove 13,700 miles in 2005. How many do you drive?
Next is what you drive and how you drive it. Many EcoMotion members drive hybrids. Our Prius gets 44 – 50 miles per gallon, depending on conditions and who’s driving, continually clarified by an on-board computer and real-time efficiency dashboard display. On a recent trip to Santa Barbara, I got an average 50.3 mpg. This EcoMotion-record mileage was likely due to my “light-foot” driving style -- easy on the accelerations with plenty of time to slow down. Purposeful: Not only gas saving – Chevron estimates 5-10% fuel savings by going 60 mph versus 70-80 – but I’m exercising my option for a less stressful voyage.
The Prius gets more than twice the gas mileage of average vehicles. That’s a 50% efficiency gain from technology. Now add on the behavioral savings of “conscious driving,” a 6 mpg differential adding another 20% savings, a combined progress report of about 60% less fuel than average use. That’s stark contrast to the nation’s paltry 0.4% reduction. Join the team that’s driving less, efficiently, and with a conscience.
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New Research Associate: Tiffany Tay
EcoMotion welcomes Tiffany
Tay to the team. Tiffany hails from Monterey Park and
in addition to acting and music performance, she’s passionate
about writing. A recent UCLA graduate in English, Tiffany
will be responsible for updating The Results Center case
studies of best practices.
She will head up a team that will be searching for results
for 126 cases studies, making hundreds of phone calls,
and bringing this body of knowledge – involving thousands
of the most successful efficiency and green power professionals
and programs -- up to date. Concurrently, Tiffany will
be digging in and identifying current best practices for
new case studies in development.
Feel free to give Tiffany a call at (949) 450-7106 or
to send an e-mail to TTay@ecomotion.us
with program nominations of best practices with solar
power programs, energy efficiency, and carbon mitigation.
Banning Incandescent Light Bulbs?
California Assemblyman Lloyd Levine (D-Van Nuys) has proposed
legislation that would make California the first state
to ban sales of incandescent light bulbs. Levine claims
that banning incandescent bulbs and replacing them with
compact fluorescent lamps, "saves consumers money, saves
the state money and saves energy." The measure is called
the “How Many Legislators Does it Take to Change a Light
Bulb Act."
He explains that, "When a consumer is standing in a store
and they're confronted with two different products, they
generally opt for the one that is cheaper. The problem
is: The other one is cheaper over the long run."
The California Energy Commission estimates that if Californians
switched completely to compact fluorescent bulbs, it would
avoid the release of 1.8 million metric tons per year,
equivalent to shutting down one or two gas-fired power
plants. California emits about 500 million metric tons
of greenhouse gases a year. Commissioner Art Rosenfeld
notes that’s banning the bulbs may not be the way to go,
but he’s “thrilled that Levine is starting the debate.”
Other policy approaches include community outreach, tax
credits, and rebates.
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“Hey Ted. Have to tell you that this issue of EcoMotion
is just terrific and that I will be having my students
read this for inspiration! Thank you.”
Jane Meigs, Environmental
Studies Millbrook School, New York
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Member Story: Heather Merenda, Santa Clarita’s New LEED
Gold TMF |
“Hey Ted, we got some pretty good coverage for the
TMF,” said Heather at the other end of the line. Heather
Merenda is the City of Santa Clarita’s Sustainability
Planner. Excerpts of the American Institute of Architect’s
feature coverage follow. Congratulations Santa Clarita!
The City of Santa Clarita, California, can well be proud
of its accomplishments: It now is the home of one of the
world’s only Gold LEED®-certified straw-bale buildings.
Completed in May 2006, the 12-acre Santa Clarita Transit
Maintenance Facility (TMF) includes a 22,000 ft2 administration
building, 25,000 ft2 maintenance building, bus wash facility,
compressed natural gas fueling island, and publicly accessible
CNG fueling station. The $20 million project accommodates
more than 150 buses and 160 personnel, exceeding California
efficiency standards by more than 40%.
TMF includes skylights and clerestory day-lighting and
a well-insulated “cool” roof with deep overhangs for shading
(shown during construction in the photo above). It features
on-site storm-water collection and treatment, water-efficient
plumbing fixtures, and a gray water reclamation system.
Other features include an under-floor air system, water-source
heat pumps, a courtyard and native plant garden, 25-percent
fly-ash paving, and efficient use of local, recycled materials.
It is powered by a sizeable photovoltaic array. The architect
created a dual-functioning desert shading and PV structure
that allows the 12-acre facility to run its meter backward
during times of excess solar production.
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Blue and Green Cities from Space
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Green roofs? What’s up with that? Are they painted green?
No, they are vegetated, in some cases with edible landscapes.
The area of U.S. roofs covered by vegetation has increased
more than 80% in the past year according to Green Roofs
for Healthy Cities. In 2005, green roofs covered at least
2.5 million square feet of roof space in North America,
up from 1.3 million square feet in 2004. Cities that incorporate
the largest area of green roofs in 2005 include Chicago;
Washington, D.C.; and Suitland, Maryland. Toronto’s city
council recently approved a policy that requires green
roofs and provides financial incentives.
Green roofs are rooftop gardens that provide buildings
and occupants with many benefits. They reduce storm water
runoff, and thus sewer costs. They insulate against heat
and sound. They increase energy savings and improve air
quality, trapping dust which aggravates lung problems.
They reduce the urban heat island effect, which is caused
by dark urban roofs and pavement absorbing the sun's heat.
They provide wildlife habitat, and sunlit green spaces
high above the noise and dirt of ground-level traffic;
all while providing a space for urban food production.
The Fairmount Waterfront Hotel in Vancouver has grown
herbs, flowers, and vegetables on its accessible roof,
saving its kitchen an estimated $30,000 a year in food
costs.
Imagine the city of the future from space, being green
and blue. From space, travelers will see green rooftops
interspersed with blue, solar cells. Some predict that
plant growth will become a dominant consideration in the
design of cities, and that profuse vegetation will become
the most visible difference between the urban forms of
the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.
(Thanks to EcoMotion Intern, Clare Chang, for research
on this article.)
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CEOs Encourage Mandatory Emissions
Caps |
For years, big business has cited the high costs of environmental
compliance and has therefore sought to block additional
regulation. Now a group of big-business executives is
telling a Senate panel that the U.S. should take the lead
on climate change. The execs are urging Congress for mandatory
action, to cap emissions blamed for global warming.
-- Steve Elbert, vice chairman of BP America, testified
to rebut arguments that mandatory caps on emissions of
carbon dioxide and other gases would be bad for business
and drive up costs. His coalition members think that there’s
money to be made by getting ahead of the curve.
-- Peter Darbee, chairman of the nation's largest utility,
Pacific Gas and Electric Company, called for the United
States to be "at the forefront of addressing global climate
change" by approving a mandatory program to reduce greenhouse
gases.
-- Charles O. Holliday Jr., chairman and chief executive
of DuPont Co., believes that "voluntary efforts alone
will not solve the problem."
In related news, Congressman
Tom Udall of New Mexico has introduced House Bill 969
that would create a national renewable portfolio standard.
It would require utilities nationwide to generate 20%
of their electricity from renewables by 2020, amending
Title VI of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act
of 1978. Currently 21 states and the District of Columbia
have renewable portfolio standards. In August 2005, Texas
doubled its standard, creating the second-largest new
renewable energy market in the country.
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The Hybrid Buses of New York
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EcoMotion Network News V10#19 featured the Los Angeles
bus system, and touted it as the nation’s largest clean
air fleet. This past week I was in New York, and happened
to get a chance to speak to an off-duty MTA bus driver
about the hybrid electric he drives day in and day out.
He loves it. And he’s proud of it, calling it “smooth,
quiet, and clean.”
The New York City Metropolitan Transportation Authority
is the largest public transportation system in the United
States.
It operates 4,500 buses on 219 routes, carrying a staggering
2,000,000 New Yorkers every day. In 1998 it launched its
hybrid electric bus fleet, a pilot program with the National
Renewable Energy Laboratory, involving 10 Orion VI hybrid-electric
buses. The propulsion system was successful and in 2004
– 2005 MTA added 325 Orion VII buses to the fleet. In
addition to New York, thirty cities and other jurisdictions
have “fielded” hybrid-electric buses.
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Sir Richard Branson’s $25 Million
Earth Challenge |
Sir Richard Branson (left in AP photo) head of the Virgin
Group, announced a prize of $25 million for anyone who
can come up with a system for removing greenhouse gases
from the atmosphere. The system must remove a billion
tons of carbon dioxide every year for at least a decade.
(Carbon dioxide capture at power plants is excluded.)
The New Scientist in London reports that Branson was inspired
by the 20,000 British pound prize for developing a way
of measuring longitude, won by 18th century clockmaker
John Harrison. The $10 million X-Prize in 2004 for private
human spaceflight was also an inspiration.
The closing date for entries to Branson’s Earth Challenge
is February 2010. Branson has lined up judges including
Al Gore (right in photo) and NASA’s Jim Hansen. Many environmentalists
have welcomed the initiative. Friends of the Earth said
it should not distract from the need to reduce carbon
dioxide emissions at source, "including unsustainable
air travel".
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