Sunday, April 26, 2009

Carsharing comes to Denver

(from www.greenprintdenver.org)

Ready to Go Multi-Modal?

A new travel option is coming to Denver. Carsharing is currently available in more than 40 US cities, and beginning this spring, Denver will join that list. This alternative to personal car ownership provides members hourly use of vehicles—without the costs of insurance, maintenance or even gas. Not a new concept, carsharing organizations (not carpooling) have operated for more than 20 years worldwide.

keyfob

Photo of key fob

Carsharing provides a perfect supplement to transit, cycling and walking, for those times when you just need a car, whether at work or at home. It’s a good reason to downsize from two cars to one (or even none) if you want to save money, live or work in an area with parking challenges, or if you want to make more green-living choices. With options, it’s easier to think twice about the appropriate transportation mode for each trip and drive less. This helps create places that are more people oriented, economically vibrant, eco-friendly and easier and more efficient to travel to and through.

Now, a local nonprofit with over eight years’ experience as a successful carshare organization in Boulder, eGo CarShare, is expanding to provide service in the metro Denver area. Members pay a small fee to join and monthly (with a good driving record) and then reserve cars online as needed for a low hourly rate (currently $4), to use any of their fleet of new, fuel-efficient vehicles parked in convenient, nearby locations and accessed with a special key “fob.” Cars should be available in Denver in the next month. For more information, visit www.carshare.org.

Friday, April 3, 2009

The Cost of Building Green

(Source: AIA - American Institute of Architects, March 31, 2009)

When "Green Construction" is discussed the focus inevitably turns to cost. How much additional will the green project cost? Some organizations are opposed to any additional first costs while others have some tolerance for additional expenditures.

The most prominent standard for green buildings is the USGBC (US Green Building Council). The USGBC LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) program has four levels of green certification: Certified, Silver, Gold and Platinum. These levels represent increasing levels of sustainability. There have been numerous studies aimed at comparing the cost of a USGBC LEED certified building to traditional designs. The average additional cost quoted is in the range of 2% to 5%. Based upon commercial building costs of $150/sq.ft. to $250/sq.ft., this is equivalent to a $7.50 to $12.50/sq.ft. premium for building green. The majority of this cost is due to the increased architectural and engineering design time necessary to integrate sustainable building practices into the projects. Another additional cost is for commissioning. Commissioning is the process of ensuring that the systems are designed, installed, functionally tested and capable of being operated and maintained to conform to the design intent. According to Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory commissioning can save as much as 40% of the buildings utility bills for HVAC.

As more buildings are being designed to address the green initiatives the additional design as well as construction cost is decreasing.

Now let's examine the advantages of owning a "green" building. The obvious advantage is the reduced impact on the environment through waste recycling, reduced water and energy consumption, and better indoor air quality by reducing VOCs. In addition to these environmental advantages there are marketing and tenant retention benefits to owning a green building. Organizations want to locate and stay in a healthy building. Finally there is a productivity and health value associated with "green" buildings. Greg Kats of Capital E published an analysis that projects the 20 year NPV (net present value) savings of a Certified or Silver building. The cost savings are attributable to reduced water, energy, waste plus commissioning O&M and productivity and health value. Savings of $52.87/square foot for Certified or Silver buildings and $71.31/square foot for a Gold or Platinum buildings are projected. Of these amounts $36.89/square foot and $55.33 respectively are attributable to productivity and health value. Even if the productivity and health value is reduced or eliminated the 20 year NPV savings ($52.87 - $36.89 = $15.89) exceeds the cost premium stated above.

In light of the above who can afford not to build green?

Ed Schultz now on TV

Progressive radio talk show host Ed Schultz has received the bump that many feel he deserves, a show on MSNBC.  The show will air for the first time on Monday, April 6.  "The Ed Show" will air weekdays, 6-7 p.m. ET.  Watch video

"I'm excited to have this opportunity with MSNBC," said Schultz. "I look forward to having a day to day discussion with fellow Americans on issues that really matter to all of us."

“The Ed Schultz Show” currently has a weekly radio audience of more than 3 million listeners on over 100 stations across the country.  Ed is known for being somewhat of an exception to the rule.  He has declared a love for red meat and guns, but he is as liberal as any progressive figure.  He is often a champion for the middle class, and says he will continue to fight for the working man(and woman) on his new TV show.

Fox news has a hard time dealing with the fact that progressive media is gaining ground amongst Americans, as over 90% of the current media is conservative.  It is nice to see that progressive radio has a voice in our culture.   Congratulations to Big Eddie, its about time.