As of February 2022, Glumac is officially participating in the AIA 2030 and Carbon Leadership Forum (CLF) MEP 2040 challenges. Over the next 18 years, our engineers will be committed to low carbon building design and operation.
Nicole Isle, Chief Sustainability Strategist for Glumac says our participation in these challenges is vital to slow global warming trends and reach climate mitigation goals.
“Given the longevity of buildings, all new buildings and major renovations should be designed to zero carbon today to transform enough building stock by 2030,” says Isle. “The climate science tells us that all buildings need to be zero carbon (embodied and operational carbon) by 2050 to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees C. This requires a complete transformation of the energy sector to clean renewable power and a building stock that uses less than half of the energy it uses today. Heavy industry, aviation, agriculture will lag and may never be zero carbon, so that just means that we need to double down on the buildings we work on because these challenges are within reach.”
“The commitments are part of our internal carbon tracking goals and coincide with the launching of our own Carbon Tracking Program, in which we aim to measure historical data and drawdown the embodied and operational carbon of each project we work on,” said Dennis Berlien, Glumac President.
AIA 2030 Challenge is targeting zero carbon emissions for all new buildings, developments, and major renovations by 2030. This will require energy efficient buildings have use no on-site fossil fuels and are 100% powered by on-site or off-site renewable energy.
The CLF MEP 2040 Challenges shares the same goal as AIA 2030 for downstream operational emissions, but also looking closely to include upstream emissions from manufacturing of MEP systems and components and their refrigerant use, zeroing carbon impact by 2040.
“There is much more we can do, but we won’t make an impact unless we measure our progress,” said Isle.
Click to learn more about AIA 2030 and CLF MEP 2040.
Human influence on warming the atmosphere, ocean, and land is an unequivocal fact. Each of the last four decades has been successively warmer than any decade that preceded it since 1850 as greenhouse gas (GHG) have continued to concentrate
in the atmosphere. In 2019, atmospheric CO2 concentrations were higher than at any time in at least 2 million years.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is the world’s leading source assessing the science of climate change. Thousands of people from all over the world contribute to the work of the IPCC. 234 scientists from 66 countries volunteer their time to assess thousands of scientific papers published each year to provide a comprehensive summary of what is known about the drivers of climate change, its impacts and future risks, and how adaptation and mitigation can reduce those risks.
Read the full report here:
To see innovation on display, take the Blue Line on Portland’s light rail train to the East 162nd station. Directly across the street is Burnside Boardwalk, a carbon-neutral, affordable housing project that is expected to be complete by the end of 2021.
SEED LLC, the firm building Burnside Boardwalk, began the project with a focus on both energy efficiency and solar energy production. To reach its goals, the developer took major steps to reduce energy use to almost zero—and then it added 45 kVA of solar panels to the roof.
To help cut energy use even more and keep operational costs low, the 31-unit multifamily building will feature advanced, energy-efficient design techniques such as a geothermal heat pump, foil face foam insulation, energy-recovery ventilators, heat pump water heating and motion-detector lighting.
Continue reading at northwest.uli.org.
We spoke with Scott Clemons, a electrical engineer with Glumac who breaks down the environmental and financial benefits of owning on-site electric vehicle charging stations and why they offer unique opportunities for those who purchase them.
Level 1 chargers are your typical 120V in-home chargers. They take anywhere from 8 to 12 hours (or more) to fully charge a depleted EV battery. They are mostly recommended for at-home charging overnight since power is cheaper after 7 p.m. or 8 p.m., so the 8-hour charging requirement isn’t typically an issue. These are almost always wall-mounted or plugged in to a dedicated outlet in the owner’s garage.
Level 2 chargers are more powerful, requiring 208V or higher. They take anywhere from 4 to 8 hours to fully charge a depleted battery. This level of charger is best suited for commercial applications and high-rise residential buildings where tenants might be in and out of the facility within several hours. These can be wall-mounted or pedestal-mounted for almost any application.
Level 3 chargers are the top of the line and fastest chargers on the market. They utilize 480V 3 Phase input power and are commonly referred to as DC Fast Chargers. They can provide a full charge in under an hour, typically in just 20 to 30 minutes. This level of charger is best suited for very short-term charging such as a shopping plaza, mall, or “gas” station where drivers will only spend a limited amount of time. This type of charger is only available in a pedestal mount and requires more infrastructure upgrades than other options.
Level 1 chargers are typically in the $500 to $2,000 range and don’t require a lot of additional infrastructure or installation.
Level 2 chargers range from $2,500 to $15,000 depending on brand and charge rate. These can require additional infrastructure, but always require electrical engineering to ensure proper functionality and safety. Depending on the desired function, such as a commercial application, these can require multi-discipline construction plans.
Level 3 chargers are the most expensive. They can range from $40,000 to more than $100,000 depending on charging solution and additional functionality, such as smart fleet charging. Level 3 chargers require significant infrastructure upgrades and have a larger footprint. These require multi-discipline engineering plans for construction.
Many local utilities and jurisdictions periodically have programs that offer significant discounts or rebates for EV charging and Bus or Fleet electrification. Some of these programs offer up to 99% off the total cost of the project. San Diego’ SDG&E PYD Program, for example, covers the cost of installation for some low-income communities.
While adding outlets is a viable charging solution, it may not be the most practical, efficient, or suitable for each person’s needs. Plugs only allow up to Level 1 charging, which can take up to 12 hours to charge a vehicle. The most cost-effective solution for the majority of owners would be a level 2 or level 3 charging station.
Electric Vehicle charging offers several unique opportunities for owners. 1) They can offer an amenity that is still somewhat scarce across the nation, attracting employees or residents that possess or will possess EV’s. 2) Electrifying a fleet or bus network saves an immense amount on maintenance and gasoline every year. The cost savings far outweigh the initial infrastructure costs after only a few years.
Additionally, some of the costs would be negligible if the owner participants in a program that pays for the infrastructure such as the SDG&E PYD version mentioned earlier. 3) They can generate revenue for every kWh used. While the local utility will charge the owner a certain amount per kWH, the owner may sell the power from the charger at a higher rate, thus creating a profit. It is quite common for owners to specify an additional fee on top of what it costs them for drivers to use their charging stations, just like how gas stations sell gasoline. 4) The owners can also specify the charging as free for their drivers, especially in a workplace or hospitality environment as a major perk to working or staying there. 5) Owners, especially of large-scale fleets, can opt for Vehicle-To-Grid charging stations. These allow the sizable batteries of the vehicles to sell their internal power back to the utility during peak times or use their power as a non-emergency backup option through these “reversible” charging stations. While not the most efficient option for the equipment or generating considerable profit, they do allow idle or standby vehicles extra utilization while not in use.
Coupling on-site generation with EV charging is a common way to help reduce the extra power requirements of the EV charging while still providing a premium amenity to drivers. Even if there are no current drivers using the chargers, the on-site generation can generate power to sell back to the utility for a profit.
This is done on a site by site basis since on-site generation is not suitable for all locations.
Any residence or workplace that has a parking lot would be suitable for this type of application. Since most everyone needs to drive to work or back home after their workday, any parking lot is a possible location. Ideally, a viable electrical source will be nearby to ensure the system operates at maximum efficiency and to keep initial costs down. Whether the site has an existing parking lot or a brand new building and parking lot, electric vehicle charging stations can be installed and properly utilized. The most cost-efficient applications would be new construction projects since the infrastructure such as conduits can be installed within the concrete or walls without the need for trenching or surface mounted equipment.
Not at all. Many EV drivers embrace the “move cords not cars” philosophy. Basically, if an adjacent EV is finished charging but the owner has not returned to unplug the car, it is commonplace to move the cord to your car, scan or input your charging station requirements (credit card or account FOB), and begin charging your vehicle. Many workplaces even have notification programs to help drivers identify when their car is finished charging to encourage this type of behavior. Since most EV charging stations can reach two to four depending on the brand and the layout of the parking lot, many owners will install charging stations equal to half of their expected need, thus saving infrastructure costs while still providing the same amount of charging.
Very minimal annual maintenance is required. Unless a charger malfunctions and the manufacturer is required to service the station under their warranty, the typical maintenance involves cleaning the outside of the station and software updates.