Sustainability the big picture
Read a good article on Sustainability from Monitor Consulting. One of the key items was not to try to meet all aspects of sustainability. There is no consensus among the various NGOs and governments on what is sustainability. So, don’t try to be everything as a company. It would be very difficult to be the leader in CO2 reduction, water management, energy savings, endangered species, air pollution, shortest supply chain, waste reduction, and so on. You won’t be able to focus nor get a return (either in investment or “credit” from the consumer) if you do not have a focus and strategy. For example, Coke focuses on clean water as it is critical to be able to get water for their business. Or look beyond the boundaries of your business to find a Sustainability focus. Staples provides reverse logistics for NiCad batteries and ink cartridges. Other retailers are finding other options to promote a sustainability agenda (and also drive traffic to their stores). Another example from the article (which is more of happenstance) is Toyota’s sustainability success with the Prius. The environment impact is in the use of the product (reducing petroleum and CO2 emissions) rather than anything internal to the company.
I believe all companies should be working on starting to determine their carbon footprint using the Carbon Disclosure Project methodology (www.cdproject.net) and then focus on one area that can unit employees, the business and their customers. This needs to be a sustained commitment (5-10 years). A company should plan to have a pipeline of projects and initiatives that can lead to press releases and media exposure every 3-6 months (depending on size of the company). This should not be an expensive item (relative to the size of the business) but should return savings from cost reductions or government/utility incentives. I would not advocate spending money without a return for a company. I may personally spend more for to buy an organic product, I would not waste my employer’s money on an investment that only had a “sustainable” benefit and no reasonable ROI.
http://www.monitor.com/Expertise/BusinessIssues/OrganizationandLeadership/tabid/68/ctl/ArticleDetail/mid/699/CID/20082008133243971/CTID/1/Default.aspx
Friday, October 31, 2008
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Sustainable Forktrucks
October 21, 2008
Have spent a lot of time researching sustainable fork trucks. There has been a lot of talk about Fuel Cells, but have not seen anything that is commercially available. I talked to all the OEMs at NA in Cleveland back in March 2008. The OEMs and Fuel Cell manufacturers were looking for pilot opportunities, but nothing was "off-the-shelf" ready. Basically, all the electronics and controls have to be changed to changed with a fuel cell rather than an electric battery. Also, since fuel cells weigh less than a big electric battery all the balances and moment arms need to be recalculated (or lead plates added to the fuel cell compartment).
Crown is working with Plug Power
Hyster is working with Hydrogenics
Raymond is working with Ballard
http://www.mmh.com/article/CA6514673.html
The economic issue preventing widespread use is providing hydrogen at the site. At less than 50 trucks, it is too expensive to generate on-site and it requires trucking hydrogen in ($$$). At more than 50 trucks (24x7), you can cost-effectively generate Hydrogen on-site. But that is a pretty large investment and may not meet many companies ROI or payback requirements. It is even more prohibitive to try a pilot. Walmart has done this at two DCs (Washington Court House, OH is one location). Fuel Cell today has an overview of the current market. Lift trucks are a subset of the Niche Transport group,
http://www.fuelcelltoday.com/online/survey?survey=2008-07%2F2008-Niche-Transport-Vol1
I do not share their optimism on the growth of the market. Still watching. If anyone has run a pilot, I would be interested in their findings.
Another option is Methane Fuel Cells. Oorja has a product they demo'd at NA. Not sure how far along they are to commercialization. Looks like they only have something for Class 3 lift trucks (walkie-rider trucks) http://www.oorjaprotonics.com/index.php. They have a small methane fuel cell and a battery. The footprint of the unit and using a battery interface should allow for substitution with an existing battery-based type lift truck. Using methane reduces the issues with hydrogen infrastructure, but not sure of the overall efficiency and how frequent is the fueling required.
Have spent a lot of time researching sustainable fork trucks. There has been a lot of talk about Fuel Cells, but have not seen anything that is commercially available. I talked to all the OEMs at NA in Cleveland back in March 2008. The OEMs and Fuel Cell manufacturers were looking for pilot opportunities, but nothing was "off-the-shelf" ready. Basically, all the electronics and controls have to be changed to changed with a fuel cell rather than an electric battery. Also, since fuel cells weigh less than a big electric battery all the balances and moment arms need to be recalculated (or lead plates added to the fuel cell compartment).
Crown is working with Plug Power
Hyster is working with Hydrogenics
Raymond is working with Ballard
http://www.mmh.com/article/CA6514673.html
The economic issue preventing widespread use is providing hydrogen at the site. At less than 50 trucks, it is too expensive to generate on-site and it requires trucking hydrogen in ($$$). At more than 50 trucks (24x7), you can cost-effectively generate Hydrogen on-site. But that is a pretty large investment and may not meet many companies ROI or payback requirements. It is even more prohibitive to try a pilot. Walmart has done this at two DCs (Washington Court House, OH is one location). Fuel Cell today has an overview of the current market. Lift trucks are a subset of the Niche Transport group,
http://www.fuelcelltoday.com/online/survey?survey=2008-07%2F2008-Niche-Transport-Vol1
I do not share their optimism on the growth of the market. Still watching. If anyone has run a pilot, I would be interested in their findings.
Another option is Methane Fuel Cells. Oorja has a product they demo'd at NA. Not sure how far along they are to commercialization. Looks like they only have something for Class 3 lift trucks (walkie-rider trucks) http://www.oorjaprotonics.com/index.php. They have a small methane fuel cell and a battery. The footprint of the unit and using a battery interface should allow for substitution with an existing battery-based type lift truck. Using methane reduces the issues with hydrogen infrastructure, but not sure of the overall efficiency and how frequent is the fueling required.
LEEDS Certification
Burt Bee's New Distribution Center
DC Velocity, October 2008
Overview of Burt's Bees new DC in Morrisville, NC. A good approach for sustainability. There has been a lot of press about new distribution centers that have been build-to-suite that have received LEED certifications. This would include JohnsonDiversy/Liberty Property Trust DC near Racine, WI that received LEED Gold (http://www.johnsondiversey.com/NR/rdonlyres/11FE5469-A223-482E-8D18-7666D6C9AD87/0/distributioncenterawardweb.pdf) Also, Patagonia's Reno DC (www.youtube.com/watch?v=nr9WU4-NAc4)
I think the Burt's Bees Warehouse is a much better example of true sustainability since they are re-using an existing property. The building of new buildings and developing new land has the biggest environmental impact over the life of a building than any of the nifty technologies that can be put into a new building. I believe that brownfield redevelopment is under valued in sustainable evaluations.
Another interesting trend is companies not utilizing LEED certification. The cost of certification which can be $30-50K in consulting fees is not always worth the investment. Many users seem to be resigned to the fact that they need to use LEED for marketing (i.e. Prologis and other developers), but their maybe a need to look for a better approach. Their was a recent article that a Orange Julius owner used Green Globes as it was a web-based assessment.
DC Velocity, October 2008
Overview of Burt's Bees new DC in Morrisville, NC. A good approach for sustainability. There has been a lot of press about new distribution centers that have been build-to-suite that have received LEED certifications. This would include JohnsonDiversy/Liberty Property Trust DC near Racine, WI that received LEED Gold (http://www.johnsondiversey.com/NR/rdonlyres/11FE5469-A223-482E-8D18-7666D6C9AD87/0/distributioncenterawardweb.pdf) Also, Patagonia's Reno DC (www.youtube.com/watch?v=nr9WU4-NAc4)
I think the Burt's Bees Warehouse is a much better example of true sustainability since they are re-using an existing property. The building of new buildings and developing new land has the biggest environmental impact over the life of a building than any of the nifty technologies that can be put into a new building. I believe that brownfield redevelopment is under valued in sustainable evaluations.
Another interesting trend is companies not utilizing LEED certification. The cost of certification which can be $30-50K in consulting fees is not always worth the investment. Many users seem to be resigned to the fact that they need to use LEED for marketing (i.e. Prologis and other developers), but their maybe a need to look for a better approach. Their was a recent article that a Orange Julius owner used Green Globes as it was a web-based assessment.
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