by Shawn Skinner

Many people often do not equate auto performance with efficiency.  This is often true of many early American performance cars.  The first performance engine available to the masses was the Ford Flathead V-8 introduced in 1932.  It is often associated with bootlegging and hot rodding, but it was compact and fuel efficient when compared to larger inline six or eight cylinder engines.  Road tests were even able to achieve 20mpg fuel economy, quite remarkable for the times.

In 1949 the Oldsmobile Rocket 88 was introduced with the first high performance modern overhead valve V-8 engine.  The horsepower wars continued throughout the 1950s with the Chrysler C-300 becoming the top performer with its Hemi engine.  Larger, higher horsepower engines continued to be offered throughout the first half of the 1960s, but mostly in larger cars.  This was soon to change.

In 1964, Pontiac shoved a full sized 389 cubic inch V-8 from its full size car line into its midsize Tempest, calling it the GTO.  This created what some argue is the first muscle car (a large, high horsepower engine midsize car).  The Ford Mustang was introduced the same year, with high performance engines offered the following year.  Both of these cars found imitators such as the Plymouth GTX and Roadrunner, Dodge Charger, Chevrolet Chevelle SS, Oldsmobile 442, Plymouth Barracuda, and Chevrolet Camaro, just to name a few.  The large, gas-guzzling muscle cars were constructed with straight-line performance, not fuel economy as the number one priority.

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by Wesley Holmes, LEED Green Associate, Environmental Policy Analyst and Sustainability Consultant

Wesley Holmes earned his Masters of Science degree in Environmental Policy and Management from APU in February 2010, graduating with honors.  For his final project, Wesley began researching the green elements associated with APUS’ new Academic Center which is anticipated to receive LEED Gold certification later this year. As part of that project, Wesley created the APUS Green Building Blog which he maintains on a regular basis.  The blog is full of information related to the APUS Academic Center, green building in general, and Brownfields sites in particular.  Earlier this month Wesley attended the National Brownfields Conference in Philadelphia and submitted the following article for publication on the APUS Sustainability Blog.  

Thickness map of Marcellus Shale. Image from Geology.com, http://geology.com/articles/marcellus-shale.shtml.

Over the course of the three day event, the National Brownfields Conference offers dozens of educational events, round tables, town halls and training sessions. Learning opportunities range from the State of Sustainability in Local Governments to Leveraging Tax Incentives for Sustainable Revitalization to Utilizing Social Media in Brownfield Development. Days before the event I was looking over the schedule trying to pick which sessions I wanted to sit in on. The Marcellus Shale presentation immediately caught my eye. The Marcellus Shale Formation is a rock formation found deep within the Appalachian Basin that contains large pockets of natural gas formed by the decaying organic matter embedded within this ancient formation. As the organic matter has broken down over millions of years it has produced pockets of natural gas. There is currently great excitement about the potential yield of natural gas contained within the Marcellus Formation.

A few facts about the Marcellus Shale Formation
• 390 Million Years Old
• Covers 95,000 sq miles over 7 states
• Contains estimates as high as 500 Trillion Cubic Ft of Natural Gas

Natural gas operations are growing rapidly in the United States, with increasing exploitation of natural gas reserves being a cornerstone of both Democratic and Republican energy proposals. Natural gas burns cleaner than traditional fossil fuels such as oil and coal, presently it is easier to get to, it’s cheaper, and perhaps most importantly, the U.S. has a lot of it. But could this rush to development of a cleaner, cheaper fuel source result in creating as many problems as it helps to address? Adjoining the rapid growth of natural gas projects, there is increasing concern and debate about the safety of the practices used to harvest this fossil fuel of the future. Daily reports of environmental impacts are emerging near natural gas development sites in the form of harmful air emissions, watershed impairment and even earthquakes. In response to these reports, legal challenges are being brought forth by environmental advocacy groups and landowners alike. How appropriate that this year’s National Brownfields Conference, sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), should also be held in Philadelphia, home to both the second largest natural gas deposit known in the world, the Marcellus Shale Formation, and the largest emerging market of natural gas production industry and its associated controversies.

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by Jennifer Lefebvre

Logistics services company FedEx is committed to providing quality customer service, but they also recognize that as a global company, they must be conscious of the environment and be caring neighbors in their communities.

FedEx partners with its vendors to better understand the company’s impact on the environment through its use of materials, taking into consideration fuel, material resources, and noise. 

FedEx engineers are constantly working to rebalance their fleet and optimize routes.  Their Express division has improved their total fleet miles per gallon in the US by 14.1 percent since 2005; a savings of over 53 million fuel “or approximately 472,700 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions, with a goal of improving by 20 percent by 2020.”  They’ve been able to do this by using sophisticated operation programs, educating operation teams, and redesigning distribution models on their ground and air shipments.  On the ground, FedEx uses clean technology to deliver their packages.  It runs the “largest fleet of commercial hybrid trucks in North America, consisting of more than 329 hybrid-electric trucks, and operates 19 all-electric trucks in Los Angeles, London and Paris.”

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by Jennifer Lefebvre

UltraTouch Insulation

Cotton From Blue to Green is an organization whose mission is to give old denim a new role by converting it into insulation called UltraTouch.  This insulation is used in building efforts benefitting  communities in need.

UltraTouch is made of 85% recycled cotton fibers, is environmentally safe, and contains no carcinogenic warnings, formaldehyde or chemical irritants.  It is one of the only insulation products that contains an active mold inhibitor.

The process to turn denim into insulation is very interesting.  First, the cottonseed is planted, matured, and picked.  It is then sent to a spinning mill where they clean and straighten the fibers.  Next, the spinning process decreases the weight of the string of cotton (sliver) and creates twists in order to produce yarn.  It is then packaged and ready for the weaving mill.  At the mill, yarn is combined to create a continuous rope and multiple ropes are placed into indigo dye baths.  After drying, the ropes are divided into individual yarn, wound onto a sheet-like beam and mounted onto a loom to weave.  Finished denim is shipped to garment manufacturers and assorted garments are made for retail sale.  These manufacturers recycle the old denim when new denim is received.  Hardware like zippers, buttons and embellishments must be removed from the old denim before recycling.  It is then returned to its original state, cotton.  It is treated with borate solution for fire retardency and to resist mold.  This solution is less toxic than table salt and therefore safe for people and the environment.  This step in the process creates the UltraTouch product.  Sheets of the insulation are cut to size and then shipped to and installed in residential homes and commercial buildings.

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by Beth Gray

Document systems and services giant, Xerox, recently took an innovative step toward reducing the company’s carbon footprint and ended up saving itself loads of money.  Last year, the company encouraged employees to develop and share ideas on sustainability and efficiency.  Run company-wide, the request brought in thousands of ideas.  From that group, 30 nominations were selected as finalists.  Eventually, 13 winners were selected by the company. 

By implementing the ideas of the 13 winners, Xerox managed to save $10.2 million in FY2010 and eliminate some 2.6 million pounds of waste.  As Leon Kaye of the website Triple Pundit noted, “Some may sniff that $10.2 million is small potatoes for a $15 billion dollar company, but a cursory look through Xerox’s financials reveals that net income after tax was $475 million last year.”  Regardless of net or gross income, however, Xerox’s progress is noteworthy. 

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