Our project would like to obtain the credit SS-4.3 Alternative Transportation Alternative Fuel Vehicles and is considering two possible options toward that goal. Our site is in a densely developed urban location. It is very small and will have only 5 parking spaces. Zoning would have allowed 10 parking spaces, but the owner has chosen to provide a green space for the occupants instead of 5 of those spaces. The owner is an after school arts program with a maximum of 15 full time employees and 100 students who are on site approximately 3 hours per day. Most of the building occupants commute by public transportation, bicycle or walking. Of the 5 spaces provided, one is given to accessible parking, one for loading, two for carpools, leaving one space for all other needs. All of the parking spaces could be considered preferred since no space is more than 50 feet from the building entry. Among the employees, there is currently no one who owns or plans to own an alternative fuel automobile, so providing an alternative fuel refueling station in the one available space would be impractical. Option One: One employee, the Director of Operations, wishes to purchase an electric scooter (a two wheeled vehicle). This is a street legal vehicle which he would use for commuting and for errands in the city. This vehicle needs only an ordinary 120V outlet for recharging, has a range of 45 miles, a max. speed of 30 mph, and is DOT compliant. Space to park this vehicle can be found outside of the other five parking spaces allowing the occupants one parking space for flexible use. If a designated parking space with an appropriate outlet for recharging is provided for the scooter, will that meet the requirement for this credit? Option Two: The owner is considering contracting for a Hybrid Fuel ZipCar for to be parked on their site. There would be a designated parking space for this vehicle, but no recharging station. This vehicle would be available for use by the building occupants as well as by other people in the neighborhood, which is a mix of residential and commercial uses. Could this vehicle park in one of the carpool spaces? We feel that providing the parking space provides both a service and a good example for the neighborhood. Please let us know if one or both of these approaches will meet the requirements for this credit.
There are two approaches proposed in this inquiry that will be addressed in order. Option 1: The proposed compliance path does not meet the requirements of the credit. Previous rulings on the topic state that simple electric outlets do not constitute vehicle charging stations, except in certain campus situations where a fleet of "neighborhood electric vehicles" is owned. Otherwise, any project with a standard outdoor outlet could get the point regardless of intention to use it for an electric vehicle. Option 2: The proposed compliance path will meet the credit requirements. The hybrid Zipcar will meet the carshare service requirements established in the SS4.3 CIR Ruling dated 1/26/05. Note that the project\'s demographics (15 full-time employees) means that only one carpool space is required to meet the requirements of SSc4.4.