MCAD is a contemporary art museum located in the heart of Denver, Colorado. Right now, employees use conventional personal vehicles to run errands around town throughout the day. These trips range from 2 - 60 miles per round trip. Furthermore, a number of employees drive to work instead of taking mass transit so they can have access to their vehicles for such trips. The Museum is planning to purchase two scooters for employees to use throughout the day, thereby reducing gas consumed relative to a standard car, as well as encouraging employees to take mass transit to work. The benefits of increased mass transit use are not assumed for this analysis. The Denver climate is ideal for scooters, with an estimated 71% of work-day hours suitable for their use (see below for details). The project is also earning SS credits 4.2, 4.2, and 4.4. Option 1 for EA Credit 4.3 requires providing "low-emitting and fuel efficient vehicles for 3% of FTE occupants and preferred parking for these vehicles." Low-emitting vehicles are defined as having achieved a minimum score of 40 on the ACEEE annual vehicle rating guide. We propose that scooters will meet the intent of this credit, to reduce pollution and land development impacts from automobile use, as shown with the following calculation method. As shown in Table 1, the scooters are predicted to reduce the annual vehicle fuel consumption of the Museum by 30%. A compact car with an ACEEE Green Score of 40 would reduce the Museum\'s annual gas consumption by 19% if used for every employee vehicle trip. Savings due to the purchase of two scooters are predicted to be significantly higher than this. Table 1: Predicted Savings from Scooter Use Existing Car (Base Case) Fuel efficiency (mpg): 21; Gallons of fuel/ year: 3,566; Cost of fuel/ year: $10,162; lbs CO2 emissions/year: 69,760; Car with ACEEE Green Score Above 40 Fuel efficiency (mpg): 26*; Gallons of fuel/ year: 2,880; Cost of fuel/ year: $8,208; lbs CO2 emissions/year: 56,344; Percent Savings: 19% *MPG value from a 2007 Mazda 3 (ACEEE Green Score of 43) for city driving, from http://www.greencars.org If Scooter is Used for Every Trip Fuel efficiency (mpg): 70; Gallons of fuel/ year: 1,070; Cost of fuel/ year: $3,049; lbs CO2 emissions/year: 20,928; Percent Savings: 70% With Predicted 43% Scooter Use Fuel efficiency (mpg): NA; Gallons of fuel/ year: 2,503; Cost of fuel/ year: $7,133; lbs CO2 emissions/year: 48,962; Percent Savings: 30% Table 2: Assumptions Price of gas ($/gal): $2.85 Number of full time employees: 16 Average miles traveled per trip: 30 Number of trips per person per day: 0.5 Days per year Museum is open: 312 Total miles traveled by employees per year: 74,880 CO2 emissions (lbCO2/gal gas): 19.6 Percent of time a scooter is available for trip: 60% % of hours it\'s \'nice out\' during the work day: 71% % of time the scooters are used: (60%)*(71%)= 43% Hours that are considered "nice" are those above 45
While the provision of scooters for employee use is a laudable strategy, it does not meet the intent of the SSCr4.3. There are concerns that scooters do not have the same emissions control requirements as low-emitting cars and that, due to safety worries, some employees will be unwilling to use the scooters even in good weather. The project team is encouraged to explore the use of a car sharing service or the purchase of electric and/or low-emitting cars to meet the credit intent. Another possibility would be to apply for an ID credit for a comprehensive traffic demand management program, of which scooters could form a part. Applicable Internationally.