1. Interest in “green” or “sustainable” products and services is rising rapidly. These products and services typically:
2. Green or sustainable materials are a fast growing trend in residential and commercial building interiors. There are increasing numbers and types of:
3. Auto manufacturers are beginning to use some sustainable materials in their auto interiors, but do not greatly promote their use.
4. Consumers have proved their interest in “sustainability” in relation to cars, with the popularity of the Prius. While recent rising gas prices has spiked demand, there have been back orders for the Prius since its introduction. More than fuel economy is at work.
Key Questions
1. Will consumer interest in green products and services extend to car interiors?
2. If so, what are the implications for manufacturing and promotion?
Green/sustainable trends in building
Green Standards from the US Green Building Council website: http://www.usgbc.org/
A list of municipalities with green building codes, see http://www.mrsc.org/Subjects/Planning/greenbuild.aspx#local
Examples of green products and services in the Google category “Shopping-Niche-Green Living” http://directory.google.com/Top/Shopping/Niche/Green_Living/
Green carpet and paint, two areas that may relate most to cars: http://www.cleanair-coolplanet.org/solutions/greenoffice.php
The Dec. 2, 2004 issue of The Economist concludes that: “green building is not just a fad.” It explains that a main component of the trend is getting away from “first costs,” the cost of getting a building up, to the long-term costs. http://www.economist.com/displaystory.cfm?story_id=3422965
A March 31, 2004 article from USA Today summarizes much about the trend:
"Buildings Designed in Cool Shades of 'Green'"
Environmentally friendly building is gaining popularity across the country due to demand for healthier buildings, lower-cost materials and government requirements at the local, state and federal levels. The U.S. Green Building Council has certified a total of 89 so-called "eco-friendly" or "sustainable" structures in the last three years, and 10 states and 23 municipalities require or are seeking to require public buildings to receive the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification. "Now we're seeing friendly competitions among builders and design teams and between cities and states about how green they can be," remarks Green Building Council Executive Director Christine Ervin. The strategy involves a focus on energy efficiency and water conservation, the use of recycled materials, the elimination of chemicals and other toxins and designs that take advantage of natural sunlight. In Portland, OR, developer Robert Gerding built a 123-unit condominium tower with pressed-straw doors and cabinets, dual-flush toilets, woods from sustainable forests, chemical-free carpets and paints, windows that block the sun and control indoor temperature and bike racks to discourage driving, among other features. As in other sustainable developments, The Henry's $280,000-$1.3 million units were sold out before they were finished. Though green building has earned the support of government officials, builders and consumers, experts say truly sustainable structures — which produce more energy than they consume — have yet to be built. (www.usatoday.com) USA Today (03/31/04) P. 15A; Ritter, John
Title: GREENER PRODUCT, By: KM, Hospitality Design, Aug2004, Vol. 26, Issue 6
Green products are moving center-stage in hospitality. The U.S. Green Building Council's Sustainable Design program just added a commercial category to include hospitality. Just Fresh Bakery is among the first restaurant to apply. And Charleston, South Carolina-based firm LS3P has set up a special in-house department just to encourage green input across projects. Allen Taylor, who heads LS3P's new initiative says green's an easier sell to clients if you know the huge number of products coming to market.
To start, Interface Flooring Systems' carpets (above) use recycled and renewable resources and a chemical composition that eliminates toxic emissions; Herman Miller's Mirra chair, paired with guestroom desks, is made with 96-percent recycled materials; Hunter Douglas' GreenScreen fabrics for shades is PVC-free (That means zero polyvinyl chloride); and Uridan's waterless urinal (left) saves the equivalent of 10 swimming pools annually.
For more green shopping, check out www.greenhotels.com, www.energystar.com, and www.ecomall.com
Title: ECO LUXE, Hospitality Design, Apr2005, Vol. 27, Issue 3
As green increasingly becomes the industry's favorite buzzword, the El Monte Sagrado in Taos, New Mexico, is making it a reality. Coined an eco-resort, the 30,000-square-foot complex, complete with 18 rooms, 34 casitas, retail, a spa, restaurant, and bar, was "built to preserve and sustain the land on which it resides uniting nature with exotic luxury," explains David Sargert, principal of local design firm Sargert Design Associates, Inc., the project's interior architect and designer (rooms and casitas were designed by Joan Duncan and Ady Artime respectively). "It's a timeless facility in theme, spirit, and materials."
To successfully create a sustainable structure, Sargert only used natural materials: granite, local sandstone, marble, and travertine instead of injection-molded plastics; wood and plaster on ceilings; elaborate millwork of sapelli, cherry, white oak, and Brazilian rosewood; mica on walls; 50-year-old fossils in lavatories; and 100-million-year-old petrified wood for handcarved desktops. "Integrating sustainable strategies and solutions goes well beyond just the use of green products," he says. "Once the industry adopts the integrative design philosophy of LEED, it will reveal the universal benefits inherent in the approach."
Title: TURNING COCONUTS INTO CAR , By: Mead, Sue, AutoWeek, 04/09/2001, Vol. 51, Issue 16
No one suggests it's going to replace leather, cloth and vinyl in car interiors, but DaimlerChrysler is using the fibers of coconuts from South America's Amazon rain forest in the interiors of Brazilian-made vehicles.
The German auto giant, with manufacturing plants in four Latin American countries, uses 60 percent of the production from POEMAtec, a modern factory located in Belem, Brazil. At POEMAtec, coconut fibers are morphed into seats, headrests, driver's beds and sunvisors for Mercedes-Benz commercial trucks and buses, and A-Class vehicles. POEMAtec produces 5000 seats, 6500 headrests, 500 sunvisors and 380 driver beds for trucks, along with 2800 A-Class seat bottoms and 1400 back seats and headrests.
Started in 1991 as POEMA (Poverty and Environment in Amazonia), the research project was intended to embrace the social, ecological and economic needs of the indigenous population--and to save the rain forest. Today, the partnership between DaimlerChrysler, UNICEF and the University of Para, in Belem, turns a profit as a cost-effective model for the use of natural fibers that are strong, lightweight and recyclable. The project has grown to employ more than 5000 families.
General Motors, Fiat, Honda and Volkswagen also have shown interest in the project.
http://www.poematec.com.br/eng/default.htm
Motor Trend magazine chose the Prius as its 2004 car of the year. “Whatever color it's painted, the Prius is always green. Tailpipe emissions are all but nonexistent; the Prius qualifies for the California Air Resources Board's stringent Super-Ultra-Low-Emissions Vehicle class. And then there's that headline-making EPA fuel-economy rating: 60 mpg in the city, 51 mpg on the highway.” http://www.motortrend.com/oftheyear/car/112_04_coy_win/
Most automaker websites mention sustainability, but say little about it. One example: Even the Porsche boxster says that the materials are recyclable, in the course of making a point that the car is so well made that most are still on the road. http://content3.us.porsche.com/prod/boxster/boxsters.nsf/usaenglish/designmaterials_recycling
Title: FORD LOOOKS TO USE MORE RECYCLED MATERIALS IN CARS AND TRUCKS OF THE FUTURE
June 07, 2005
DEARBORN, MI – Ford Motor Co. announced on May 24 that its color and materials designers are working on ways to introduce new recycled commodities and materials into cars and trucks of the future, reducing the impact of interior components on the company’s ecological “footprint.” Ecological footprints are a way of describing the demands placed on the environment and for the use of the planet’s renewable and non-renewable resources. Within the next few years, recycled and recyclable forms of carpet, fabric, plastics, and other materials could start making their appearance within the Ford North American brands, said Jeffrey Post, design manager, Advanced Material/Brand Strategy for Color and Material design team.
Post-industrial or post-consumer recycled content and other sustainable material could someday be used for seating, instrument panels, headliners, flooring, or other components. So far, a small number of automotive companies have developed recycled and recyclable materials suitable for use in vehicle interiors.
The Advanced Color and Materials team is educating existing auto suppliers about opportunities for sustainable materials and processes used to produce those materials and/or parts.
Companies in separate industries are looking at ways of using each other's waste streams productively. Ford is already working with companies of this kind who specialize in helping other companies come up with ways to use waste streams and promoting cooperation among firms.
“People are saying, 'You have some waste that maybe I can use, but now I need to figure out what that product might be,'” said Lisa Nicol, designer with the Advanced Color and Materials. She says it would be a mistake to presume that recycled materials would be less than first-class. “These are going to be materials that look nice and feel nice — and they just happen to be made from recycled raw materials.”
One reason for her optimism: Some of the new materials incorporate raw materials that have been regenerated from post-industrial waste streams, not post-consumer waste. That means they are using the remnants from the process of producing a new product, be it carpet, tennis shoes, plastic food containers, or other items. Regenerating and using post-industrial waste for materials, or up-cycling, helps to reduce the amount of virgin raw materials needed to produce a finished product. Those leftover materials have many of the same properties as virgin materials.
While many sustainable or recycled materials are used now in Ford vehicles for under-hood componentry, Nicol notes that these new materials and sustainable innovations will come in direct contact with the customer. That effort won’t be lost on the consumer, she said.
Although his team’s mission primarily involves surfaces, Post said its members are working with the Ford sustainability office and the scientific research and development lab to identify foams and other non-visual support materials beneath the surfaces that could be made recyclable or made from recycled materials. “In this way, we might be able to create an entire fully sustainable part or module,” he said.
“We are currently involved in our testing phase on carpets, fabrics, rubber and other regenerated cover material on a production vehicle that is in our cycle plan,” Post said. Placement in vehicles scheduled for 2008- or 2009-model years is possible, he said.
Ford defines sustainability as creating value while preserving environmental and social capital. In this view, environmental capital will be preserved if the manufacturing of interior surface components leaves as little waste as possible in its wake.
Luxury Car Rentals The luxury car rental market is increasing, in part, due to people who own luxury cars and don’t want to drive anything less when they travel. By the same token, as green materials are increasingly incorporated into home and work, might people want the same in their cars?
Interview 1 - 11 (Butler and Maurer) For comments on hybrid cars.
Alternative fuels to Gasoline are Developed A related green idea.
Cars and cross-branding Might "green" become a kind of brand?