March 18, 2009

BC Construction Association

New calculator helps contractors gauge fleet emissions

Richard Gilbert

staff writer

The BC Construction Association and the Fraser Basin Council have launched a web-based tool to help contractors reduce fuel costs and carbon emissions from machinery and heavy equipment.

The provincial government’s policy of greening a fleet of cars, machinery or heavy equipment starts with the implementation of measures that have a direct impact on reducing emissions.

“We are working with fleets because we want them to know how to get with greening a fleet,” said Jim Vanderwal, climate change and air quality program manager with the Fraser Basin Council.

“We work with any commercial group of vehicles working on the road, including taxis, municipalities, utilities, ports and construction companies, to achieve emissions reduction.”

Vanderwal said he wants these groups to understand what they are talking about by starting with one of the simplest measures for reducing emissions, which is idling reduction.

“With the recent addition of section 16 to the Ministry of Transportation contracts, contractors now have to show how they are taking steps to mitigate risk to the environment, particularly reducing the idling time of their equipment,” said Manley McLachlan, president of the BC Construction Association (BCCA).

According to the standard B.C. Ministry of Transportation contract, idling of contractor and sub-contractor off-road equipment shall be minimized during periods of inactivity and while stopped within a queue formed under the direction of a traffic control person or device.

The maximum times for idling-reduction are one minute for motor vehicles and light diesel trucks, five minutes for heavy duty diesel vehicles and ten minutes for diesel vehicles involved in construction site passenger transportation.

Construction equipment is exempt when actually employed at the site for the work intended.

“The tools that the Fraser Basin Council has developed will be a real asset for meeting those contract obligations with the Ministry of Transportation,” said McLachlan.

The emissions calculator is a web-based tool for contractors to use to calculate, track and report greenhouse gas emissions for fleets.

The calculator allows inputs for fleets according to the year, make and model of equipment.

The amount of fuel purchased, how many kilometres driven, or number of hours, the equipment operates is entered and the program calculates total carbon emissions.

An idle cost calculator allows contractor to calculate cost reductions and carbon emissions according to the make and model of equipment.

“You can put in a target reduction level for your idling and it will illustrate the actual dollar savings based on today’s price of fuel,” explained McLachlan.

“Its quite remarkable the business case you can make around saving money if your machinery is sitting and not working with the engine running.”

McLachlan used the example of a six cylinder diesel engine, manufactured after 1995, which will burn four litres of fuel for every hour it idles.

“If you quickly do the math on that over the course of the year there could be substantial savings,” he said.

“The point is, the machine doesn’t need to idle. There are a whole bunch of myths about having to warm a machine up. These things don’t really exist anymore.”

The Fraser Basin Council has also produced materials for contractors to educate their staff, such as window stickers, door signs and signage for their site.

“It’s a first step on our part to provide a set of tools that will allow contractors to begin an education process in terms of addressing an ongoing emphasis of public buyers in construction to mitigate risk to the environment,” said McLachlan.

The emissions and idle cost calculator are available on the BCCA website at www.bccassn.com/green_initiatives/greenfleets.html.

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