A green house, a green mind
Posted by Colin Hensley on June 29, 2010 in 360° approach, Clean Operations
We are very happy to announce our first guest blogger: Christopher Barrow, Environmental Affairs, Toyota France
A few days ago Toyota France participated in the opening ceremony of our first Sustainable Retailer in La Rochelle in the west of France. This is the result of more than 5 years work between Toyota Motor Europe, Toyota France, Toyota Financial Services, the dealer group Toys Motors and his architectural team.
I have had the chance to follow this pioneering project from the very beginning, acting on behalf of Toyota France as contact person for the BREEAM auditor in the UK, BREEAM being the certification method that has been adopted to evaluate the “greenness” of the build. As the construction design team can confirm, the tough BREEAM criteria require a high level of innovation and as a result an amount of documentation that would not usually be required for a conventional build - but in the end this is what makes our Sustainable Retailers so special, and we are not afraid of challenges!
The initial idea for a Pan-European programme of “greening” the dealership network came as a natural progression of our continuing efforts to improve our design, manufacturing and distribution processes so as to reduce our environmental impact. Mr. Chabot from Toys Motors shares this philosophy and was therefore happy to build a flagship dealership.
I still remember how it all started. The project began with the land selection in a commercial zone just outside Aytre, to the south of La Rochelle, on which was positioned an old council workshop. From the very outset an environmental ethic was adopted with the nomination of an Environmental Coordinator, whose team ensured that what was written down was carried out! Recycling and reuse was even applied to the deconstruction of the council building so as to minimise waste and avoid landfill.
As soon as work started on the build, each involved company signed an environmental chart so as to ensure that their engagements were respected, with regards to such things as waste sorting, materials selection, optimisation of deliveries even going as far as car sharing!
So it was a proud moment to see the result at the opening. The dealership has become a masterpiece of technology ranging from Building Management Systems, CO2 sensors, rain water harvesting, geothermal heating, photovoltaic panels and even a green roof. The design team has implemented a considerable number of measures so as to ensure that the building’s impact on the environment is limited as well as ensuring that the working environment is as comfortable as possible. Coordinating between the auditor BREEAM and the design team, I was amazed to see how the environmental construction standards pushed the design team to find new solutions when the existing solutions were not sufficient to achieve the criteria. This has led to an unconventional building design in the field of automotive dealerships, the adoption of increased use of recycled aggregates, innovative insulation and even recycled cladding materials.
The facility is now officially open and I hope that all the efforts result not only in the highest possible “excellent” rating by BREEAM, but also in a bright future for the dealer, all his staff and equally for all those involved in the project at every level .
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Comments(0)Out and about in the new Prius – finally!
Posted by Colin Hensley on July 13, 2009 in Green Technologies
HUD & ACC in action on the French Autoroute
Four months ago, I was writing about the new Prius and my desire to get into one for a drive. Thanks to Johan and Dirk, I managed to do so last weekend. I previously had a Prius for a couple of years, so I was looking forward to giving the new model a go.
From the outside you are left no doubt that it’s a Prius, though I think it has really been brought right up to date, with a slightly edgier look. When you get in, the only thing that was really familiar was the voice of ‘Annie’ (this was what our kids christened the voice of the SatNav system.) the new interior was very much to my taste. But enough of me, I decided to ask the kids what they thought of it. Tim said, “it was really comfy and big and not noisy so I could hear the music really well.” Katie’s opinion was “it was cool and quiet and a bit like a spaceship!” (she’s a big fan of Dr Who)
So, there you go, it was fully approved by my toughest car critics. From my perspective, I was really impressed by the car. The driving was really effortless, we went about 800 km during the weekend, and between the lack of noise and the Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC), it was possible to get out of the car at the end of the journey feeling in pretty good form. Very importantly, the fuel consumption was also great, and I only had to fill up once. Apart from the ACC, my favourite new feature is the head-up display. There floating in front of me was the speed and my directions – no need to take my eyes off the road – neat, and safe rolled into one.
PHV - It’s a hybrid Jim, but not as we know it
Posted by Colin Hensley on March 24, 2009 in 360° approach, Green Technologies
You may have seen some press reports last week about the plans for the launch of a significant trial of Toyota plug-in hybrids (PHVs) in Strasbourg, France. This is an activity we are doing in collaboration with EDF, a major French electricity provider. Later this year about 100 PHVs will be leased to selected companies and partners and will start running around Strasbourg.
These are what I suppose we could call our second generation PHVs, they will have lithium-ion batteries. The limited trial in London and Paris with the first generation used nickel metal hydride batteries, (that’s the same type as we used in the other 1.7 million hybrids we have sold around the world.)
PHVs really give you the best of both worlds, for short trips or commutes they are an electric vehicle, but once you need to go further, they are just like a normal full hybrid. That means you get the full performance of the vehicle at all times. When you can choose to use electricity from a renewable source, the car will be running at zero-emissions while in EV mode.
One of the reasons for the trial is to really try to find the optimum balance between EV range cruising range and battery capacity. It always possible to give a car greater autonomy, by adding more batteries, but this has a negative impact in terms of cost, weight and usability.
I haven’t yet had a chance to drive the PHV, but I look forward to doing so in the future, and you can be sure you will hear about it here, first!
I’d really like to hear your thoughts on the future direction of sustainable mobility, and which type of vehicles will be the most popular. At the end of the day, it will be the customer that has to make the decision for what they want.
