2009 – Page 3 of 98 – Concentrate

Zipcars speed into downtown Ann Arbor

By Newsroom

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December 16, 2009

Zipcars are coming to downtown Ann Arbor next Tuesday and Al McWilliams can't wait for their arrival. The self-described Master of the Universe at Quack! Media lives, works and doesn't own a car in downtown Ann Arbor. It's not that the overlord of one of Ann Arbor's most promising start-ups can't afford one. He just prefers not to be chained to parking, maintaining and worrying his own automobile. It's a lifestyle he has enjoyed for two years now."I walk everywhere," McWilliams says.Except when he has to drive somewhere for work or personal reasons. Previously he used rental cars, which could be expensive to just grab a quick ride to big-box store to run an errand. Last year McWilliams started accessing the Zipcar fleet at the University of Michigan. That proved cheaper at $8 an hour with gas and insurance included, but it was still a bit of a walk from his office on Main Street above Connor O'Neil's. The new downtown Zipcar fleet is much more convenient."This is just outside of my office so that's awesome," McWilliams says.The new fleet will consist of four cars. Two will be near McWilliams' office on the south end of downtown. The other two will be parked in Kerrytown on downtown's north side. Those will compliment the Zipcars on the University of Michigan's campus. U-M's fleet started with three cars in 2005 and now has a dozen. Those cars are utilized about 40-60 percent of the time, making the U-M fleet one of the most used in all Zipcardom. "Clearly this is something that is a good option and is desirable," says Nancy Shore, program director of Ann Arbor's getDowntown initiative. She expects this new Zipcar fleet will give people who live, bike, bus or walk to downtown more transportation options. The more people who come to downtown Ann Arbor without cars means the more people can come to downtown to work and play, making the city's center more vibrant."It provides a lot of flexibility that downtown employees need or want," Shore says.Source: Al McWilliams, master of the universe for Quack! Media and Nancy Shore, program director for getDowntownWriter: Jon Zemke

Accio Energy casts growth spell with magic wind system

By Newsroom

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Innovation News

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December 9, 2009

The origins behind the name Accio Energy have some of the more random, yet interesting roots for a start-up. The Ann Arbor firm takes it name for a spell in Harry Potter called Accio. Co-founder Dawn White's child was a big fan of J.K. Rowling's books, which means White knew more details about wizardry than the average Hogwarts student. That includes the spell Accio, which means "to summon". Today, the start-up, which focuses on an innovative new form of wind turbines, thinks the moniker is a perfect match."In this case we're summoning electricity from the wind," says Jeff Basch, General Manager for Accio Energy.The design of wind turbines has enjoyed long-term design stability, like the internal combustion engine or AK-47. But like those world-famous items, the wind turbine must evolve, too. "Energy that is captured from the wind hasn’t changed in 700 years," Basch says. "There has to be a way to harness that energy without a moving propellor."Accio Energy's wind turbine has the potential to do that. It doesn't have any moving parts. Instead it harness the static electricity created from wind, so it’s almost like it's magically creating the electricity.White and David Larmein founded the company in 2007. Today it employs four people as it develops the prototype. They just proved the concept and are working on creating an alpha and beta prototype for testing. It hopes to commercialize the technology by 2011 and and employ tens of people by next year."It will grow quickly," Basch says. "It’s a very large commercial market."Source: Jeff Basch, General Manager for Accio EnergyWriter: Jon Zemke

Sakti3 expands in Ann Arbor, plans to create 112 jobs

By Newsroom

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Economic Development

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December 9, 2009

One of Ann Arbor's most promising start-ups is going after a lot of federal money this summer and creating a few jobs along the way.Sakti3 is applying for $15 million U.S. Department of Energy funds. That money will be part of a $30 round of financing its aiming to gather together this summer to continue its development of lithium-ion batteries for hybrid and plug-in cars, like the Chevrolet Volt. The University of Michigan spin-off is working with officials from the federal government and General Motors to secure the funding."We're told decisions will come down in July," says Ann Marie Sastry, founder of Sakti3 and an engineering professor at U-M.The Ann Arbor-based company is also looking to add to its team this year, but plans to pick the next members very carefully. Right now less than 20 people work for the company, which is looking for specialized employees. Think PhDs and the like.That's because the company is in the prototyping stage of creating the new lithium-ion battery. It hopes to jump to manufacturing it on a small scale and they a pilot line within three years. Once that happens it could means thousands of new jobs (both white and blue collar) in Metro Detroit."We'll be in prototyping for a while and then growing," says Ann Marie Sastry, founder of Sakti3.Source: Ann Marie Sastry, founder of Sakti3Writer: Jon Zemke

Going Green

By Concentrate Writers

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Sustainability

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December 9, 2009

So, with all the talk of going green and clean, just how sustainable is the Ann Arbor area getting? Since Concentrate launched in April of 2008 we've run across a growing number of businesses, leaders, and initiatives that are trying to nudge Michigan's economy and lifestyle toward the greener end of the spectrum. This week we round up evidence that our region is doing its part.

NIGHT & DAY: Goodnight Keith Moon

By Jeff Meyers

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General

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December 9, 2009

This week FilterD goes locavore with a trio of must-see indigenous acts (amidst its half dozen picks). Then editor Jeff Meyers gets the inside scoop from a local writer-artist team whose spoof of a childhood classic has hit the Internet buzz mill.

General Electric’s wind energy center could fuel Michigan’s alternative-energy-based revival

By Newsroom

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In The News

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December 9, 2009

Michigan’s alternative energy future, and the jobs accompany it, are coming soon to a place near you.Excerpt:Michigan - already a step of ahead most of the country in developing a battery industry and solar energy industry - is about to take a considerable step toward becoming a national leader in wind energy technology.General Electric today said it would hire some 1,100 workers at a research and production center in Van Buren Township in western Wayne County -- an operation that will focus heavily on renewable energy, especially wind energy technology.GE's decision to invest $100 million in the operation represents a validation of Michigan's aggressive pursuit of green technology industries and illustrates the power of Michigan's engineering workforce.It's fair to assume that GE identified Michigan as an engineering powerhouse where white-collar labor is particularly cheap. (GE CEO Jeff Immelt was expected to discuss the investment at a speech at 1:15 p.m. at the Detroit Economic Club.)Earlier this year, Ann Arbor-based think tank Michigan Future Inc. issued a report suggesting that Michigan's low-paid, high-knowledge workforce could eventually become an asset. I suspect that GE's decision to locate the operation in Michigan, instead of California or New York, for example, is at least partly reflective of Michigan's cost-effective labor pool.Read the rest of the story here and more here.

Ypsi goes solar this summer

By Newsroom

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In The News

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December 9, 2009

Dave Strenski is on a solar installation binge in Ypsilanti this summer.Excerpt:An environmentally conscious person might change a couple of habits to do their part for the environment. Recycle, instead of throwing paper in the trash or bike instead of driving.But how about installing solar panels to a house or better yet, a historic building in the city? Think that’s going a little above and beyond? Tell that to Ypsilanti resident Dave Strenski.The applications analyst at Cray Inc. makes high performance computers at his day job, and then leaves to install solar panels on historic buildings in Ypsilanti.So far, Strenski has installed 12 panels on the rooftop at the Ypsilanti Food Cooperative and has two other projects in the works. Strenski says solar panels on the back of City Hall and on the rooftop of the Food Co-op’s River Street Bakery will be completed by the end of the summer. Read the rest of the story here.

The politics of dirt in downtown Ann Arbor

By Newsroom

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Community Development

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December 9, 2009

Where to put the dirt? It's a question that's starting to vex downtown Ann Arbor officials as they prep to begin digging one big hole in the ground.The hole is for the Library Lot underground parking deck next to the Ann Arbor District Library. The city has started on some of the work to build a XXX-car parking garage underneath a surface parking lot next on Fourth Street and replacing some of the surrounding infrastructure, such as sewer and water lines. But the big hole for all of those cars is coming later this year. That means an acre of earth four stories deep has to go somewhere."We're talking about a mountain of dirt," says Susan Pollay, executive director of Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority.That dirt is a combination of sand and gravel that comes free of pollutants. A little of it will be mixed into the concrete for the parking deck, but there will still be many, many tons that need a home sooner rather than later.The Ann Arbor Airport was a possible location in need of dirt. The expansion project there left a big hole in the ground, but Pollay says the airport wants to use it as a water retention pond. The city's park system was another candidate, but Pollay says the Parks Department claims they don't need much, if any, dirt in the near term, despite the landscaping work slated for West Park."We're back to square one," Pollay says, adding that city officials wants to keep the dirt closer to home to make the project more sustainable.The parking deck is one of the most ambitious projects in the downtown. Most parking garages in the city's center have been built entirely above ground with the occasional parking deck that has an underground floor or two above several floors of parking above grade. This parking deck is expected to open up space for development above it. Ideas that have been floated include a convention center, hotel, green space or combination of those and more.Source: Susan Pollay, executive director of the Ann Arbor Downtown Development AuthorityWriter: Jon Zemke

More and more projects go green through LEED (read about ’em below)

By Newsroom

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Development News

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December 9, 2009

Any big project that took a step forward had lots of green features. It's almost like a project needed the words LEED to get someone to stamp OK on it. It was just one indicator --along with recycling and alternative commuting-- of how sustainability is a fad that's here to stay. In this week's development news you'll find five stories from the past year that point to a leaner, greener Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti. Ann Arbor looks at creating one big river of recyclingThe politics of dirt in downtown Ann ArborSchoolpictures.com moves into new Ypsilanti homeDowntown Ann Arbor employers step up for Commuter ChallengeGreenhills School breaks ground on $3M expansion

Ann Arbor looks at creating one big river of recycling

By Newsroom

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Community Development

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December 9, 2009

The first lesson with recycling is the need to separate. Metal goes in this bin. Clear glass over there. Green glass right here. Plastics 1-2 in the big bin. Don't, repeat, don't mix and match.Ann Arbor residents could be throwing that lesson out soon. The city is looking at switching to a single-stream, or fully commingled, recycling effort. That means resident would no longer have to put paper products in the paper bin and everything else in the other bin. It would all go in the same box on the curb each week.Among the incentives for going single stream are making it easier for residents to use, meaning more is recycled, expansion of the recycling list and reduced logistical costs. However, there are some downsides, such as increased sorting costs. Among the other cities that use single-stream recycling are Austin, Texas and Baltimore. "The technology has improved significantly over the years as far as sorting materials," says Tom McMurtrie, recycling coordinator for the city of Ann Arbor. The city would invest $3.5 million into upgrades at its recycling facility to accommodate this transition. The staff levels would stay the same with machines handling the extra sorting. The switch would also require new recycling containers, costing $1.3 million. Gone will be the green and brown bins. Replacing them will be one large container for all recycling, which now includes all plastic products except No. 3 plastics. Each of these containers will come with a bar code as part of the Recycle Bank system, which rewards recyclers with coupons and prizes in proportion to how much they recycle. This systems has helped up recycling efforts in both Rochester Hills and Westland. The time line for the transition is expected to stretch into next summer. The City Council is expected to begin approving the switch in November so it can be implemented by July, 2010. Source: Tom McMurtrie, recycling coordinator for the city of Ann ArborWriter: Jon Zemke