After many articles through which I have described in details what Zero Emission Workspace should be, it’s time to recap a bit.

There are still many unknowns and uncertainties to sort out, but at the same time a good first cut of the project has been laid out.

Figure 1 - Zero Emission Workspace (click to enlarge)

Let’s go through the main features which constitute the blueprint of this zero carbon project:

  1. Zero Emission Workspace will be a 3 storey commercial building, formed by 6 offices and a conference room. The actual location for the development is still to be identified.
  2. It will be designed and developed according to the Passive House standard in order to reduce to minimum the heating and cooling consumption. The design will include a ventilation system with heat recovery, super insulation and air tightness envelop technology.
  3. It will be powered entirely by an on-site electricity micro-generation system, which will be a mix of wind turbines and solar panels.
  4. Thermal solar panels will be used to produce hot water.
  5. A rain harvesting system will be installed to fulfil (totally or partially) the on-site water requirement.
  6. In the car park, an electric car filling station will be installed. The station will provide 6 battery chargers for 6 electric vehicles and it will be powered by the on-site generation system.
  7. Whenever the electricity produced by the generation system is more than the energy demand of the building, part of the surplus will be stored using an electricity storage technology still to be identified (some options are described in a previous article). The other part will be sold to the electric grid.
  8. The offices will be put on the market for rent. The conference room will be hired for internal or external events.

There are still issues to sort out, some of which require analysis and advice from external consultants. The current main issues are as follows:

  1. The location of the project is still to be identified. In particular, it is necessary to identify a suitable land for the development, taking into account different important factors:
    1. The location should be suitable to put the premises on the market. For example, it should be near a big town and easily accessible, in order to facilitate the commuting for the people working on site.
    2. The location should be suitable for the micro-generation system. A site survey about wind speed and sun irradiation should be carried out.
    3. The location should be suitable for the development of a commercial building with characteristics of a light industrial estate. Even if the building will be designed in order to minimize the impact on the landscape, wind turbines and solar panels could be visible from long distance. However, the components of the micro-generation system will be selected in order to minimize this problem.
  2. The electricity storage system is still to be identified. This technology is crucial to make the commercial workspace energy independent and it will add value to the project itself. Zero Emission Workspace could be used as pilot project for energy storage technologies that have never been tested in micro-generation systems. The electric vehicle batteries could play a significant role in this solution, though other technologies should be used in order to store the necessary energy to cope with a sufficient long period of low electricity production.
  3. The initial investment required is still to be evaluated. In particular, an estimate of the costs of the following is needed:
    1. the design and construction of the building according to the Passive House standard
    2. the electricity generators (wind turbines and solar panels)
    3. the thermal solar panel system
    4. the rain harvesting system
    5. the electricity storage system
    6. the fleet of electric cars and the battery charging station
    7. the necessary electric connections between the on-site generators and between the generators and the electric grid
    8. the cost of the planning permission to be submitted to the local planning authority
    9. the consultant and subcontractor fees
  4. The Operation and Maintenance (O&M) costs are still to be estimated.
  5. The turnover, profit and cash flow forecasts are still to be worked out.

It is expected that most of the above main issues will be analysed soon. Analyses and solutions will be provided in separate documents.

In the next article I’ll give a brief overview of a possible business and financial model that can be adopted for this project. The selection of the right model will be crucial to attract the interest of investors and future partners.