More Accessible Bio-Diesel
One of the impediments that has faced the green building industry from its inception is the availability and convenience of green building materials. While big box retailers and specialty lumber companies have carried some larger volume materials on a regional basis, the more specialized small volume products have gone begging for convenient access by installers.
With the booming of the green building marketplace has come a parallel growth in specialty retailers catering to consumers seeking knowledgeable sales people to tell them about the benefits of environmentally preferable purchasing. Not only do these retailers supply committed
enviro-friendly sales people and green products but they also serve as a clearing house and local activist center to "spread the word" about new developments in the field and connections to various tradespeople.
A new development for these retailers was recently endorsed by a San Francisco area retailer and it won't be long before other enviro-home improvement retailers say "Why not?" Green Fusion Design Center of San Anselmo recently aligned themselves with a local bio-diesel producer, LC Biofuels, LLC, of Richmond, CA, who installed a bio-diesel pump in front of their store for its customers.
It was a simple, no-brainer decision, according to the owner, Greg Snowden: "We sell other green products. Why not offer bio-diesel?" Locally produced and delivered and in great demand by locals, and selling above the median price of distillate, the fill-ups have been brisk. Contractors coming to load up on bamboo flooring or non-VOC paints also fill up their construction trucks while shopping and chatting. Best of all, LC Biofuels offers all California licensed building contractors a $0.30 discount per gallon, which should drive more business to the Green Fusion Design Center.
ONLY WITH SOFTWARE
The logistics of the bio-diesel enterprise are the most interesting and could only be accomplished with the aid of computers.
The San Anselmo Town Council placed restrictive times for vehicles to refuel. Homeowners who supported the dispensing of an environmentally friendly product also didn't want excessive traffic and feared the louder noise of commercial trucks at all hours of the night.
Prospective purchasers of B-D have to register on LCBiofuels' website to become a Biodiesel User Group member to receive a pump access card that will turn on the pump. Green Fusion Design didn't want to deal with the pump, nor ringing up the sales on the cash register and then separating the revenue, filing the taxes, etc. Through the use of the member access card, purchasers are restricted to certain times of the day to refuel.
Oversize commercial trucks can only refuel between certain hours of the morning, which keeps big trucks from clogging the parking lot restricting store customer access. Other customers have the convenience of fueling seven days a week 11 hours a day, stopping at 6 p.m.
Lance McCardle of LC Biofuels says that the whole project went relatively smoothly getting it passed with the Town Council, building permits, etc.
There was a potential to market the B-D under two different plans: One would allow the store to set the retail price and buy the B-D at a set price; the other was the plan that made the most sense for GFDC, i.e., getting a rebate on all gallons sold, without having to process the sales.
The installation of the pump and above-ground storage tank was logistically and (actually took seven months start to finish) challenging, but LC knows how important it is to bring clean burning, domestically produced bio-diesel to conscious consumers so perseverance won out in the end.
While the price at the pump for this bio-diesel is higher than the median price of distillate for the area, LC Biofuels delivers a premium B-D using canola oil as their feedstock. Canola oil delivers higher performance and is more cost effective to brew than McDiesel (fryer fat/oil) and more dependable as a supply feedstock than fryer oil.
Lance McCardle can be reached at lance@lcbiofules.com, or visit lcbiofules.com for more information.
Greg Snowden can be reached at greg@greenfusiondesigncenter.com, or visit greenfusiondesigncenter.com for more information.
May 2007 Builder Architect Edition Issue
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