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Home My WebLink AboutCOUNCIL - AGENDA ITEM - 05/20/2014 - RESOLUTION 2014-037 ENDORSING AND SUPPORTING COLORAgenda Item 18 Item # 18 Page 1 AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY May 20, 2014 City Council STAFF Lucinda Smith, Environmental Sustainability Director Bruce Hendee, Chief Sustainability Officer SUBJECT Resolution 2014-037 Endorsing and Supporting Colorado State University's Participation in the National EcoCAR2 Competition. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The purpose of this resolution is to support Colorado State University’s participation in the national EcoCAR2 competition by adopting a resolution expressing City endorsement of their competition and supporting the program. The Mechanical Engineering Department at Colorado State University is participating in the EcoCAR2 national competition, an advanced vehicle technology competition sponsored by the US Department of Energy, General Motors and dozens of industrial sponsors. The goal is to develop an engineering workforce to solve the product development and design challenges that every part of the U.S. technology sector will need to overcome in the coming years. EcoCAR2 challenges fifteen undergraduate programs across the country to design, develop, and test a high technology, high efficiency hybrid electric vehicle. More than 100 CSU students have worked to convert Chevrolet’s new 2013 Malibu into a mean green hydrogen powered plug-in hybrid electric car. On June 12, they will be attending a competition Ride and Drive event in Washington, D.C. STAFF RECOMMENDATION Staff recommends adoption of the Resolution. BACKGROUND / DISCUSSION EcoCAR 2 is an international advanced vehicle technology competition sponsored by the US Department of Energy, General Motors, and dozens of industrial sponsors. These organizations’ goals are to develop an engineering workforce to solve the product development and environmental design challenges that every part of the US technology sector will need to overcome in the coming years. EcoCAR 2 does this by challenging undergraduate student teams from 15 schools across North America to design, develop, and test a high-technology, high-efficiency hybrid electric vehicle. The competition's mission is a vital one: offer an unparalleled hands-on, real-world experience to educate the next generation of automotive engineers. The competition challenges these 15 universities to reduce the environmental impact of a Chevrolet Malibu without compromising performance, safety and consumer acceptability. The CSU Vehicle Innovation Team was selected as a participating school in April of 2011. More than 100 CSU students have worked to convert Chevrolet's new 2013MY Malibu into a mean, green hydrogen-powered plug-in hybrid electric car. For each of the past three years, CSU’s Vehicle Innovation Team has competed with the most prestigious schools in the nation to showcase Colorado students' creativity and excellence. The program has performed excellently and has won awards and national recognition for its performance. For more information about the CSU team, see Agenda Item 18 Item # 18 Page 2 <http://www.engr.colostate.edu/me/pages/undergraduate/senior-projects/ecoCar-2/EcoCar2-1.html> In 2014, the EcoCAR program moved into Colorado State University’s Powerhouse Campus in Fort Collins. This new LEED Platinum building is the central hub of CSU’s newly formed Energy Institute and a state-of-the- art facility for research, development and commercialization. After two hard years of work, the time has come for the Year Three Competition. Held June 1-12, 2014 in Milford, Michigan, and Washington, D.C., EcoCAR 2 teams will compete in more than a dozen dynamic and static events and will refine their vehicles into near-production prototype vehicles. The EcoCar2 program provides critical real world experience to support the next generation of automotive engineers in developing vehicles that reduce fuel consumption, reduce well-to-wheel greenhouse gas emissions, and reduce criteria tailpipe emissions while maintaining consumer acceptability in the areas of performance, utility, and safety. Vehicles meeting these criteria will be necessary if our community and the nation are to reduce our carbon footprint and dependence on fossil fuels, increase resiliency, and support a healthy economy. FINANCIAL / ECONOMIC IMPACTS There is no financial impact to the City associated with passage of this resolution. National competitions such as EcoCAR2 can serve to advance vehicle efficiency design and ultimately help reduce our reliance on fossil fuels. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS National competitions such as EcoCAR2 can serve to advance vehicle efficiency design and ultimately help reduce our carbon footprint and reliance on fossil fuels. PUBLIC OUTREACH It is intrinsic to CSU's Land Grant University mission to support the community through outreach, service and teaching, and CSU EcoCAR 2 regularly supports K-12 education, policy making, community events, and educational lectures with a dynamic and outstanding students and faculty. - 1 - RESOLUTION 2014-037 OF THE COUNCIL OF CITY OF FORT COLLINS ENDORSING AND SUPPORTING COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY’S PARTICIPATION IN THE NATIONAL ECOCAR2 COMPETITION WHEREAS, the City has adopted a goal of achieving a community-wide greenhouse gas emission reduction of 20% by 2020 and set a planning object to achieve 80% by 2030 (relative to 2005 levels), with a further planning objective of achieving carbon neutrality (a return to 2005 levels) by 2050; and WHEREAS, development of new technologies for the reduction of greenhouse gas impacts of vehicles is an important factor in reducing greenhouse gas emissions in Fort Collins and on a broader scale; and WHEREAS, the EcoCAR2 national competition (“EcoCAR2”) is an advanced vehicle technology competition sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, General Motors, and dozens of other sponsors; and WHEREAS, the goal of EcoCAR2 is to develop an engineering workforce to solve upcoming product development and design challenges, and in particular to challenge fifteen undergraduate programs across the county to design, develop and test a high technology, high efficiency hybrid electric vehicle; and WHEREAS, the Colorado State University (CSU) Vehicle Innovation Team from the CSU Mechanical Engineering Department, has engaged over 100 CSU students over the past two years to prepare for the EcoCAR2 challenge to reduce the environmental impact of a Chevrolet Malibu without compromising performance, safety and consumer acceptability; and WHEREAS, CSU’s EcoCAR program is housed in the new Powerhouse Campus, located in the original City Power Plant building, now leased by the City for CSU’s use; and WHEREAS, the EcoCAR2 competition will be held in Milford, Michigan, and Washington, D.C., from June 1 to June 12, 2014, and will consist of more than a dozen dynamic and static events that will assist the teams to refine their vehicles into near-production prototype vehicles; and WHEREAS, the EcoCAR2 program and the work of the CSU Team will help to advance vehicle efficiency design and related technologies and ultimately help to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS that the City Council hereby endorses and supports the participation of the CSU EcoCAR2 Team in the 2014 EcoCAR2 Ride and Drive event in Washington, D.C., and the continued efforts of CSU and the EcoCAR program to promote vehicle efficiency design and related technologies and ultimately help to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels. - 2 - Passed and adopted at a regular meeting of the Council of the City of Fort Collins this 20th day of May, A.D. 2014. _________________________________ Mayor ATTEST: _____________________________ City Clerk