WEBVTT

00:01:00.000 --> 00:01:04.999
Additional funding is provided by Bank
of America, A financial services partner

00:01:05.000 --> 00:01:09.999
to customers and companies around the world.
The UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY.

00:01:10.000 --> 00:01:14.999
The Teresa and H. John Heinz III Foundation

00:01:15.000 --> 00:01:19.999
And by the CORPORATION
FOR PUBLIC BROADCASTING.

00:01:20.000 --> 00:01:24.999
[sil.]

00:01:25.000 --> 00:01:33.000
[music]

00:01:50.000 --> 00:01:54.999
There are things living in your building,

00:01:55.000 --> 00:01:59.999
you’ve never met.

00:02:00.000 --> 00:02:04.999
They may be growing in your air ducts.

00:02:05.000 --> 00:02:09.999
[music]

00:02:10.000 --> 00:02:14.999
Or maybe they are on your air conditioning
coils, or in the drip pan below,

00:02:15.000 --> 00:02:19.999
goosing, multiplying.

00:02:20.000 --> 00:02:24.999
Usually, they are harmless
but sometimes they are not.

00:02:25.000 --> 00:02:29.999
It was like a horror movie, I guess, it’s the
best way to explain it. It was black and,

00:02:30.000 --> 00:02:34.999
and heavy blotches and very visible.

00:02:35.000 --> 00:02:39.999
In 1989, the citizens of
Martin County, Florida,

00:02:40.000 --> 00:02:44.999
opened a new $8,000,000 courthouse.
But within a year,

00:02:45.000 --> 00:02:49.999
the shining structure was critically ill and
nearly terminal case of sick building syndrome.

00:02:50.000 --> 00:02:54.999
It was a victim of defective
workplace design.

00:02:55.000 --> 00:02:59.999
The environment was not taken into
account with nasty consequences

00:03:00.000 --> 00:03:04.999
for the people working there. There
was actually, mould in the foam,

00:03:05.000 --> 00:03:09.999
in the seat, in the back, and I had a cushion
for my back that was strapped to the chair

00:03:10.000 --> 00:03:14.999
and when I opened it up, it actually, had
quiet a bit of mould in the foam itself.

00:03:15.000 --> 00:03:19.999
That was very fussy, it was green,

00:03:20.000 --> 00:03:24.999
the aroma was unreal. It was just…
I couldn’t believe such a smell

00:03:25.000 --> 00:03:29.999
could come from something like that.
And as I pulled it out, and realized

00:03:30.000 --> 00:03:34.999
that the entire flag of state of
Florida and the American flag,

00:03:35.000 --> 00:03:39.999
both were most, were moisture
soaked and mould going in it.

00:03:40.000 --> 00:03:44.999
It was a stagnant I experienced, to say the least, you
know, the building was, was literally at that time,

00:03:45.000 --> 00:03:49.999
I’d have to say, being
consumed by the mould.

00:03:50.000 --> 00:03:54.999
A sick building can lead to sick workers

00:03:55.000 --> 00:03:59.999
and that’s what happened in the courthouse.

00:04:00.000 --> 00:04:04.999
There is a wide variety of symptoms that people suffered from in this
building, you know, fatigue, sore throats, itchy eyes, umm… coughing.

00:04:05.000 --> 00:04:09.999
Headache, feeling tired,

00:04:10.000 --> 00:04:14.999
wither cough, that was almost
always a general problem

00:04:15.000 --> 00:04:19.999
that surf us, although, there were others that had
more serious problems with allergic reactions.

00:04:20.000 --> 00:04:24.999
The symptoms are often triggered

00:04:25.000 --> 00:04:29.999
by mould reproductive cells, called spores.
Those are small in size

00:04:30.000 --> 00:04:34.999
which means they are respireable in making go to
the deepest recesses of lungs and so they can

00:04:35.000 --> 00:04:39.999
impact in there and cause the allergic response to the
allergens that are on the surface of their spores.

00:04:40.000 --> 00:04:44.999
Excessive moisture cause the mould.

00:04:45.000 --> 00:04:49.999
The building and it’s air conditioning system had
not been designed for Florida’s high humidity.

00:04:50.000 --> 00:04:54.999
The design of all our work
places was taken into account

00:04:55.000 --> 00:04:59.999
both the environment outside and
the people who worked inside.

00:05:00.000 --> 00:05:04.999
Look at this maze, there
is no day light here,

00:05:05.000 --> 00:05:09.999
hardly any fresh air. No wonder, some office
buildings make people feel as though they are sick.

00:05:10.000 --> 00:05:14.999
Hey, over here, William McDonough.

00:05:15.000 --> 00:05:19.999
Design is the first signal of human intention.
What was the intention of design of this space?

00:05:20.000 --> 00:05:24.999
What was this space designed for? The
telephones? The computers? The furniture?

00:05:25.000 --> 00:05:29.999
It certainly doesn’t feel as
that was designed for people.

00:05:30.000 --> 00:05:34.999
We spend half of our waking
life in the workplace.

00:05:35.000 --> 00:05:39.999
It’s a big part of our personal neighborhood. This
program investigates the places where we work,

00:05:40.000 --> 00:05:44.999
the office and how we live here,
the factory and what’s made there,

00:05:45.000 --> 00:05:49.999
and how they affect the larger environment around us. And
we’ll also look at what most of us get to work, the car.

00:05:50.000 --> 00:05:54.999
In this mechanized age, it seems as if we’ve
been designing building for the building sake,

00:05:55.000 --> 00:05:59.999
not for the people inside. This
is if the office is a machine

00:06:00.000 --> 00:06:04.999
for working in and we are just corks. But we are the
reason that machine is being built in the first place

00:06:05.000 --> 00:06:09.999
and it should be designed for us.
For health, our enjoyment,

00:06:10.000 --> 00:06:14.999
our productivity, and our prosperity. A living
machine, a few of us designers have been doing

00:06:15.000 --> 00:06:19.999
just that since the 1980’s, and now,
some of our concepts are catching on.

00:06:20.000 --> 00:06:28.000
[music]

00:06:40.000 --> 00:06:44.999
I don’t think anyone has attempted doing a
building that is environmentally responsible

00:06:45.000 --> 00:06:49.999
of this magnitude, in years, the
first green building of it’s kind

00:06:50.000 --> 00:06:54.999
uh… not only in the New York
City but I believe in the world.

00:06:55.000 --> 00:06:59.999
[music]

00:07:00.000 --> 00:07:04.999
The actual sight, 4 Times Square

00:07:05.000 --> 00:07:09.999
runs between 42nd and 43rd
street, uh… right on Broadway.

00:07:10.000 --> 00:07:14.999
[music]

00:07:15.000 --> 00:07:19.999
There, literally, are very few places on the face of
the earth that are more difficult to do construction

00:07:20.000 --> 00:07:24.999
than in the middle of Midtown,
Manhattan and… and even more

00:07:25.000 --> 00:07:29.999
difficult than that at Times Square.
This is our site.

00:07:30.000 --> 00:07:34.999
This large empty space in this model. This is
42nd street, this is 43rd street to the north,

00:07:35.000 --> 00:07:39.999
and the diagonal street coming through here
is Broadway. This is number one times square

00:07:40.000 --> 00:07:44.999
with the ball drops right along the space.

00:07:45.000 --> 00:07:49.999
[music]

00:07:50.000 --> 00:07:54.999
4 Times Square is built as the world’s
first environmentally friendly skyscraper.

00:07:55.000 --> 00:07:59.999
It’s designed to be friendlier to the world
outside and to the people who work in it.

00:08:00.000 --> 00:08:04.999
Number one, we are saving lot’s
of energy in every way we can.

00:08:05.000 --> 00:08:09.999
Number two, we are providing an
indoor environment for the workers,

00:08:10.000 --> 00:08:14.999
uh… that will be second to none of New York City.
Number three, we are using a lot of recycled materials

00:08:15.000 --> 00:08:19.999
will be significant portion of the
building including steel, and concrete,

00:08:20.000 --> 00:08:24.999
and, sheet rock, carpet, ceiling
tile that will be having

00:08:25.000 --> 00:08:29.999
high recycled content.
The 48 storey building

00:08:30.000 --> 00:08:34.999
will be completed until 1999. But
before construction even started,

00:08:35.000 --> 00:08:39.999
two major tenants leased nearly all of it,

00:08:40.000 --> 00:08:44.999
making a profit doesn’t conflict
with environmental responsibility.

00:08:45.000 --> 00:08:49.999
There typically has been environmental
thought and there has been business thought.

00:08:50.000 --> 00:08:54.999
And the two have not necessarily seen eye to eye,
but it’s our belief and it’s the Durst’s belief

00:08:55.000 --> 00:08:59.999
that… that good environmental policy
really makes good business policy.

00:09:00.000 --> 00:09:04.999
The tenant guidelines are met in…
The man behind 4 Times Square

00:09:05.000 --> 00:09:09.999
are some of the biggest names
in New York real estate.

00:09:10.000 --> 00:09:14.999
The building owners are Jody and Douglas Durst. They run
the family business run founded by their grandfather.

00:09:15.000 --> 00:09:19.999
Joseph Durst came here in 1902, from Poland

00:09:20.000 --> 00:09:24.999
with $3 to his name. 13 years later,

00:09:25.000 --> 00:09:29.999
he bought his first Manhattan building.

00:09:30.000 --> 00:09:34.999
Joseph’s sons, changed directions from buying
existing structures, they began to build their own.

00:09:35.000 --> 00:09:39.999
The family’s net worth is now
an estimated $650 million.

00:09:40.000 --> 00:09:44.999
We have 8 commercial
buildings in Manhattan,

00:09:45.000 --> 00:09:49.999
one of which contains one of our
largest tenants US Trust which is that

00:09:50.000 --> 00:09:54.999
silver cap building right down there.

00:09:55.000 --> 00:09:59.999
The US trust building was designed by the firm of
Fox and Fowle. …which is different kinds of glass…

00:10:00.000 --> 00:10:04.999
Bob Fox and Bruce Fowle are now the
architects for the 4 Times Square.

00:10:05.000 --> 00:10:09.999
…maximum visibility and so forth. We’re creating guideline
but we also wanna sell… Dan Tishman’s construction company

00:10:10.000 --> 00:10:14.999
built the World Trade Center.

00:10:15.000 --> 00:10:19.999
Now he’s accepted this new challenge.

00:10:20.000 --> 00:10:24.999
The third Durst generation is once again
taking the family business in a new direction.

00:10:25.000 --> 00:10:29.999
This time, it’s a new direction in design.
I think, what’s wrong with buildings today

00:10:30.000 --> 00:10:34.999
is that they don’t consider the end user.
They’re, they’ve given consideration

00:10:35.000 --> 00:10:39.999
to what the architect thinks, looks pretty

00:10:40.000 --> 00:10:44.999
but that the actual use doesn’t
give enough consideration.

00:10:45.000 --> 00:10:49.999
The end users are office workers

00:10:50.000 --> 00:10:54.999
and the health of the office workplace
has a lot to do with their productivity.

00:10:55.000 --> 00:10:59.999
How much is the matter of opinion?

00:11:00.000 --> 00:11:04.999
10% increase in the worker productivity, which is
easy to achieve in the right, in a green building

00:11:05.000 --> 00:11:09.999
would mean a significant
addition to the bottom line.

00:11:10.000 --> 00:11:14.999
I hope we show by example that it doesn’t
necessarily mean spending more money,

00:11:15.000 --> 00:11:19.999
it just means that more attention has to be paid
about, to what you are putting into the building.

00:11:20.000 --> 00:11:24.999
In the 1970’s, building codes

00:11:25.000 --> 00:11:29.999
were rewritten to save energy
and a common technique

00:11:30.000 --> 00:11:34.999
was to cut down back on the amount of
outside air brought into the building.

00:11:35.000 --> 00:11:39.999
And that result in something called minimum fresh
air, which was how much can we get away with it,

00:11:40.000 --> 00:11:44.999
still keep the people
alive in the buildings.

00:11:45.000 --> 00:11:49.999
Minimum fresh air lead to sick building
syndrome, that spurred the new revolution

00:11:50.000 --> 00:11:54.999
and green design, air quality.

00:11:55.000 --> 00:11:59.999
4 Times Square will have

00:12:00.000 --> 00:12:04.999
50% more outside air than
any building code requires.

00:12:05.000 --> 00:12:09.999
Elements of the new building
system have already been

00:12:10.000 --> 00:12:14.999
installed in an existing
Durst family building.

00:12:15.000 --> 00:12:19.999
This is the fresh air supply panel.
They take fresh air from outside,

00:12:20.000 --> 00:12:24.999
bring it up into these ducts, and
distribute it into tenant offices.

00:12:25.000 --> 00:12:29.999
Fresh air comes in from outside
through these slots here.

00:12:30.000 --> 00:12:34.999
Enters these filter bags which will acts like little vacuum
cleaner bags. They pick up any dirt or particles from outside.

00:12:35.000 --> 00:12:39.999
Hey, it’s New York City here. Essentially
a million and a half square feet

00:12:40.000 --> 00:12:44.999
in the original plan that… But even the most
ingenious technology can’t protect tenants

00:12:45.000 --> 00:12:49.999
from their decor. The materials
tenants use to furnish offices

00:12:50.000 --> 00:12:54.999
can emit noxious fumes. Organic solvents,
and carpets, and wall coverings,

00:12:55.000 --> 00:12:59.999
from aldehydes, from furniture.

00:13:00.000 --> 00:13:04.999
The natural resources defence council
has been advising the project.

00:13:05.000 --> 00:13:09.999
Dan Tishman is on the
organization’s board of directors.

00:13:10.000 --> 00:13:14.999
Certainly, carpets are one of the biggest
defenders of the sick building syndrome.

00:13:15.000 --> 00:13:19.999
Energy efficiency has not been forgotten.

00:13:20.000 --> 00:13:24.999
[sil.]

00:13:25.000 --> 00:13:29.999
Big savings in electricity comes
from proper sizing of chillers.

00:13:30.000 --> 00:13:34.999
They are the cooling units in
the air conditioning system.

00:13:35.000 --> 00:13:39.999
If you take a machine that is
capable of delivering 100 tonnes

00:13:40.000 --> 00:13:44.999
and only use it to deliver 30
tonnes, it’s very inefficient

00:13:45.000 --> 00:13:49.999
and really waste a lot of energy. But instead of
having one big machine, we have a series of machines

00:13:50.000 --> 00:13:54.999
so that we can run the exact
right amount of equipment

00:13:55.000 --> 00:13:59.999
for the load of the building. The chiller
refrigerant is environmental friendly too.

00:14:00.000 --> 00:14:04.999
It’s water, not CFC’s that
destroy the ozone layer.

00:14:05.000 --> 00:14:09.999
The chiller also run on
clean burning natural gas

00:14:10.000 --> 00:14:14.999
rather than electricity from power
plants that might burn coal.

00:14:15.000 --> 00:14:19.999
Solar energy, electricity from
the sun will play a token part.

00:14:20.000 --> 00:14:24.999
As a sign of the time,

00:14:25.000 --> 00:14:29.999
solar cells will be fitted to the skyscraper’s outer wall. …to central
point and this would be integrated into the curtain wall to spangle(ph)

00:14:30.000 --> 00:14:34.999
A similar sunny surprise

00:14:35.000 --> 00:14:39.999
awaits the workers inside too.

00:14:40.000 --> 00:14:44.999
Day light, but all office workers crave

00:14:45.000 --> 00:14:49.999
but rarely get, especially, in the
concrete canyons of the city.

00:14:50.000 --> 00:14:54.999
But from the inside, the greatest
thing about this is that

00:14:55.000 --> 00:14:59.999
it lets in a lot of visible light in from the
inside… Natural light, daylight, sunlight

00:15:00.000 --> 00:15:04.999
is very important to people and they
work much better when they see the light

00:15:05.000 --> 00:15:09.999
and sometimes feel the sun and
we are advocating tenants,

00:15:10.000 --> 00:15:14.999
\"Do not put offices on the perimeter
of the building or if they do,

00:15:15.000 --> 00:15:19.999
that the wall on the carter would be
glass, which is partially or all glass

00:15:20.000 --> 00:15:24.999
to allow as much daylight to come from the
exterior window into the interior aspects.

00:15:25.000 --> 00:15:29.999
[sil.]

00:15:30.000 --> 00:15:34.999
Artificial light will always be with us, of
course. Here high efficiency florescence

00:15:35.000 --> 00:15:39.999
will put as much light as can regular
(inaudible) bulbs with half the electricity.

00:15:40.000 --> 00:15:44.999
4 Times Square, then is a beacon

00:15:45.000 --> 00:15:49.999
of the cross roads of the world.

00:15:50.000 --> 00:15:54.999
Architectural flare blends with green
features, high quality indoor air,

00:15:55.000 --> 00:15:59.999
energy efficiency, and day light interiors.

00:16:00.000 --> 00:16:04.999
We are hoping to make 4 Times Square an
example for others to follow and we’ve gone

00:16:05.000 --> 00:16:09.999
to great… pains to make that happen.

00:16:10.000 --> 00:16:14.999
As construction gets under way, the development
is all ready running into competition.

00:16:15.000 --> 00:16:19.999
When you look at the insulation, when you look at
walls, when you look at the power of the floors…

00:16:20.000 --> 00:16:24.999
The Donald is going green.

00:16:25.000 --> 00:16:29.999
He is refitting a skyscraper at 40 wall street.
We really think, we’ll probably, have the most

00:16:30.000 --> 00:16:34.999
environmentally sound building
there is and literally…

00:16:35.000 --> 00:16:39.999
Suddenly, environmental building
design is everybody’s new idea.

00:16:40.000 --> 00:16:44.999
It doesn’t cost more money and the
benefits to the employees are so vast

00:16:45.000 --> 00:16:49.999
that this will become the
standard and I think,

00:16:50.000 --> 00:16:54.999
the standard will be improving
with every building.

00:16:55.000 --> 00:16:59.999
The success of this project in the heart
of Manhattan will be concrete proof

00:17:00.000 --> 00:17:04.999
that environmental responsibility
can be good business.

00:17:05.000 --> 00:17:09.999
If green design can make it
there, it can make it anywhere.

00:17:10.000 --> 00:17:14.999
[music]

00:17:15.000 --> 00:17:19.999
So we are beginning to know how to make a building’s
environment better for the people inside.

00:17:20.000 --> 00:17:24.999
But what about the impact the workplace on
the larger environment, natural resources,

00:17:25.000 --> 00:17:29.999
air and water quality, and waste?

00:17:30.000 --> 00:17:34.999
Office buildings demand thousands and thousands of products every
year. Paper, computers, light bulbs, furniture, even carpets.

00:17:35.000 --> 00:17:39.999
A lot of energy and raw material
went into making this carpet.

00:17:40.000 --> 00:17:44.999
And when it’s worn out, it’s just
thrown away. But where is the way?

00:17:45.000 --> 00:17:49.999
A hole on the ground, a land fill, a dump.

00:17:50.000 --> 00:17:54.999
And all the carpet’s value is lost when it goes into that
land fill. A few companies are starting directly nicest

00:17:55.000 --> 00:17:59.999
and are doing everything they can
to recover some of that value.

00:18:00.000 --> 00:18:04.999
Like the nylon in this carpet.

00:18:05.000 --> 00:18:09.999
Allied Signal Corporation shreds
nylon carpet into fibers.

00:18:10.000 --> 00:18:14.999
They discovered a new process

00:18:15.000 --> 00:18:19.999
that breaks down the nylon. It’s turned
back into the chemical raw material

00:18:20.000 --> 00:18:24.999
from which it was made. So new
nylon can be manufactured

00:18:25.000 --> 00:18:29.999
for carpets again. It’s true recycling,
back to the original material.

00:18:30.000 --> 00:18:34.999
But the process disgorges
something else too,

00:18:35.000 --> 00:18:39.999
mixed globs of melted plastic.

00:18:40.000 --> 00:18:44.999
They can’t be converted back to their
original materials. They can be down cycled

00:18:45.000 --> 00:18:49.999
into plastic pot benches perhaps,
but not recycle into new carpet.

00:18:50.000 --> 00:18:54.999
The problem is carpet was never designed
to be recycled. And it’s not enough

00:18:55.000 --> 00:18:59.999
just to recycle these nylon tops
(inaudible), there’s always other stuff.

00:19:00.000 --> 00:19:04.999
Plastics, binders that hold it together,
a synthetic rubber on the back.

00:19:05.000 --> 00:19:09.999
We need to redesign carpeting so it can be truly
recycled. This could become plastic again,

00:19:10.000 --> 00:19:14.999
this could become nylon again, everything
could become itself again, for ever.

00:19:15.000 --> 00:19:19.999
That’s true recycling. Carpeting would never have
to be thrown away, it would always have value

00:19:20.000 --> 00:19:24.999
and it would always be safe for humans and nature.
Now, this carpet was made completely from chemicals.

00:19:25.000 --> 00:19:29.999
We use chemicals in every façade
of our lives. But there production

00:19:30.000 --> 00:19:34.999
can sometimes pose risk for the people
who make them and for the neighborhoods

00:19:35.000 --> 00:19:39.999
that surrounds the plants.

00:19:40.000 --> 00:19:44.999
Technology can’t anticipate
every circumstance.

00:19:45.000 --> 00:19:49.999
And the environment and the people
in it can end up paying the price.

00:19:50.000 --> 00:19:54.999
This is a man who loved his job.
He loved cuffing people

00:19:55.000 --> 00:19:59.999
and writing accident reports
and… and having the opportunity

00:20:00.000 --> 00:20:04.999
to… to catch criminals and… and
he loved it all, but it changed.

00:20:05.000 --> 00:20:09.999
And I come to this
intersection I see the cloud,

00:20:10.000 --> 00:20:14.999
I see what looks to me like a
huge rain cloud in front of me.

00:20:15.000 --> 00:20:19.999
And it’s, this is high as I can see and
it’s as wide see it at this point.

00:20:20.000 --> 00:20:24.999
Gas pressure at a nearby chemical plant

00:20:25.000 --> 00:20:29.999
that built up too fast. The safety
valve opened and released it.

00:20:30.000 --> 00:20:34.999
The emmited gases came across the ammonia
plant, as it came over this way,

00:20:35.000 --> 00:20:39.999
it formed a cloud which came across

00:20:40.000 --> 00:20:44.999
the highway out here obscuring vision.
The mist that was in the air

00:20:45.000 --> 00:20:49.999
started to attach to my skin and
face and exposed parts of my body, I

00:20:50.000 --> 00:20:54.999
stated to inhale what I thought to be a pure
ammonia almost, it kind of burned when it went in.

00:20:55.000 --> 00:20:59.999
The gases included vinyl chloride,
hydrogen chloride and ammonia.

00:21:00.000 --> 00:21:04.999
Borden Chemical Plant, they came from,

00:21:05.000 --> 00:21:09.999
it’s just outside the little town of Geismar, Louisiana.
When a company suggest that there is no outside impact

00:21:10.000 --> 00:21:14.999
and my husband is standing in
10,000 pounds of chemicals.

00:21:15.000 --> 00:21:19.999
Something is wrong.

00:21:20.000 --> 00:21:24.999
Are you saying that it’s environmental… A
committee of the state legislature met in Geismar

00:21:25.000 --> 00:21:29.999
to record resident’s fears about potential
threats. This one parish contributed over half

00:21:30.000 --> 00:21:34.999
of the toxic emissions in to the water and
almost 20% of the toxic ignitions into the air

00:21:35.000 --> 00:21:39.999
for the whole state of Louisiana. Have
you ever been in cloud of chemical?

00:21:40.000 --> 00:21:44.999
You don’t know a fear like that, you don’t
know where to run when you can’t breathe.

00:21:45.000 --> 00:21:49.999
I smelled it, when that accident, you talking about,
I smelled it, I was out in my yard, I smelled it.

00:21:50.000 --> 00:21:54.999
Borden reported that within
2 minutes the state police,

00:21:55.000 --> 00:21:59.999
there’s no doubt that we knew it was gonna go offside. The
only question why they would have adverse offside impact.

00:22:00.000 --> 00:22:04.999
Chemical emissions generate controversy

00:22:05.000 --> 00:22:09.999
and part because of fear of
long term health effects.

00:22:10.000 --> 00:22:14.999
I’m 25 years old, and I’m suddenly showing
signs of anemia and gout. Ross looks healthy,

00:22:15.000 --> 00:22:19.999
it’s when you look at his blood, he is not. I have
shortness of breath, I have problems with stamina,

00:22:20.000 --> 00:22:24.999
fatigue, things I used to be able do,

00:22:25.000 --> 00:22:29.999
I find it most, more difficult to do now.
Vinyl chloride is a known carcinogen.

00:22:30.000 --> 00:22:34.999
In this particular case, the amount of material
released and the exposure levels were below

00:22:35.000 --> 00:22:39.999
OSHA permissible levels. I think,
that there were real health issues

00:22:40.000 --> 00:22:44.999
from the organic materials present.

00:22:45.000 --> 00:22:49.999
These chemical plants are making
(inaudible). When you can hold,

00:22:50.000 --> 00:22:54.999
virtually hold the lives of little
towns and cities in your hands,

00:22:55.000 --> 00:22:59.999
you need to be a little more responsible.
After investigating the accident,

00:23:00.000 --> 00:23:04.999
engineers redesigned the plant. Now
when pressure build up too fast,

00:23:05.000 --> 00:23:09.999
gases can be diverted to another part
of system. They won’t be released

00:23:10.000 --> 00:23:14.999
through a safety valve.

00:23:15.000 --> 00:23:19.999
But that didn’t change the perception
of those caught in the cloud.

00:23:20.000 --> 00:23:24.999
There’s no way that we can stay here
and keep our serenity in a place

00:23:25.000 --> 00:23:29.999
that has over 150 chemical companies
within such a small area,

00:23:30.000 --> 00:23:34.999
and I know, it’s running away from fear but
sometimes that the only thing that you can do.

00:23:35.000 --> 00:23:39.999
Ironically, such incidents have launched

00:23:40.000 --> 00:23:44.999
major changes in the chemical industry. And now
companies are reaching for the ultimate goal,

00:23:45.000 --> 00:23:49.999
making zero discharge to the environment
part of their basic design.

00:23:50.000 --> 00:23:58.000
[music]

00:24:00.000 --> 00:24:04.999
Texas, oil, cows, and chemicals.

00:24:05.000 --> 00:24:09.999
The wide open spaces

00:24:10.000 --> 00:24:14.999
of the southern gulf coast are
the state’s biggest plants.

00:24:15.000 --> 00:24:19.999
Billions of pounds of chemicals
circulate through them each year.

00:24:20.000 --> 00:24:24.999
How was it possible to keep them from
escaping? At the Union Carbide plant

00:24:25.000 --> 00:24:29.999
in Seadrift, Texas, zero
discharge is on everyone’s mind.

00:24:30.000 --> 00:24:34.999
This graph, this graph here… for say…

00:24:35.000 --> 00:24:39.999
A pollution prevention team directs
the emissions reduction effort.

00:24:40.000 --> 00:24:44.999
…but it has it allocated back. like the way we
do it… Members investigate all plant operations

00:24:45.000 --> 00:24:49.999
searching for ways to cut back waste
of chemicals and everything else.

00:24:50.000 --> 00:24:54.999
They even recycle the wooden
(inaudible) that carry chemical drums

00:24:55.000 --> 00:24:59.999
and grind them up in the mulch. And
they spend millions for new equipment

00:25:00.000 --> 00:25:04.999
to recover chemicals and reuse them.
The plant makes chemicals

00:25:05.000 --> 00:25:09.999
for many consumer items.
Shampoo, toothpaste,

00:25:10.000 --> 00:25:14.999
anti freeze, food containers.

00:25:15.000 --> 00:25:19.999
Along with the chemical products though come
unwanted byproducts that have to be dealt with.

00:25:20.000 --> 00:25:24.999
Those large flare that
can be seen from miles

00:25:25.000 --> 00:25:29.999
are part of a disposal system. They
burn waste gases to carbon dioxide

00:25:30.000 --> 00:25:34.999
and water vapor. To treat
liquid chemical waste,

00:25:35.000 --> 00:25:39.999
the plant borrows from nature.

00:25:40.000 --> 00:25:44.999
The process starts in a large tank called the
bioreactor. There’s bacteria in that reactor

00:25:45.000 --> 00:25:49.999
that literally eats the organic
chemicals and converts it to food.

00:25:50.000 --> 00:25:54.999
More bacteria in a series of
shallow ponds finish the job.

00:25:55.000 --> 00:25:59.999
The water flows under this area, here,
into what we call the secondary pond.

00:26:00.000 --> 00:26:04.999
As it joins the water already in the
pond, you see a change in colors

00:26:05.000 --> 00:26:09.999
and that’s mostly due to the fact, that there’s a
different type of bacteria in the secondary pond.

00:26:10.000 --> 00:26:14.999
The final treatment stage
is an artificial wetland.

00:26:15.000 --> 00:26:19.999
Cattails and boar rushes removes
algae that grow in the ponds.

00:26:20.000 --> 00:26:24.999
The water that’s finally
discharged is actually cleaner

00:26:25.000 --> 00:26:29.999
than the barge canal it goes into.

00:26:30.000 --> 00:26:34.999
Treatment systems destroy chemical waste

00:26:35.000 --> 00:26:39.999
but it’s potentially valuable and
companies try to recover it for reuse.

00:26:40.000 --> 00:26:44.999
Like the ways for making
polyethylene plastic.

00:26:45.000 --> 00:26:49.999
It’s the low density polyethylene
(inaudible) that’s used by our customers

00:26:50.000 --> 00:26:54.999
for insulation of wiring, table products,
and the thick factor carrier ring

00:26:55.000 --> 00:26:59.999
that all are (inaudible) degradable.

00:27:00.000 --> 00:27:04.999
Behind this wall is the reactor that produces
the polyethylene. The reactor produces.

00:27:05.000 --> 00:27:09.999
A lot of heat is under high pressure, so
we use this wall for personal protection.

00:27:10.000 --> 00:27:14.999
Much of the reactor waste is
just left over raw material.

00:27:15.000 --> 00:27:19.999
A chemical ingredient that
wasn’t completely used up.

00:27:20.000 --> 00:27:24.999
It’s boiled off and sent
back to the reactor.

00:27:25.000 --> 00:27:29.999
Recovering it cut the amount
of waste in the hand.

00:27:30.000 --> 00:27:34.999
Engineers hope soon to reduce it to zero.
That’ll save the plant a lot of money

00:27:35.000 --> 00:27:39.999
and it will do a lot of good for
the environment at the same time.

00:27:40.000 --> 00:27:44.999
[music]

00:27:45.000 --> 00:27:49.999
Parts of our environment are getting cleaner.
Some industries are redesigning themselves

00:27:50.000 --> 00:27:54.999
to reduce waste and pollution, but if
every factory produce no waste at all,

00:27:55.000 --> 00:27:59.999
there would still be plenty of waste
getting into the environment,

00:28:00.000 --> 00:28:04.999
because the stuff they make
is the stuff we throw away.

00:28:05.000 --> 00:28:09.999
Products are made from all kinds of
materials, glass, metals, plastics, rubber,

00:28:10.000 --> 00:28:14.999
and these are created from other
materials, sand, ores, oil, trees.

00:28:15.000 --> 00:28:19.999
And the vast majority of the stuff we
use to make things ends up in a dump.

00:28:20.000 --> 00:28:24.999
They are in cradle to grave life cycle.

00:28:25.000 --> 00:28:29.999
What a waste of waste. Wouldn’t it be great
if we could eliminate the concept of waste?

00:28:30.000 --> 00:28:34.999
Get all these materials back and do things out of them.
Redesign them to be in cradle to cradle life cycle.

00:28:35.000 --> 00:28:39.999
We incline at them as they were, like,
a car that becomes the car again.

00:28:40.000 --> 00:28:48.000
[sil.]

00:28:50.000 --> 00:28:54.999
Engines, tail lights, wheels, windshields,

00:28:55.000 --> 00:28:59.999
anything for which there is a
market is pulled out and sold.

00:29:00.000 --> 00:29:04.999
The bodies go for recycling as scrap.

00:29:05.000 --> 00:29:09.999
They are sorted into the
materials that went into them.

00:29:10.000 --> 00:29:14.999
Cars have changed greatly over the
last 30 years, thinner steel,

00:29:15.000 --> 00:29:19.999
more aluminium and much more plastic.

00:29:20.000 --> 00:29:24.999
[sil.]

00:29:25.000 --> 00:29:29.999
Plastic parts, seats, carpets, dashboards,

00:29:30.000 --> 00:29:34.999
bumpers are cold fluff.

00:29:35.000 --> 00:29:39.999
And for a while, they put a big
dent in the scrap business.

00:29:40.000 --> 00:29:44.999
Ron Dalton works at Huron Valley Steel

00:29:45.000 --> 00:29:49.999
in Belleville, Michigan.

00:29:50.000 --> 00:29:54.999
At the beginning they were able to burn the car so you could get
rid of all the fluff. The environmental shut them down on that.

00:29:55.000 --> 00:29:59.999
The ban on burning left no
way to get the fluff out.

00:30:00.000 --> 00:30:04.999
And the steel mills that once melted
cars down refused to take them.

00:30:05.000 --> 00:30:09.999
It wasn’t too many years ago,
you’d see barrage loads of cars

00:30:10.000 --> 00:30:14.999
going out into the ocean to be dumped
because they couldn’t do anything with it.

00:30:15.000 --> 00:30:19.999
Faced with the product nobody wanted,

00:30:20.000 --> 00:30:24.999
the industry turned to a new
technology, the shredder.

00:30:25.000 --> 00:30:29.999
[sil.]

00:30:30.000 --> 00:30:34.999
It chews cars into pieces and
spits them on to a belt.

00:30:35.000 --> 00:30:39.999
Magnets pulls steel pieces out.

00:30:40.000 --> 00:30:44.999
Heavy liquids sort the stream further.

00:30:45.000 --> 00:30:49.999
Plastics and light metals float,

00:30:50.000 --> 00:30:54.999
heavy metals sink.

00:30:55.000 --> 00:30:59.999
[sil.]

00:31:00.000 --> 00:31:04.999
These are commodities that
we don’t have to mind.

00:31:05.000 --> 00:31:09.999
Obviously, whatever is in the ground,
there’s a limited amount of it,

00:31:10.000 --> 00:31:14.999
and so it’s important
that it gets recycled.

00:31:15.000 --> 00:31:19.999
[sil.]

00:31:20.000 --> 00:31:24.999
The recovered metals are
far richer than any ore.

00:31:25.000 --> 00:31:29.999
Scrap is so concentrated and easy
to reuse that it’s in big demand.

00:31:30.000 --> 00:31:34.999
$3 million worth of zinc ingots

00:31:35.000 --> 00:31:39.999
are kept in a single store room.

00:31:40.000 --> 00:31:44.999
Huron Valley is one the biggest metal sorters
in the world. But it’s business was threatened

00:31:45.000 --> 00:31:49.999
by Chinese competitors
with cheap hand labor.

00:31:50.000 --> 00:31:54.999
If we didn’t do something, we knew that
we wouldn’t be in business very long.

00:31:55.000 --> 00:31:59.999
We had to build a machine that
was gonna sort it automatically.

00:32:00.000 --> 00:32:04.999
The remarkable machinery invented
combines a video camera with x-rays.

00:32:05.000 --> 00:32:09.999
As the belt hoses by 500 feet a minute,
a computer analyses the images.

00:32:10.000 --> 00:32:14.999
It controls a row of air jets
timed to hit each piece.

00:32:15.000 --> 00:32:19.999
The computer locates it, identifies it

00:32:20.000 --> 00:32:24.999
and at the end of the conveyor this blast
of air will put it in the specific bin

00:32:25.000 --> 00:32:29.999
that we wanted to go.

00:32:30.000 --> 00:32:34.999
The pieces fall into separate piles of
pure metals, stacked up like coins.

00:32:35.000 --> 00:32:39.999
It’s the ultimate example of self
interested environmentalism.

00:32:40.000 --> 00:32:44.999
Proper driven recycling
back to the original use.

00:32:45.000 --> 00:32:49.999
Except for the fluff,

00:32:50.000 --> 00:32:54.999
there’s no market for it. But
that much raw material was bound

00:32:55.000 --> 00:32:59.999
to attract someone’s attention.
Someone like Mark Lieberman.

00:33:00.000 --> 00:33:04.999
We are going to change the face of plastic
recycling by taking this byproduct,

00:33:05.000 --> 00:33:09.999
something that has typically
been land filled or discarded

00:33:10.000 --> 00:33:14.999
and turning it back into the
valuable resource that it once was.

00:33:15.000 --> 00:33:19.999
Fluff, is the residue
of plastic auto parts.

00:33:20.000 --> 00:33:24.999
Lieberman’s American Commodities
corporation in Flint, Michigan,

00:33:25.000 --> 00:33:29.999
has found a way to recycle some a way to recycle
some of these parts before they hit the shredder.

00:33:30.000 --> 00:33:34.999
It’s first success was for the pile
of bumper scrap at a Ford plant.

00:33:35.000 --> 00:33:39.999
We are now able to take that product

00:33:40.000 --> 00:33:44.999
and restore it to its
original specification

00:33:45.000 --> 00:33:49.999
and utilize that material back within the original
tended application, making brand new bumpers.

00:33:50.000 --> 00:33:54.999
Finding a market at Ford, gave him the
incentives to go after used bumpers.

00:33:55.000 --> 00:33:59.999
A bigger source of material
but a tougher challenge.

00:34:00.000 --> 00:34:04.999
Those parts are very dirty,
they have bumper stickers,

00:34:05.000 --> 00:34:09.999
they have rust proofing, they have a number of different types
of paints on them, typically, and we had to develop a technology

00:34:10.000 --> 00:34:14.999
that was going to allow us to remove all of
the contaminants to get down to pure plastic

00:34:15.000 --> 00:34:19.999
and then restore the plastic.

00:34:20.000 --> 00:34:24.999
The technology is a tightly held secret. Part of what
they’ve done is to modify a plastic’s processing machine

00:34:25.000 --> 00:34:29.999
called an extruder. It
melts ground up bumpers

00:34:30.000 --> 00:34:34.999
and squirts them out like pasta.
Normally, this weakens the plastic.

00:34:35.000 --> 00:34:39.999
Our particular process
does just the opposite.

00:34:40.000 --> 00:34:44.999
It actually, enhances, revitalizes lost properties
in these materials, making them new again.

00:34:45.000 --> 00:34:49.999
The strands are chopped into pellets.

00:34:50.000 --> 00:34:54.999
Ford buys them for less then
it pays for virgin material.

00:34:55.000 --> 00:34:59.999
They are remelted and
molded into new bumpers.

00:35:00.000 --> 00:35:04.999
In other words, the automobile, in
1986, that you may have discarded

00:35:05.000 --> 00:35:09.999
or trashed or ended up in a
wrecking yard could be a component

00:35:10.000 --> 00:35:14.999
of your 1997 brand new automobile.

00:35:15.000 --> 00:35:19.999
But what about the mixed bag of
plastics in your car’s interior?

00:35:20.000 --> 00:35:24.999
A single Ford door panel,
once held 17 different kinds.

00:35:25.000 --> 00:35:29.999
Now it contains only four.

00:35:30.000 --> 00:35:34.999
That makes the panels easier to manufacture

00:35:35.000 --> 00:35:39.999
and easier to recycle later.

00:35:40.000 --> 00:35:44.999
Automakers may eventually make all
plastic parts simple to remove.

00:35:45.000 --> 00:35:49.999
The strategy is called
design for disassembling.

00:35:50.000 --> 00:35:54.999
It promises a huge business opportunity

00:35:55.000 --> 00:35:59.999
for the smart recycler.

00:36:00.000 --> 00:36:04.999
If you take a look at the growth of the automotive
industry and combine that with the amount of plastics

00:36:05.000 --> 00:36:09.999
that are being used in each and every automobile
and the plan for additional use of plastics,

00:36:10.000 --> 00:36:14.999
in the years ahead, you can multiply
that very simply and take a look at

00:36:15.000 --> 00:36:19.999
billions and billions of pounds of plastic
material, a resource to be mined.

00:36:20.000 --> 00:36:24.999
Someday, perhaps, all plastic
parts will be recycled

00:36:25.000 --> 00:36:29.999
before they hit the shredder. But right
now, the scrap industry is still searching

00:36:30.000 --> 00:36:34.999
for technology like those used with metals.

00:36:35.000 --> 00:36:39.999
Something that can sort and recycle all
this plastic that’s been shredded,

00:36:40.000 --> 00:36:44.999
and make new car parts from
the mountains of fluff.

00:36:45.000 --> 00:36:49.999
[sil.]

00:36:50.000 --> 00:36:54.999
When Henry Ford designed his
first engine in his back yard,

00:36:55.000 --> 00:36:59.999
he probably wasn’t thinking about the environment the
way we are now. Those early industrialists were smart

00:37:00.000 --> 00:37:04.999
but they weren’t focused on how complex and
vulnerable the natural world really is.

00:37:05.000 --> 00:37:09.999
Think about cars, it almost as if they
were designed to destroy the air.

00:37:10.000 --> 00:37:14.999
Everyone knows these things cause
amazing amounts of pollution.

00:37:15.000 --> 00:37:19.999
Today we are focused on environment.
It’s time to design a vehicle

00:37:20.000 --> 00:37:24.999
with a completely different kind of engine. One
that emits far less pollution or even none.

00:37:25.000 --> 00:37:29.999
Where do we start, listen to this.

00:37:30.000 --> 00:37:34.999
This is running, and there’s
no exhaust, no tail pipe,

00:37:35.000 --> 00:37:39.999
this vehicle is a pretty good beginning, and
it’s so simple, even a kid could build it.

00:37:40.000 --> 00:37:44.999
[sil.]

00:37:45.000 --> 00:37:49.999
Like everybody else in my generation,
Nascar was coming along,

00:37:50.000 --> 00:37:54.999
in power was always the thing maybe the engines
bigger at that time. Nobody thought about pollution,

00:37:55.000 --> 00:37:59.999
never stroke my mind. But if you are drive
an electric car, I mean it’s like a liable,

00:38:00.000 --> 00:38:04.999
you could have when you are going, you don’t have to wait for
gasoline, vaporize and get to the chamber, you are rolling.

00:38:05.000 --> 00:38:09.999
Flat, to stop, there’s no, no (inaudible).

00:38:10.000 --> 00:38:18.000
[music]

00:38:30.000 --> 00:38:34.999
Kind of way, north Carolina is the kind of
place where people start working on cars

00:38:35.000 --> 00:38:39.999
when they’re kids. That’s cars
of gasoline engines, of course.

00:38:40.000 --> 00:38:44.999
But lately, some of the
kids have been building

00:38:45.000 --> 00:38:49.999
a different kind of car. They’re are
proving that pollution can be curved

00:38:50.000 --> 00:38:54.999
by simple technologies.

00:38:55.000 --> 00:38:59.999
This one been under our noses
for more than a 100 years.

00:39:00.000 --> 00:39:04.999
Instead of burning, it runs on electricity.

00:39:05.000 --> 00:39:09.999
God almighty knows what happened. All right,
do it again. This time hold it tight.

00:39:10.000 --> 00:39:14.999
All right,

00:39:15.000 --> 00:39:19.999
now that’s a shocker one going down the road.
Harold Miller once ran a auto-repair shop.

00:39:20.000 --> 00:39:24.999
He is expert in gasoline engines.

00:39:25.000 --> 00:39:29.999
Not until he began teaching at north Hampton east high
school till the electric motor sparked his interest.

00:39:30.000 --> 00:39:34.999
If you look here, you are gonna see
a coil of wire, going around there,

00:39:35.000 --> 00:39:39.999
that’s your field, all right? We’re using
word field, for magnetic field, okay.

00:39:40.000 --> 00:39:44.999
Not here growing grass or something. Now, along
with science teacher, Erik Ryan (inaudible),

00:39:45.000 --> 00:39:49.999
he has become a convert to
the cause of electric cars.

00:39:50.000 --> 00:39:54.999
Their students are building
their third electric car.

00:39:55.000 --> 00:39:59.999
And as they work, they are learning about the
advantages of the battery powered vehicle.

00:40:00.000 --> 00:40:04.999
Okay, so go ahead and hit it that loop.
Release motors, put the hand on it.

00:40:05.000 --> 00:40:09.999
This is cold as a cucumber. This had been a gas motor to
start it up before (inaudible) period would be so hot,

00:40:10.000 --> 00:40:14.999
and could not touch the exhaust. All
that heat being generated, wasted.

00:40:15.000 --> 00:40:19.999
You all look at that wheel,
look at that thing go.

00:40:20.000 --> 00:40:24.999
That might be taking you to the
winning circle down at Phoenix.

00:40:25.000 --> 00:40:29.999
The students, hope to win a
national electric car competition

00:40:30.000 --> 00:40:34.999
held each year in Phoenix, Arizona.

00:40:35.000 --> 00:40:39.999
A donated 85 Ford Escort became
their latest model, SHOCKER 3.

00:40:40.000 --> 00:40:44.999
It was easy to convert the car.
They filled it’s nuts and crannies

00:40:45.000 --> 00:40:49.999
with 16 six volt Golf Cart
Batteries, specially designed

00:40:50.000 --> 00:40:54.999
to power electric vehicles. One of the
great things about an electric cars

00:40:55.000 --> 00:40:59.999
is the fact that you can put the batteries where
you wanted, we can actually, cause this car to

00:41:00.000 --> 00:41:04.999
have a better balance right
here than a Porsche or Ferrari

00:41:05.000 --> 00:41:09.999
because we can move the batteries, in and out,
and we can make that (inaudible) taking roll.

00:41:10.000 --> 00:41:14.999
The students replace the car’s heavy gasoline
engine with a smaller, less complicated

00:41:15.000 --> 00:41:19.999
electric motor. No more
oil changes, tune ups,

00:41:20.000 --> 00:41:24.999
valve adjustments, or over heating
radiator. That’s simple to build.

00:41:25.000 --> 00:41:29.999
And operate, oh God, 96 (inaudible) of
Philadelphia, I can go, you know, 75 to 100 miles.

00:41:30.000 --> 00:41:34.999
Operation is simplicity itself.

00:41:35.000 --> 00:41:39.999
The batteries supply electricity into the
motor, and the motor turns the wheels.

00:41:40.000 --> 00:41:44.999
Yeah, take a look at page
171, the shunt motor, okay…

00:41:45.000 --> 00:41:49.999
With all the advantages of electric
drive, the world’s dependence on gasoline

00:41:50.000 --> 00:41:54.999
just makes Harold Miller shake his head.
I can’t believe we did this.

00:41:55.000 --> 00:41:59.999
It’s almost unbelievable that we would be like
sheep and just run out and start burning gas

00:42:00.000 --> 00:42:05.000
when we had a better way.

00:42:10.000 --> 00:42:14.999
[music]

00:42:15.000 --> 00:42:19.999
Is it a better way? Well, cars running on batteries have jumped
into the early lead in the clean car of the future competition.

00:42:20.000 --> 00:42:24.999
[music]

00:42:25.000 --> 00:42:29.999
Racers in the college
division at the Phoenix event

00:42:30.000 --> 00:42:34.999
can reach 140 miles/hour.

00:42:35.000 --> 00:42:39.999
All high school drivers, in to the stage
area now. Let’s go. I run through…

00:42:40.000 --> 00:42:44.999
The high schoolers can’t go much beyond 90.
But that’s still faster

00:42:45.000 --> 00:42:49.999
than most of us are supposed to go.

00:42:50.000 --> 00:42:54.999
The batteries affect on handling

00:42:55.000 --> 00:42:59.999
is obvious in the slalom (inaudible). Electric
vehicles take the turns like a sports car.

00:43:00.000 --> 00:43:04.999
See that board, board number 12,

00:43:05.000 --> 00:43:09.999
negative, the black,
yeah rotate it so that…

00:43:10.000 --> 00:43:14.999
s Electric cars are finally working
their way into the real world.

00:43:15.000 --> 00:43:19.999
And the new generation is getting the chance to do what
Shadetree mechanics have always done with cars. Tinker.

00:43:20.000 --> 00:43:24.999
I’m Bob Hayes from (inaudible).

00:43:25.000 --> 00:43:29.999
The kid’s enthusiasm is
shared by the big guys.

00:43:30.000 --> 00:43:34.999
Experts from major manufacturers come to
the competition to judge student designs.

00:43:35.000 --> 00:43:39.999
So you can manually select between the
controllers that you wanna use for the event.

00:43:40.000 --> 00:43:44.999
There’s eager as any one else to learn
what’s new, no matter who comes up with it.

00:43:45.000 --> 00:43:49.999
[music]

00:43:50.000 --> 00:43:54.999
The race track is the proving ground of automotive
design and for electric cars, it’s no different.

00:43:55.000 --> 00:44:03.000
[music]

00:44:05.000 --> 00:44:09.999
6th place,

00:44:10.000 --> 00:44:14.999
we’ll be 5th place around
next time, of course.

00:44:15.000 --> 00:44:19.999
[music]

00:44:20.000 --> 00:44:24.999
The North Hampton team came in 2nd in the
race. And 2nd in the nation over all.

00:44:25.000 --> 00:44:29.999
Not bad for the little country school.

00:44:30.000 --> 00:44:34.999
First of all, we didn’t blew the first
gallon of air. He made speeds out there,

00:44:35.000 --> 00:44:39.999
that were record speeds, not many gas
cars can perform that good that long

00:44:40.000 --> 00:44:44.999
and you did it reluctant.
People cheer for electric cars

00:44:45.000 --> 00:44:49.999
because there are no tail pipe or loops.

00:44:50.000 --> 00:44:54.999
Still, many drivers remain only
interested in high power and performance.

00:44:55.000 --> 00:44:59.999
Low pollution’s not even on their radar screens.
Yes, I’ve seen a couple of cars the SS Camaro

00:45:00.000 --> 00:45:04.999
Performance, I like
something that goes fast.

00:45:05.000 --> 00:45:09.999
Right now, we need to have a bigger
vehicle. The conflict between low emission

00:45:10.000 --> 00:45:14.999
and high power could be
resolved by hybrid vehicles.

00:45:15.000 --> 00:45:19.999
They combine batteries with
an internal combustion engine

00:45:20.000 --> 00:45:24.999
for normal driving range. The
ultimate clean power source

00:45:25.000 --> 00:45:29.999
is the hydrogen fuel cell. It’s
only emission is water vapor.

00:45:30.000 --> 00:45:34.999
Trouble is, experimental
versions are too bulky,

00:45:35.000 --> 00:45:39.999
even bigger trouble, there are
no hydrogen gas stations.

00:45:40.000 --> 00:45:44.999
The Federal government is helping
the big three automakers.

00:45:45.000 --> 00:45:49.999
It’s giving them money and research
support for the clean car race.

00:45:50.000 --> 00:45:54.999
But the giants of Detroit need to
check their rear view mirrors,

00:45:55.000 --> 00:45:59.999
an unknown outsider is closing in on them.

00:46:00.000 --> 00:46:04.999
When there’s a change in technology,
there’s an opportunity for new companies

00:46:05.000 --> 00:46:09.999
to lead the new technological revolution.
Ben Rosen should know

00:46:10.000 --> 00:46:14.999
he’s already knocked off IBM, that’s
king of the personal computer makers,

00:46:15.000 --> 00:46:19.999
he is chairman of the board of Compaq computers.
What we really want to do at this point

00:46:20.000 --> 00:46:24.999
is to change the world. We want to have
a dramatic effect on the auto industry,

00:46:25.000 --> 00:46:29.999
we want to change 110 year old
technology and have to do something

00:46:30.000 --> 00:46:34.999
good for society at the same time.
We want the brass ring.

00:46:35.000 --> 00:46:43.000
[music]

00:46:45.000 --> 00:46:49.999
Ben Rosen is not your ordinary chairman of the
board. He works alone in a modest Manhattan office

00:46:50.000 --> 00:46:54.999
And Rosen Motors is not
your ordinary car company.

00:46:55.000 --> 00:46:59.999
Let’s have a push up contest… Across the
country, in Woodland hills, California,

00:47:00.000 --> 00:47:04.999
is Rosen Motors secret weapon.

00:47:05.000 --> 00:47:09.999
Ben’s older brother, Harold.

00:47:10.000 --> 00:47:14.999
He’s not what you’d call
conventional either.

00:47:15.000 --> 00:47:19.999
Harold Rosen figured out how to park
communication satellites in stationary orbit

00:47:20.000 --> 00:47:24.999
around the earth. The discovery
transformed the world.

00:47:25.000 --> 00:47:29.999
And now, he wants to do it again.

00:47:30.000 --> 00:47:34.999
He’s designed revolutionary new gasoline
electric power train, in January 1997,

00:47:35.000 --> 00:47:39.999
it powered a car.

00:47:40.000 --> 00:47:44.999
It was a Saturn, we simply, brought her from
the dealer, we took its power train out,

00:47:45.000 --> 00:47:49.999
we put our’s in and it worked.

00:47:50.000 --> 00:47:54.999
Okay, here’s a toast to Rosen Motors
team for making history. Yeah!

00:47:55.000 --> 00:47:59.999
Some people compared our test run with the Saturn
to the first flight of the Wright brothers.

00:48:00.000 --> 00:48:04.999
I don’t know whether that’s a good
comparison or not, only history will tell.

00:48:05.000 --> 00:48:09.999
I hope they are right. The
Rosen engine is a gas turbine,

00:48:10.000 --> 00:48:14.999
a tamed down version of a jet.
It burns gasoline

00:48:15.000 --> 00:48:19.999
but is designed to be even cleaner
than a car running on batteries.

00:48:20.000 --> 00:48:24.999
That’s counting emissions from the power plant to charge
those batteries. The Rosen car may travel a thousand miles

00:48:25.000 --> 00:48:29.999
on a single tank of gas, far exceeding
the range of battery electric.

00:48:30.000 --> 00:48:34.999
Nobody wants to own a
car that has a range of

00:48:35.000 --> 00:48:39.999
maybe 70 miles unless you turn on the
heater which cuts it to 40 miles

00:48:40.000 --> 00:48:44.999
or unless you accelerate which cuts it
to 30 miles unless you are going uphill

00:48:45.000 --> 00:48:49.999
which cuts it to 20 miles which they don’t
talk about. Compared to batter powered cars,

00:48:50.000 --> 00:48:54.999
it has many advantages, it won’t
require new infrastructure.

00:48:55.000 --> 00:48:59.999
It’ll use existing gasoline
stations around country.

00:49:00.000 --> 00:49:04.999
A Rosen Motors car is a hybrid electric. The
turbine is joined with an electrical generator

00:49:05.000 --> 00:49:09.999
into a turbo generator. It sends
electricity to an electric motor

00:49:10.000 --> 00:49:14.999
and the motor turns the wheels.

00:49:15.000 --> 00:49:19.999
The turbo generator can burn gasoline,
diesel fuel, or natural gas.

00:49:20.000 --> 00:49:24.999
It’s a radical departure from the standard
automobile engine. If you’d design a car today,

00:49:25.000 --> 00:49:29.999
knowing nothing about what’s happened less than 110 years, clean
sheet of paper, you can never do something this complicated.

00:49:30.000 --> 00:49:34.999
Internal combustion engine
with pistons and piston rings,

00:49:35.000 --> 00:49:39.999
and cams and cam shafts, and
crankshafts, and differentials,

00:49:40.000 --> 00:49:44.999
and mechanical transmissions,
it’s a nightmare.

00:49:45.000 --> 00:49:49.999
The turbo generator on the other
hand has just one moving part,

00:49:50.000 --> 00:49:54.999
a high speed rotor.

00:49:55.000 --> 00:49:59.999
It spins virtually friction free on a
thin layer of air inside special bearing.

00:50:00.000 --> 00:50:04.999
The engine needs no oil at all.

00:50:05.000 --> 00:50:09.999
[sil.]

00:50:10.000 --> 00:50:14.999
The turbo generator is already on the road.

00:50:15.000 --> 00:50:19.999
It powers a new kind of electric bus.

00:50:20.000 --> 00:50:24.999
It was built and road tested
in the Los Angeles suburbs.

00:50:25.000 --> 00:50:29.999
And it now picks up passengers
in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

00:50:30.000 --> 00:50:34.999
Back in the Rosen workshop,

00:50:35.000 --> 00:50:39.999
engineers are refining the other half
of the power train. A fly wheel.

00:50:40.000 --> 00:50:44.999
It stores the electricity
produced by the turbo generator.

00:50:45.000 --> 00:50:49.999
It’s made by the same material that goes into
the graphite tennis rackets and B2 bombers.

00:50:50.000 --> 00:50:54.999
Carbon fibers soaked in epoxy.

00:50:55.000 --> 00:50:59.999
The fly wheel speeds up
when storing electricity

00:51:00.000 --> 00:51:04.999
up to 60,000 revolutions per minute.
That’s 1000 revolutions per second.

00:51:05.000 --> 00:51:09.999
At a constant driving speed, the turbo generator
sends electricity directly to the wheel motor.

00:51:10.000 --> 00:51:14.999
But to accelerate, the fly wheel
provides an extra electrical surge,

00:51:15.000 --> 00:51:19.999
160 horse power boost.

00:51:20.000 --> 00:51:24.999
But when the car is parked the flywheel
keeps spinning for up to six weeks

00:51:25.000 --> 00:51:29.999
without a recharge.

00:51:30.000 --> 00:51:34.999
The Rosens hoped to be the automotive
equivalent of the Intel Corporation.

00:51:35.000 --> 00:51:39.999
With their power train installed like
a pentium chip in any kind of car.

00:51:40.000 --> 00:51:44.999
Now we’re really indifferent
is to who our customer is,

00:51:45.000 --> 00:51:49.999
long as they’re, long as
they can sign a cheque.

00:51:50.000 --> 00:51:54.999
An advanced version of the power train
is going into big Mercedes sedan.

00:51:55.000 --> 00:51:59.999
And we can lock it down in any position. The
turbine will be located in front of the car.

00:52:00.000 --> 00:52:04.999
The exhaust system will be running down
this way. We’ll have some cooling lines.

00:52:05.000 --> 00:52:09.999
We’ll have some power lines, it’ll be running
into the same tunnel that the… the transmission

00:52:10.000 --> 00:52:14.999
and the other exhaust system use to have. We open up the trunk,
you won’t even see the fly wheel. It’ll be hidden behind it.

00:52:15.000 --> 00:52:19.999
I partitioned much like the original car.

00:52:20.000 --> 00:52:24.999
There are roughly 150 people working on the Rosen
Power train. Why have they been able to make this

00:52:25.000 --> 00:52:29.999
revolutionary break through ahead
of the giants of the auto industry?

00:52:30.000 --> 00:52:34.999
I come from an industry, the computer
industry where the industry embraces

00:52:35.000 --> 00:52:39.999
technological change,
wants things to happen.

00:52:40.000 --> 00:52:44.999
I think an example of the new technology.
The auto industry is when next year’s model

00:52:45.000 --> 00:52:49.999
has a better cup holder
than last year’s model.

00:52:50.000 --> 00:52:54.999
[music]

00:52:55.000 --> 00:52:59.999
We’re not doing it for the money. And we’re not doing it ‘cause
we don’t have other things to do. We’re really doing it ‘cause

00:53:00.000 --> 00:53:04.999
it should be done, it has to be done. And
we think this is the best way of doing it.

00:53:05.000 --> 00:53:13.000
[music]

00:53:15.000 --> 00:53:19.999
Commerce is the engine of change. There’s
a new industrial revolution underway

00:53:20.000 --> 00:53:24.999
and it’s going to prove the way we live. We’re
starting to redesign almost everything,

00:53:25.000 --> 00:53:29.999
with positive intentions for ourselves and the
environment. We can increase productivity

00:53:30.000 --> 00:53:34.999
and profits for providing healthy work
places and we can acquire long term assets

00:53:35.000 --> 00:53:39.999
by designing products that can come back to
us forever instead of being lost liabilities

00:53:40.000 --> 00:53:44.999
in a land filth. Corporations are
coming to a radical new conclusion,

00:53:45.000 --> 00:53:49.999
one that isn’t about regulations.

00:53:50.000 --> 00:53:54.999
It’s this, what’s good for the environment is good for
business too because environmentally intelligent technology

00:53:55.000 --> 00:53:59.999
leads to economic competitiveness.

00:54:00.000 --> 00:54:04.999
Commerce can take us from a strategy of tragedy to
a strategy of hope. It can do well by doing good.

00:54:05.000 --> 00:54:10.000
And that benefits ourselves, our businesses,
our neighborhoods and the planet.