Assignment 6: Reflecting on SSC solutions

Assignment 6 was to reflect on the three most interesting SSC solutions found by the other groups. These are our top three products or concepts:

Source: Switch to Zero

Solution 1: Hybrid Solar Panel (Group Switch to Zero)

In our opinion the idea of hybrid solar panels is very good. First there is a short introduction about the idea. Afterwards you explained the idea more and explained how it works. It is really nice to hear about the advantages of the idea and the new concept of these solar panels.
Also we like that you abut a link to get more information about the topic.
For almost everything there is also a negative side and to compare what you need it would be nice to mention them. Maybe only to see that the negative part is in comparison to the positive part very small.

Switch to Zero - Research on existing SSC solutions


Solution 2: Powerwall: The Tesla Home Battery (Group Switch to Zero)

Source: Switch to Zero

All of us are Tesla's fans, so we think this kind of innovations are necessary for progress. The way to expose the idea is clear. It is important to clarify, that if there is more energy needed, a connection to the grid must be maintained, good point!
Furthermore, the official web page indicates use solar panels (like you), but we would like to know if it is possible to use another kind of renewable source.
Finally, we know the many advantages Powerwall has, but we guess it has some disadvantages and that is important to know, for applying this technology in the right place and to give it the correct use.

See link above


Solution 3: ShareDesk (Group SHARING SKANSSI PROJECT)

The group of the “Sharing Skanssi Project“ introduced “ShareDesk”, an online platform to rent offices all over the world for a part of a day. This is a fresh new idea, that has high value concerning their project, since the goal is to share spaces in the area. But also for other cities and projects it should be taken into account, because sharing spaces has influence on many different areas. We could benefit from this kind of ideas as well. Sharing spaces to live and work throughout a city can decrease the use of transport, since you can use a place near your location instead of having to move to the other side of the city. The website makes it more easy to do this.
Furthermore, the group points out other benefits of this concept, like greater flexibility, no need to sign a year lease term for an office, co-working and reuse of old buildings. But as for the other solutions it would have been nice to also mention potential disadvantages of the website or the idea in general.

Source: https://www.sharedesk.net/

Sharing Skanssi Project - ShareDesk

Assignment 5: 3 interesting products/services concerning mobility

Before trying to work on concepts in order to reduce the CO­2­ emissions, it is necessary to determine the sector that is the highest emission source in an area to reach with the elaborated concept the biggest impact.
Due to our current state of knowledge and some conferences with our client, we assume that the mobility sector has the biggest influence on the CO2 emissions and therefore we present three approaches to tackle this issue.
 
1. Increase the attractiveness of public transportation

An attractive public transportation system contributes to a reduction of vehicles in use and traffic on the streets and reduces as a consequence the CO2 emissions. However, which are the factors which affect the attractiveness of public transportation?
- Price
- Frequency
- Connections
- Individual added value:
                    - Time for recreation
                    - Sensation of acting sustainable
                    - Wifi for entertainment, work etc.
                    - Route planner application
                    - Timetable at stations


2. City Bikes in Hamburg /StadtRad Hamburg

The StadtRad, which means city bike in English, is a great addition to the public transport. The people living in Hamburg and visiting it now have the possibility to not only use trains, buses and ferries to move around the city, but they are also able to bike everywhere they need to go. This completes the public transportation service to a great extend. With 2.300 bicycles it is the most used bike rental service in Germany. 350.000 people use it over 2.5 million times a year. On high-usage days every bike is used up to 7 times a day.
Every registered user can borrow a bike at any of the 200 Stations, to return the bike one has to bring it back to a station. This does sound stressful in the beginning, but looking at the locations of these return points it is never a problem to return the bike in the wider area of the city center.

The best thing about the StadtRad is that the first half hour of every rental is free, with eight cents for every additional minute and a maximum of 12€ a day. Furthermore, if you need a bike for example for 45 minutes and there is a station on your way, you can just return your bike and some point during your ride and rent a new one for 30 additional minutes free of charge. Most rides through Hamburg do not take 30 minutes, but if it does take longer this is a very handy trick. The system is used by a lot of people who would like to move around the city spontaneous, healthy and sustainable. For myself I had only good experiences using StadtRad.
Website StadtRad Hamburg




3. Carsharing

  Carsharing services are available in over a thousand cities all over the world. As of December 2012, there were an estimated 1.7 million car-sharing members. The world’s largest carsharing network across North Amercia and Europe are zipcar (767,000 members/11,000 vehicles) and Car2Go (900,000 members/12,000 cars). The main factors driving the growth of carsharing are the rising levels of congestion faced by city inhabitants; shifting generational mind-sets about car ownership; the increasing costs of personal vehicle. Carsharing contributes to sustainable transport because it is a less care intensive means of urban transport. Carsharing can also reduce the car ownership at an estimated rate of one rental car replacing 15 owned vehicles(according to The Economist).
Carsharing is a model of car rental where people rent cars for short periods of time, often by hour/day. Carsharing is attractive to people who occasional make use of a vehicle. The organization renting the cars may be a commercial business or the users may be organized as a company, public agency cooperative. Government is also a stakeholder that can be a provider of cars.