All Charged Up and Lighting the Way!
Evolvelectric, Inc. is energized by a commitment to environment and cost-efficiency
Since it was founded in 2010, Marin County-based Evolvelectric, Inc. has become one of the Bay Area’s leading LED lighting and electric vehicle infrastructure design-build firms. The company has installed more than 800 electric vehicle charging stations and transformed hundreds of businesses’ energy-intensive lighting systems to energy-efficient LED solutions.
Clearly, Evolvelectric’s belief in sustainable electrical contracting solutions resonates with Bay Area businesses’ goals.
Evolvelectric, serving the Greater San Francisco Bay Area, from San Jose to Napa Valley, helps commercial customers achieve their sustainability goals through two principal areas: electric vehicle charging stations and LED lighting, says Evolvelectric President and CEO, Stephen Atwater.
The Electric Vehicle Fast Track
“Electric vehicles (EVs) exemplify the direction in which the transportation system is moving,” says Evolvelectric Director of Electric Vehicle Infrastructure, John Kalb. “EVs produce far fewer emissions that contribute to climate change and unhealthy living conditions than conventional vehicles. The Bay Area is ground zero in the entire country for the EV revolution and we are seeing our clients rapidly embrace that path.”
In January 2015, Intuit partnered with Evolvelectric to expand its infrastructure of electric vehicle charging stations at its Mountain View, Calif., headquarters. “Intuit is a good example of the progressive community we have in the San Francisco Bay area,” Atwater says. “We virtually never have to ‘sell’ our customers on being green, whether it is lighting or EVs. Virtually 100 percent of our customers have a written sustainability plan with goals and objectives for the years ahead, and are actively looking for sustainable solutions. Our challenge is to help them find the right solutions, both for today and the future.”
Intuit Commute Solutions Leader, Tom Harrington, says, “Intuit took the initiative to install its first two EV charging stations without any requests from employees. To say that our ‘unspoken demand’ outstripped supply is a major understatement.” Today, there are well over 100 stations at nine Intuit locations across North America.
“We encourage employees to use electric cars that have a lower emissions footprint than traditional vehicles. At all our U.S. campuses, we provide free EV charging,” Harrington says. “And we’re not finished. We have plans in the next two years to significantly increase the number of EV stations available to our employees. Our goal is to have 25 percent of all our parking spaces be EV charging spaces.”
“I believe we’re hitting a tipping point in the EV business and we expect the market to grow even faster over the next few years,” Kalb says. “We’re seeing the new Tesla models, and other manufacturers’ models, now offering electric-powered cars with driving ranges of over 200 miles on a single charge. That’s a game changer for many drivers.”
With the anticipated demand for more EV charging stations, Kalb notes that Evolvelectric is now working with commercial real estate owners and management companies to create economies of scale, whether they need two charging stations or 400, he adds. “The multifamily housing community, in particular, would be ideal to take advantage of these economies of scale. Some cities in California, including San Francisco now require up to 20 percent of all new parking spaces to be EV-charging ready. Installing these charging stations intelligently will allow developers to lower capital costs in construction ” he explains.
Who Else Benefits from EV Charging Stations?
Governmental entities are also getting in on the EV charging station action. The current General Plan for the city of Mill Valley, Calif., includes goals to protect and enhance the environment. In 1989, the plan included a core value of “creating a healthy natural environment with emphasis on conservation, climate protection and sustainability.”
Jill McNeal, a Civil Engineer Technician for Mill Valley’s Dept. of Public Works, tells us the city’s General Plan, which also serves as its Climate Action Plan, includes goals that encompass a wide spectrum of programs including transportation, water use, alternative fuels, housing and carbon taxes. McNeal says Mill Valley established a target of being 20 percent below 2005 levels of greenhouse emissions for municipal activities by the year 2020. The city installed EV charging stations for free public use, and other EV stations for the city’s fleet of EVs.
“Evolvelectric understands how city governments work and, importantly, how cities can take advantage of grant programs to help offset much of the procurement and installation costs associated with EV charging station installation. Evolvelectric has been instrumental in helping us design and install our charging infrastructure, while leveraging our available budget,” says McNeal.
“Since 50 percent of Mill Valley’s greenhouse emissions come from transportation, we believe electric vehicles will be a significant contributor to helping us achieve our goals,” he adds.
Sustainability Initiatives in Action
Often companies want to start a sustainability program, but they aren’t sure where to begin. “That’s one of the areas where Evolvelectric excels,” Atwater says.
He continues, “These companies look at sustainability as a huge problem, but we can help clients do something right now to make an impact. Energy efficiency is an easy place to start and lighting can be the first step.”
By replacing older lighting systems with LED technologies, businesses typically see a 50-75 percent average reduction in energy consumption and maintenance costs. But, even more significant to customers, Atwater says, is the effect that better lighting has on employee productivity and customer satisfaction. To make these upgrades even more attractive to businesses, virtually all utility companies offer rebates as incentives.
United Markets was the first grocer in Marin County to offer public EV charging stations at no charge, including a “fast charger” for customers who wanted to get a quick charge while shopping for just a few minutes, says United Markets owner Bill Daniels.
He adds: “Store lighting is critical to helping us display our product. Two years ago, while working with Evolvelectric, we replaced our old fluorescent lights with LED lights. Evolvelectric’s lighting design and LED product selection transformed our store. The lighting enhances our products unlike anything we had experienced with fluorescents, showcases our store brilliantly, and saves thousands of pounds of CO2 emissions. A valuable biproduct of the LED upgrade was the significant reduction in our electric bill. Evolvelectric seamlessly handled the entire process for us and has been a great partner to work with.”
Respect for the Environment & People
Atwater says his goal is provide the best solutions and recommendations to clients, even if they choose to do business elsewhere. And, his management style is much the same. Early in his career, he was strongly influenced on this matter when working for IBM, where they fostered a philosophy of “respect for the individual,” he says. “I’ve followed this philosophy my whole career,” he affirms. “Communication is a key part of that and I strive to have daily interactions with my staff. We train our employees to model this example in everything they do.”
Over the last seven years, the firm has partnered with Unite to Light, a Santa Barbara-based nonprofit that provides safe, solar-powered LED lighting to be used for studying, reading, medical procedures, and other purposes by individuals in developing countries worldwide. As much as possible, the organization provides these solutions below cost or as a donation in areas where it would be a hardship to pay for some or all the cost. To date, over 78,000 lights have been sent to 65 countries on four continents. Through the organization’s Buy One, Give One program, Evolvelectric purchases these lights and gives them to new customers. “For every light that Evolvelectric buys, Unite to Light donates another light in the name of one of our customers,” says Atwater.
“It’s a great match for us. John and I founded this company because we have a keen and deep interest in helping others, combined with a passionate interest in sustainability,” Atwater says. “I was at a time in my life where doing something that felt right was important and that overlapped with John’s beliefs, as well. We feel like we’re doing that.”