Some electric vehicle chargers installed
Electric vehicle charging stations have been installed in several parking locations at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.
The six stations are part of a pilot program supporting MD Anderson’s Energy and Sustainability Plan, said Willliam Donovan II, the center’s manager of parking and transport services, in an email.
The PowerPost EVSE commercial electric vehicle charging stations are manufactured by Telefonix Inc. and were up and working for the first time May 4 at the cancer center. Donovan said the stations were “being well-utilized.”
“Early monitoring of the chargers has shown few instances when all chargers were not being utilized,” he said.
Donovan said he doesn’t know the exact number of MD Anderson Cancer Center employees who own electric vehicles.
However, he said results from employee focus group surveys indicate there could be about a dozen employees with electric vehicles.
“That said, a significant number of focus group participants indicated they would be more likely to lease or purchase an electric or hybrid vehicle if they had the opportunity to charge their vehicle while at work,” Donovan said.
“We believe offering vehicle charging while at work will help encourage employees to make greener choices.”
MD Anderson’s mission is to eliminate cancer, and Donovan said that also requires looking beyond the center’s medical services and to the environment at large.
“Electric vehicles help reduce emissions and improve air quality, and we wanted to encourage their proliferation by offering (electric vehicle) charging stations at our center,” he stated in a June 24 news release announcing the installation of the stations.
According to the release issued by the manufacturer of the charging stations, carbon dioxide emissions were compared between a Ford Focus electric vehicle and a similar conventional gasoline 2-liter Ford Focus. When using 100 percent coal-generated power, total carbon dioxide emission from the electric vehicle was 31 percent less than the typical 2-liter vehicle.
Electric vehicles use electricity to power motors in place of internal combustion engines that are powered by the burning of gasoline, oil and other fuel. Although electric vehicles have zero tailpipe emissions, some emissions may be produced by the source of the electrical power, such as a power plant, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.
Griffin Partners purchase Sawyer Street office building
An office building at 602 Sawyer St. in Midtown has been sold.
The 85,923-square-foot seven-story building was sold to Houston-based Griffin Partners, according to a June 30 announcement by commercial real estate company National Asset Services.
The company represented the 22 tenant-incommon co-owners of the building in the sale.
The amount the building sold for was not disclosed.
According to National Asset Services, the building was originally built in 1982 and underwent a renovation in 1999.
The commercial real estate company became managers of the property in February 2013 and made improvements to the property, including remodeling the building’s corridors, elevator cabs and restrooms. According to the company, it achieved a 20 percent increase in leasing since assuming management duties of the property.
Among the property’s larger tenants is the Houston Police Officer’s Pension System, which takes up a 12,670-square-foot space. According to a news release announcing the sale of the building, the tenant was critical to maximizing the final sale price. At the time of the sale, the property was 92 percent leased.
“We were able to generate an increase in property value through additional leasing income, controlled operational costs and property improvements on behalf of our investor clients at 602 Sawyer,” stated Karen Kennedy, president and founder of National Asset Services, in the news release. “We were delighted to deliver a sales transaction resulting in a positive outcome for such a deserving group of coowners.”
The commercial real estate company works with more than 90 investment groups in properties nationwide valued at more than $2 billion.
Census employees needed by government
Area residents looking for a temporary job this fall may be in luck, thanks to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Every 10 years, the U.S. Census Bureau collects data about the nation’s people and economy. The government agency is getting ready for the next census in 2020, and needs workers to test new procedures to improve operations.
The bureau announced June 30 that census testing will be performed in selected areas with Harris County next year.
The bureau is to start recruiting workers this fall. The pay range for the needed office and filed staff ranges from $18.50 to $25.25 per hour.
The tests will explore new ways for the population to respond to the census and will look for costeffective ways for census takers to follow up with households that fail to respond.
The bureau made the announcement on its website at www.census.gov.
The bureau selected areas within two United States counties — Harris County and Los Angeles County in California — to test the new census systems.
The large metropolitan areas were selected based on language diversity, demographic diversity, varying levels of Internet usage and high vacancy rates.
The bureau is looking to hire 1,400 temporary census staff to conduct the tests.
Additional recruitment information will be announced this fall on the U.S. Census Bureau’s website.