DENVER — In mid-June, Colorado and other states experienced unprecedented heat. On June 15th, Denver broke records from 1952 and 1993, and with many people cranking up their air conditioning and fans, power outages occurred.
The Alliance Center, a coworking and event space in Denver, thinks a creative approach to electric vehicle charging could help in these extreme temperature circumstances, which will become more common due to climate change.
“We're an organization that strives to allow sustainability to be easier," said Chris Bowyer, Director of Building Operations at the Alliance Center. "We work with collaborating. Whether it's with our tenants or with an outside organization, that's what we work the hardest towards."
The center’s newest project is a perfect example of this collaboration. With Fermata Energy, Colorado CarShare, and Colorado Smart Cities Alliance the organization installed one of the first Vehicle-to-Building (V2B) or Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) technologies in the nation at their building.
In addition to being able to charge electric vehicles, Bowyer told Rocky Mountain PBS the vehicle—specifically the batteries—can provide power to a building or to a home.
During peak energy, which is typically during the afternoon in the summer, the Alliance Center can use energy stored in the vehicle and reduce energy pulled from the grid. During the most recent heat wave, the building used the car every afternoon.