Roundtable: Work together to ‘green’ the industry

Posted on 08 March 2010

Marine dealers and manufacturers need to work together toward the common goal of "greening" the boating industry, industry experts said at a roundtable discussion sponsored last week by the Rhode Island Marine Trades Association.

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More than 60 people attended the event, held at Roger Williams University in Bristol, R.I., on the "green" trend and how marine businesses can take advantage of green technology to boost the boating industry.

Featured speakers included marine technical expert and writer Nigel Calder; John Burman, vice president of Kingman Yacht Center in Cataumet, Mass.; Richard O'Meara, owner of Core Composites in Newport, R.I. and Fred Hashway Jr., director of government affairs for the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation.

The event was organized and moderated by John Stier, marine systems instructor at the International Yacht Restoration School in Newport, R.I.

Calder discussed the possibility of boatbuilders looking at the design of vessels and how they could be more energy efficient, using devices such as hybrid power and batteries.

"The power distribution in boat systems has remained virtually unchanged since the 1970s," says Calder. "We have the potential for radical improvements in reliability and efficiency."

Burman spoke about solar power by discussing how Kingman Yacht Center installed 474 SunTech STP210 PV panels on three of the company's roofs in 2009. With state and federal discounts and grants, the out-of-pocket cost to the company was $79,320. Estimated energy savings for the company over 25 years could be up to $500,000, according to Burman.

O'Meara discussed opportunities for boatbuilders to look into other aspects of manufacturing, such as using boating composites for lighter construction materials for buildings.

Hashway discussed how wind farms will soon be a part of the state's future, as well as the country's. Hashway said the state is working with Deepwater Wind, a national wind farm company based in Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey and Texas, to conduct an environmental feasibility study for a wind farm near Block Island.

A more detailed report on the event will appear in the April issue of Soundings Trade Only.

- Elizabeth Ellis

Comments

The marine industry needs to get on board with the "green" theme just as the auto industry is moving in that direction. Fuel prices will increase again, you can bet on it. Technology is improving the prospects of practical electric vehicles for personal transportation, Nissan should be marketing their Leaf electric by the end of this year. Fuel efficient boats will sell where high performance and gadgets won't. It's a different world out there.

Witness the auto industry.

While it is true that greener boating will increase the sales price, it is also true that running costs will go drastically down.

How long it will take the customer to pay for the green investment depends on the engine/genset runtime.

On top of cheaper running costs and cleaner environment, you also get a quieter vessel, both when running and at anchor.

To all those, who doesn't care much about these issues: you'll still have a few years of mindless fuel consumption before "green" becomes mandatory, so enjoy.

I'm sure this topic is the impetus to a major rebound in the industry and hope Algore was there to give you all advice.

Meanwhile, I'm working in the grass roots political arena to get responsible people elected to government who will work to overturn all this idiotic junk, evaluate their necessity and provide for time limits. If we don't roll back onerous regulation and excessive taxation soon, you won't have to worry about attendingbu these touchy feely good ice cream socials.

Well the great thing about the topics in this roundtable is that they will help us expand our customer base, and help people to afford to get back into boating because of the up to 1000% improvement they allow in generator fuel economy.

In addition to that, there were lots of funding options presented about training and retooling to support the impending market.

WHY??

Arch, makes a good point, were sitting here trying to keep our heads above water and the "Green" folks are going to add $2,500-3,000. to the cost of each unit sold with converters on them next year.

Maybe we could wait a a few years when the buz word is blue.

A boat that never has any significant repair needs is a boat that needs more gadgets and features so the joke goes.

Our customer base is diverse and no doubt includes those that would gravitate towards 'Green'.Many within our industry were disturbed at the prospect of cleaning up outboard motor emissions,we were certain the cost of the emerging technology would flop at retail,when in fact the new designs were typically in high demand.

Regarding the proposed Block Island 'wind farm',widely opposed due to landscape impacts,we will see in this instance how the "Green" wave can harm the boating experience.It will be telling if this aspect goes unreported.

The word "GREEN" has become more of a marketing term and very politically charged. There is nothing wrong with being more environmentally responsible and efficient, but thanks to the liberal hippie environmentalist and the flawed science of global warming, the term GREEN has a stigma and negative connotation to many.

With manufacturers and dealers struggling to survive this market, the last thing most of them are concerned with is a science that increases costs and regulation. The government is already doing enough of this already.

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