Today, Equipment. Tomorrow, Whole Facilities: Hydrogen Could Fuel A New Industrial CRE Revolution
Unsplash/Federico Beccari
The traditionally oil and gas city that bills itself as The Energy Capital of the World is increasingly planning ahead for a clean fuel source that is seeing a surge of interest and federal funding: hydrogen.
The energy source isn't fully powering any Houston commercial buildings just yet. But industrial properties are well along the path to that destination, already employing hydrogen to fuel industrial equipment and supply chain vehicles as the technology quickly works its way into the industry.
At Bisnow’s Houston Industrial Pulse event last month, two panelists cited examples of using hydrogen power at local industrial projects to charge and power trucks, forklifts and other equipment.
Nazir Khalfe, Houston-based principal at Powers Brown Architecture, said hydrogen-powered trucks are becoming a local and national trend as nonpolluting vehicle mandates approach, including in Texas.
Hydrogen fuel is a logical option because the infrastructure and batteries needed to charge and power electric trucks are clunky, heavy and, in some cases, nonexistent, he said.
“You can’t install enough chargers for the demand,” Khalfe said.
In addition, hydrogen-powered trucks don’t require buildings to boost amperage to charge them, significantly reducing the need for new transformers and cutting the already-often-delayed time frame of powering up new buildings, he said.
“This will be something that will provide less of a burden on the buildings, the hydrogen method,” Khalfe said...
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