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HomeMy WebLinkAboutEnvironmental Committee - Summary of Air Quality Assessment of Tim Horton's Restaurants - RWDI Air IncBriefing Note -Summary of the Air Quality Assessment of Tim Hortons Restaurants: Ontario, Canada (May 2008) Conducted By RWDI AIR Inc Consulting Engineers & Scientists 650 Woodlawn Road West Guelph, Ontario N1 K 1 B8 www.rwdi.com PROJECT DIRECTOR: MIKE LEPAGE, M.S., CCM PROJECT MANAGER: COLIN WELBURN, M.ENG., P.ENG. PROJECT SCIENTIST: TERRY LYN PEARSON, B. SC. (AGR.) SENIOR ENGINEER: SHARON SCHAJNOHA, P.ENG PEER REVIEWER: DR. DENIZ KARMAN, PHD, P.ENG, PROFESSOR OF ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING, CARLETON UNIVERSITY Purpose: RWDI AIR Inc. (RWDI) was retained by the TDL Group Corp. to conduct an air quality study of vehicles using their facilities. The TDL Group is interested in having sound technical information on vehicle emissions at its facilities that have adrive-through component. The TDL Group also requested comparing these vehicles emissions to other common sources of air pollution to assist the public with an easily understood comparison when discussing vehicle emissions at drive-throughs. In addition, the TDL Group wanted to know how the drive-through emissions will change in the future as aging models of automobiles are gradually phased out and replaced by newer models with lower emissions. Finally, the TDL Group wants information on how the emissions at drive-through facilities affect the local air quality around those facilities. Methodology Based on actual traffic surveys taken at peak times in four typical stores, an emission inventory was developed for two scenarios, Scenario 1: a conventional store with both drive-through and in-store operations and Scenario 2: a store with in-store service only (no drive-through.) Typical patterns or modes of operation for vehicles using the drive through and the parking lot were developed from these and other observations This study examined the main pollutants of concern for motor vehicles, which are as follows: ^ Smog pollutants -oxides of nitrogen (NOX), hydrocarbons (HC), sulphur dioxide (S02) and particulate matter (PM); ^ Local pollutants -carbon monoxide (CO); and ^ Greenhouse gases -carbon dioxide (C02). Emission models produced by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and other accepted methodologies were used to estimate emissions. Tedesco Engineering provided detailed traffic survey data that was used to calculate site-specific emissions. The emission inventory for the drive-through portion of the facility was compared to "everyday" emission sources (i.e. lawn mowers, snow blowers, etc.). Dispersion modelling was conducted for adrive-through facility to predict maximum pollutant concentrations in the areas adjacent to a Tim Hortons store and compare them to provincial standards set out by the Ontario Ministry of the Environment (MOE). Further technical details of the methodology can be found in the main text of the report. The method and findings were subjected to peer review by Dr. Deniz Karman of Carleton University Briefing Note -Summary of the Air Quality Assessment of Tim Hortons Restaurants: Ontario, Canada (May 2008) r`Findings The total number of vehicles That use a conventional Tim Hortons facility during the morning peak hour was averaged to be 224; for vehicles using the drive-through, the average time on site ranged from 3 to about 4.5 minutes and for vehicles using the parking lot, the average time on site is about double, ranging from 7 to 8 minutes. Modes of operation that produce emissions were determined to be: ^ Moving into position in the queue lane or moving into a parking space (this mode of operation is referred to as "crawling"); ^ Idling while waiting for a parking space or warming up a vehicle in a parking space or waiting in the queue lane of the drive-through ^ Pulling into and out-of a parking space; ^ Starting up the engine in a parking space before exiting (referred to as a "start- up„) ^ Moving from the service window or from a parking space to the curb while exiting the site ("additional crawling"); and, ^ Idling at the curb while waiting to get on the street. Applying the standard vehicle emission data to these modes of operation for the average number of Tim Hortons customers at peak times in stores with drive throughs and without (using two scenarios in which the parking lot was approximately doubled and tripled in size, 2a and 2b respectively) produced the following emissions results during a peak hour of operation: Figure is Smog Pollutant Emissions for Drive-Through Restaurants (Scenario 1) and Non-Drive-Through Restaurants (Scenarios 2a and b) 450 - 400-- ~o __ --- .a IN$I]~ CCP' nor. nil[71.._ FaP{1~~yH -.. -_-.-_.. ~:- __- _..-.. _. _ ..2006 ~ _- -- _~. 2016_- -- -- ~E>densiv~ ~o _ _ i parking lot _ __-__ ,so ~ Heavily congested parking lot only - Typical ' ' I I ~ drive-thru ~ ,_ . ~ and parking lot i -- __ _ _ _ __.._ -_ i o ' ~ , ~_-_,_ _ _ _ --~- ---~--y- . -- --T --.., , .,- r .. , Scenalo 1' Year 200fi Sarrerlo 2a Yea 2006 Scarab 26: Yar 2008 Scenerlo 1: Yea 201 fi Scenario 2a: Year 2016 Scenario 2b: Year 2016 Hiles: ~^^~~^ [1[ Smog pollutants Include: hytlrscarbons (HC;, oxides of nitrogen (NO:), padiculate metlar (PM) and sulphur dioude (60,). [2[ Scenado 1: Average DrWe-Through Facllfry (Z24 Vehlcles In Totap Scenario 2a: Non-Drive Through Faclliry, Ccngestetl Peddnq Lot (224 Vehlcles) Scenario 2b: Non-DrWe Through Facility,. Reduced Congestlon (224 Vehlcles) Briefing Note -Summary of the Air Quality Assessment of Tim Hortons Restaurants: Ontario, Canada (May 2008) Figure ii: CO, Emissions for Drive-Through RestaurantsSScenario 1) and Non- Drive-Through Restaurants (Scenarios 2a and b~ ao,ooo i ~]iNSU?E SeRVtCE rl p r?iyF THRO VG Fi 35,000 - - ,.. 30,000 . .r 25000 -. ] - .. : ~- e zo,ooo _: I Extensive ~ ~ i p i E ~ Heavil con , arking lot ~ ~- Y 9ested `- - - I- 15,000 r---_ _ ~'__ . __ _. l-_--l I parking lot only _ -- ~ _ -- Typical drive-thru I `- -- - ' and parking lot 10,000 -.~__._.._ __ -_-.__._. _I_- 5,000-~ _. ', _ _........ ~. _. _ 0 ~».~ ~ Scenerlo'I: Year 2006 Scen erb 2e: Ye er 200e Scenerlo 2h: Yeer 2008 Scenarios Notes: [1] Scenario 1: Average Homing Peak Drive-Through Fadlily (137 Vehides Use Drive-Through aid 87 Vehicles Uefng Ineide Service) [2] Scenario 1: Average Drive-Through Fecilty (224 Vehldes In Tolal) Scenario 2a: Non-0dve Through Fadlily, Corgasted Parklrg Lot (224 Vohides) Scenario 2b: Non-0dve Through r-adlity,. Reduced Congestion (224 Vehides) Conclusions ^ Overall, the findings for the Tim Hortons stores examined in this study indicate no air quality benefit to the public from eliminating drive-throughs. For a Tim Hortons store with no drive-through, the congestion that occurs in the parking lot, together with the start-up emissions and emissions from the extra travel distance to get to and from a space, all contribute to produce somewhat higher emissions per vehicle compared to a store that has adrive-through, this is particularly true in the case of smog pollutants and carbon monoxide (about 40 to 70% higher for those pollutants) but is also true for greenhouse gases (about 10 to 30% higher). These results are considered to be representative for Tim Hortons stores but cannot be generalized to other types of drive-through facilities. To put drive-throughs into perspective, combined emissions generated from al( vehicles using adrive-through facility during apeak-hour of operation are relatively small in relation to other common emission sources: smog pollutant emissions from all vehicles are comparable to a single chain saw operating for one hour; C02 emissions are comparable to a single bus operating for one hour; emissions from all vehicles using a store with adrive-through during the peak hour are less than one fifth of the emissions at an urban intersection; and emissions of smog pollutants and greenhouse gases from a single vehicle using adrive-through are less than 10% and 5% respectively of a typical 30-minute morning commute. Briefing Note -Summary of the Air Quality Assessment of Tim Hortons Restaurants: Ontario, Canada (May 2008) ^ A comparison of Year 2006 and Year 2016 modelling indicates that predicted trends in fleet-wide emissions will result in reduced impacts from smog pollutants and carbon monoxide in the future. ^" Dispersion modeling shows that 1-hour off-site concentrations of CO and NOX are below the provincial standards in 2006 and even further below in 2016. Therefore, based on a typical site layout, there are no adverse air effects predicted for land uses adjacent to the drive-through facility. Peer Review Dr. Deniz Karman, PhD, P.Eng, received a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of New Brunswick and is now a professor of environmental engineering at Carleton University in Ottawa. His research interests include: motor vehicle emissions and air quality in microenvironments; air pollution sources, control methods and dispersion modelling; and greenhouse gas emissions from industrial sources. In addition to pursuing his own research interests, Doctor Karman has acted as a consultant on projects involving motor vehicle emissions monitoring, alternative fuel effects on motor vehicle emissions, dispersion modelling for roadways and street canyons, and receptor modelling source apportionment for volatile organic and particulate matter. After reviewing the RWDI study Dr. Karman concluded The RWDI study is a detailed quantitative attempt to estimate emissions from different vehicle patterns around Tim Hortons facilities with and without drive-through service. It has applied appropriate methodologies for quantifying these emissions in typical cases, has put the results obtained in the context of other emission sources, and estimated ambient concentrations around a typical facility. It provides a sound basis for estimating the effect of the two types of Tim Hortons facilities. Project Director Mike Lepage, M.Sc., CCM, Principal /Project Director, joined RWDI in 1981 and became an Associate of the firm in 1988. As a Project Director, he provides overall direction on air quality and meteorological projects, ensuring that a high level of service is provided and, at the same time, RWDI's interests are preserved on all projects. Mike also oversees RWDI regional atmospheric modeling group, which is involved in high- end numerical modeling of regional air pollutants such as ground-level ozone and fine particulate matter. In recent years he has been extensively involved in regional modeling of meteorology and atmospheric chemistry to investigate large scale smog events, using models such MM5, Models-3/CMAO, SAOM, CALGRID and CALPUFF. RWDI RWDI is the leading wind engineering consulting services firm in the world. With 400+ staff and offices in five countries, the company offers a complete range of wind engineering, sustainable design, environmental air quality, noise and risk services.