Just about two years ago we first wrote about Bloom Energy. At the time, the company’s revolutionary energy servers (Bloom Boxes) seemed like the next big thing in clean energy (or the next big miss). While the cost was sky high, the technology enabled computer-like servers, which stacked fuel cells in close proximity, to generate on-site electricity with no combustion or exhaust. Until last month, there was scant news to report on the company, when JMB Realty in downtown Los Angeles installed a 400kW system comprised of Bloom Boxes. According to a press release from JMB, the system will generate “approximately one-third of the building’s electrical demand, and reducing those emissions by 30 percent.” Bloom Boxes convert “fuel into electricity via a clean electrochemical process.”
This system marks the “first high-rise, Class A office installation.” JMB’s offices are located in Constellation Place, a high rise office complex in the Century City section of Los Angeles. The facility was the “first high rise office building in Los Angeles to receive the U.S. Green Building Council LEED® Silver certification in the existing building category.” Since its initial designation, the structure has been re-certified and earned LEED Gold status.
The Bloom Boxes are also in use at Fortune 500 companies, including eBay, FedEx, Google, Staples, and Walmart.
[Image's from email]