Energy for Sustainability

Randolph & Masters, 2008

Chapter 15:
Transportation, Land Use, and
Whole Community Energy
 Vehicle Technologies:
 HEV, PHEV, FCEV
 Fuel types and characteristics:
 petroleum products,
 alternative fuels

 Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT)

Over past 30 years, improvements in emissions
controls, fuel economy offset by higher VMT
Personal vehicles: our oil fix
Congestion
Sprawl:
 land consumptive, dispersed, auto-dependent
land development
 made up of homogeneous segregated uses:
 housing subdivisions, shopping centers,
office/business parks, large civic institutions,
 and roadways heavily dependent on collector
roads.
Spatial dependence of automobile
Loss of Farmland
 BALTIMORE

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WASHINGTON D.C.

Development Patterns through:

1900
Development Patterns through:
1910
Development Patterns through:
1920
Development Patterns through:
1930
Development Patterns through:
1940
Development Patterns through:
1950
Development Patterns through:
1960
Development Patterns through:
1970
Development Patterns through:
1980
Development Patterns through:
1990
Development Patterns through:
1997
Development Patterns:
1900 - 1960
Development Patterns:
1961 - 1997
Development Patterns:
1900 - 1997
 Costly
Infrastructure
 BALTIMORE
CITY

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Highway & Development Patterns through:

1900
Highway & Development Patterns through:
1940
Highway & Development Patterns through:
1960
Highway & Development Patterns through:
1997
 Smart Growth
• emphasizes development
in areas of existing
infrastructure, and
• deemphasizes
development in areas
without infrastructure or
less suitable

By doing so, Smart Growth

• supports and enhances
existing communities
• preserves natural and
agricultural areas
• saves the cost of
infrastructure
• reduces VMT
Village Homes
Davis, California
Community Principles:
1. All planning should be in the form of complete and integrated communities containing housing, shops,
work places, schools, parks and civic facilities essential to the daily life of the residents.
2. Community size should be designed so that housing, jobs, daily needs
and other activities are within easy walking distance of each other.
3. As many activities as possible should be located within easy walking distance of transit stops.
4. A community should contain a diversity of housing types to enable citizens from a wide range of
economic levels and age groups to live within its boundaries.
5. Businesses within the community should provide a range of job types for the community's residents.
10. Each community or cluster of communities should have a well-defined edge, such as agricultural
greenbelts or wildlife corridors, permanently protected from development.
12. Wherever possible, the natural terrain, drainage and vegetation of the community should be
preserved with superior examples contained within parks or greenbelts.
13. The community design should help conserve resources and minimize waste.
14. Communities should provide for the efficient use of water through the use of natural drainage, drought
tolerant landscaping and recycling.
15. The street orientation, the placement of buildings and the use of shading
should contribute to the energy efficiency of the community.

Regional Principles:
17. Regions should be bounded by and provide a continuous system of greenbelt/wildlife corridors to be
determined by natural conditions.
Transit Oriented Development (TOD)
The
Regional
Context
New Urbanism
Developments
King Farm,
Rockville, MD
Covell Village
Davis (CA)
• 1864-units, 422 acres
• Michael Corbett & others
• 2/3 of units serve low- &
moderate-income
• 772 acre farmland reserve
• 124 acre wetland habitat
• 27 acres parks
• 26 acre nature corridor
• 16 acres greenbelts
• Compact/pedestrian design
• 8 miles bike paths
• New transit line to downtown
• Exceeds Title 24 by 30%
• All SF homes 1 kW PV

• Approved by Council, up for

voter approval Nov 8
Davis has distinct borders where housing meets
Yolo County farmland. Those border will remain
intact after city voters rejected a large subdivision
called Covell village 59% to 41%
Urban
Growth
Boundary
Portland
Prairie Crossing
Greyfield
Redevelopment
The Urban Turnaround

Simmons and Lang, 2001

The Coming Demand?

Myers and Gearin, 2001

 TOD: 20-30%
 Green mortgages: 15-50%
 Smart School siting: 15-50%
 Municipal Parking progrms: 15-30%
 Infill/BF: 10-50%
 Aggressive Smart Growth: 5-30%
 Commuter incentives: 5-25%
 Comp. Smart Growth: 3-20%
 POD: 1-10%
 Pay as you drive insurance: 1-10%
 Transit improvements: 0.5% per 1% freq.
 Bicycle incentives: 1-5%
 Light Rail: 1-2%
 Road pricing: 1-3%
 Efficient buildings and sites
 On-site distributed generation
 Efficient neighborhoods and land use
 Connected regions
Title # Credits Points % of total
Location Efficiency 7 28 25%
Reduced Automobile Dependence 2 to 6
Environmental Preservation 13 11%
Compact, Complete, & Connected Neighborhoods 22 42 37%
Compact Development 1 to 5
Transit-Oriented Compactness 1
Diversity of Uses 1 to 3
Comprehensively Designed Walkable Streets 2
Superior Pedestrian Experience 1 to 2
Transit Amenities 1
Access to Nearby Communities 1
Resource Efficiency 17 25 22%
Certified Green Building 1 to 5
Energy Efficiency in Buildings 1 to 3
Heat Island Reduction 1
Infrastructure Energy Efficiency 1
On-Site Power Generation 1
On-Site Renewable Energy Sources 1
Reuse of Materials 1
Recycled Content 1
Regionally Provided Materials 1
Construction Waste Management 1
Other 2 6
TOTAL 48 114 100%
Certified: 46 – 56; Silver: 57 – 67; Gold: 68 – 90; Platinum: 91 – 114
 If rooftop PV, passive solar, and SHW systems
are going to contribute, we need to make sure
they are not shaded when they need the sun.
 Solar access protection:
1. Remove barriers (codes, covenants) to solar
systems
2. Provide for easements between property owners
3. Protect solar access by regulation: solar rights
 After January 1, 1979, no person owning, or in control
of a property shall allow a tree or shrub to be placed,
or, if placed, to grow on such property, subsequent to
the installation of a solar collector on the property of
another so as to cast a shadow greater than 10% of
the collector absorption area upon that solar collector
surface on the property of another at any one time
between the hours of 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., local
standard time, [provided] . . . The location of a solar
collector is . . . set back not less than 5 feet from the
property line, and no less than 10 feet above the
ground.
 Solar Skyspace

 Shadow patterns