Energy, land use planning, and the development of energy conservant communities

The American pattern of residential development which arose out of the conditions of inexpensive and widely available energy no longer serves a society which must utilize its resources in a more conservant manner. As the United States makes a transition from a fossil fuel economy to one based on renewable energy resources, a wide range of conservation measures will be necessitated. This research addresses the issue of whether or not alternative patterns of residential development can contribute to the conservation effort by being either inherently energy conservant by virtue of their design and/or by lending themselves to technologies utilizing renewable resources. This research also examines a wide range of energy issues with special emphasis on those relating to land use planning.

The bulk of this effort is an examination of a number of case studies which specifically address the issue of energy conservant residential and ancillary development. The findings point to considerable savings both in front end development costs and in life cycle operating costs which can result from the application of land use planning and analytical techniques to the development of residential and mixed use neighborhoods.