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Sustainable urban block: Energy

(We all had a common roadmap for this initial session, and all did it a different way! Here's the energy group, via Joe Wenisch.)

Organizing themes:
- use all surfaces to generate power
- context: ask first, about place, resources, etc, before exploring need -- or even setting density of the block. (The charrette is initially operating with assumption of a "standard" 425ftx250ft block with 100 dwelling units (DU) per acre, and some 400-800 people)
- supply and demand: minimizing use

Key components:
- onsite generation and storage
- smart meters and intelligent controls
- advanced building materials
- engage residents; create a sense of ownership -- and responsibility
- "waste" to energy (eg, ag waste (which might be better used as ag input) human waste...
- use the same power plant for multiple uses for the whole block (to make the best use of time-specific loads, rather than just "adding it all up")

Barriers:
- policies & codes
- finance -- eg first costs, assumptions about ROI
- split incentives
- silos and lack of community connection (people talking to people they don't ordinarily talk with)
- space constraints/tradeoffs (power, food, re-creation, oxygen, etc)
- turf: ownership v rental, sense of ownership
- resistance to density (but is this innate, or marketed to us -- and therefore malleable?)
- resistance to socio-economic mix
- maintenance needs and responsibilities
- systems too complex
- systems adaptation

(That's it. Lunch break!)

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This page contains a single entry from the blog posted on August 21, 2008 12:23 PM.

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