| Land Planning Systems offers Comprehensive Planning Services, and Project Implementation for Energy Planning. The following is a recent article published on the topic. The Heat is On for Energy Planning I attended the National APA conference in Las Vegas in May and the action was not only in the casinos but in energy planning for the future. Among the many sessions offered were titles like green communities, reducing carbon footprints, climate change, green buildings, LEED certification, and various sessions on natural resource sustainability. The Tuesday session on energy planning was standing room only, flowing into the hallway. The orientation tour included a stop at the Las Vegas Springs Preserve which houses a Desert Living Center as a model of sustainability using recycled materials, passive cooling and heating designs, reclaimed water and electricity generated by solar panels. Is energy planning simply the latest planning strategy or it is here to stay? As world demand for oil increases, we are facing new challenges to gradually convert our economies to become based on renewable energies. Solar energy is one technology that is becoming more efficient and of greater use. Solar designs in Nevada are being integrated into new development projects. Even retrofitted designs are becoming more economically viable for existing homes. Although the desert southwest has the highest potential solar resource use in the US, Florida has 85% of the maximum PV resource of any location in the country (7.2 kWh/day out of a maximum of 8.5 kWh/day) according to a study by the Florida Solar Energy Center (FSEC) in Cocoa. I recently visited the center and it is good resource for both the public and private sector. They are working on making renewable energies more efficient and testing other alternative energies as well. They have also helped develop a “zero energy” photovoltaic residential home in Lakeland as a research and testing model of efficiency that achieves over 90% reduction in annual energy use. Florida needs forward thinking developers to build energy efficient neighborhoods using solar photovoltaics combined with other renewable energy resources integrated into energy efficient home designs. How would you like to live in a house that could generate electricity (at least part of the day) from alternative energies on site or within the neighborhood? How about after a hurricane? We are beginning to see new examples of development using solar energy in Florida. The Orange County Convention Center is the largest solar project in the southeast. In Palm Beach County, the nearly complete Pine Jog Environmental Education Center and Elementary School has qualified for the LEED “Silver Certification” and uses both passive and active solar energy for water heaters and photovoltaic energy tied directly into the electrical system. That combined with water cooled air conditioning yields an energy reduction in the school of about 25%. The Florida Legislature recently passed HB 697 which mandates greater energy efficiency in building code designs by 30% over the next 5 years and by 50% by 2019 with energy efficiency options for solar water heaters and cool roofs. The same bill requires future land use and conservation elements of comprehensive plans of local governments to be based on data and studies which considers energy efficient land use patterns and greenhouse reduction strategies. What makes energy an important issue for planners is that
is crosses such a broad spectrum of topics: transportation,
housing, business and economic development, land use patterns
and urban design, natural resources, work, play and agriculture.
Including energy elements in comprehensive plans could help
us focus on ways to reduce our energy demands on an individual
basis as well as for the community as a whole. Energy planning
will not pass as just another interesting planning topic;
it is here to stay with the ultimate goal of sustainability
and energy independence on the local, regional and national
levels. Although that goal may still be in the distant future,
the strategies we set and work towards today can help take
us there one step at a time.
Steven Ball, AICP is President of Land Planning Systems, Inc. An urban and environmental planning firm located in Port St. Lucie, Florida. He has a Bachelor’s Degree in Conservation and a Master’s Degree in Regional Planning.
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