Damian Pitt

Evaluating the greenhouse gas reduction benefits of compact housing development

Regional land use and transportation planning influences energy use and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in a number of ways, such as through its effect on vehicle miles travelled and the extension of municipal infrastructure to serve newly developed areas. Planning regulations also help to shape the density and form of residential development, which creates opportunities for energy savings, as more compact housing types (attached homes and apartments) use less energy, on average, than single-family detached units. This study uses micro-data from the US Department of Energys Residential Energy Consumption survey to estimate future residential energy use for space heating and cooling in Virginias 10 Census-designated metropolitan regions. It then calculates the effect of four residential development scenarios on that energy demand and resulting GHG emissions. Potential GHG emission reductions of approximately 23% are found between the most conservative and aggressive scenarios. The greatest potential energy savings are found in regions that currently have a relatively low share of compact housing types, particularly those that also have relatively cold winters compared to the states other regions. These factors, along with the distribution of home heating fuels used (electric vs. natural gas), influence the extent of potential GHG emissions reductions.

Collaborative Planning for Clean Energy Initiatives in Small to Mid-Sized Cities

Problem, research strategy, and findings: A growing number of small to mid-sized cities are implementing initiatives to promote energy conservation, efficiency, and renewable energy use in their communities. We need to better understand how these cities have approached this issue and the processes by which they adopt clean energy initiatives. We surveyed representatives of small to mid-sized cities to identify the types of clean energy initiatives they have adopted, the processes by which they were developed, and the obstacles encountered along the way. We also conducted 10 in-depth interviews with representatives of targeted high- and low-adopter cities. While many of the cities are aggressively pursuing clean energy opportunities in their municipal operations, far fewer are taking action to promote clean energy community wide. The high-adopter cities that have developed community-wide clean energy initiatives often did so using a variety of community engagement and stakeholder outreach methods. Takeaway for practice: Local officials who wish to promote clean energy use should start with energy efficiency and renewable energy investments for municipal facilities. Subsequent community-wide clean energy programs should focus initially on incentives for local residents and businesses, and should be framed in a way that emphasizes both environmental and nonenvironmental benefits. These initiatives should be developed through collaborative planning strategies, which can help educate residents about the benefits of clean energy initiatives, create dialogue with stakeholders who would be affected by these new initiatives, and introduce valuable outside expertise to the planning process.

Assessing energy use and greenhouse gas emission savings from compact housing: a small-town case study

Data from the US Department of Energy show that single-family detached homes consume about 17% more energy per year than attached homes and roughly double that of units in large multi-family structures. While greater use of these compact housing types could reduce a communitys energy use and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, most local climate action plans (CAPs) do not quantify those potential savings. This article describes how the climate action planning process in the Town of Blacksburg, Virginia has addressed residential sector GHG emissions and demonstrates a methodology applied in that community for estimating potential GHG reductions from compact housing. It finds that in an aggressive compact housing scenario GHG emissions from new housing could be decreased by as much as 36%, without factoring in additional energy conservation or efficiency measures. The article concludes with a discussion of the opportunities and challenges related to implementing compact housing in future residential development.

Collaborative approaches to local climate change and clean energy initiatives in the USA and England

ABSTRACT This paper analyses how 10 localities in the USA and England, recognised as leaders in clean energy and climate action, have used collaborative approaches to develop local climate change plans and energy conservation, efficiency, and renewable energy initiatives. It examines these planning and policy-making processes in the context of Margerums [2008. A typology of collaboration efforts in environmental management. Environmental Management, 41 (4), 487–500] typology of “action”, “organizational”, and “policy-level” collaborations, as well as Grays [1989. Collaborating: finding common ground for multiparty problems. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass] classification of collaboration in the “problem-setting”, “direction-setting”, and “implementation” phases. We conducted interviews with local elected officials, municipal staff, energy professionals, and citizen volunteers in each community, supplemented with an analysis of their adopted energy, climate change, and land-use plans. We find that despite the different government structures and political contexts between the two countries, there was a surprising amount of commonality in how the case study localities used collaborative planning to develop local climate plans and clean energy initiatives. These processes were most often initiated by local elected officials and/or high-level staff members, and then carried out in collaboration with local third-sector organisations and other community stakeholders. In the USA, collaboration was strongest at the policy level and in the direction-setting phase, with the distinguishing feature that citizen advisory boards or stakeholder working groups often took a more active role in shaping local plans and policies. The English localities had some of those same types of collaborations, but were more likely to also employ action collaboration, in the implementation phase, in which third-sector organisations coordinated with the locality to directly provide clean energy services.

Book Review: Renewable Energy and the Public: From NIMBY to Participation

When placemakers provide and enable with an eye toward the long term, they increase the likelihood that planning efforts will be sustainable, with opportunities for continuous change, and adaptability to this change through learning. In this section, Hamdi elaborates on his backwards reasoning approach, which is methodologically inductive, and bottom–up in directionality. He also discusses the importance of leveraging constraints to create opportunities, and creating feedback opportunities for reflective learning, and communication. In Part 4, Teaching, Hamdi revisits Parts 1, 2, and 3 and challenges the reader to think of innovative ways of bringing practice into the classroom. In this section, the focus is on learning by doing, and learning from practice. By providing examples from his own studio courses, Hamdi posits that students should be taught to acknowledge the wicked nature of planning problems, embrace complexities and uncertainties inherent in planning, subscribe to a code of ethics, and develop a skill set that will enable a better transition from classroom to the field. Taken altogether, the message of Hamdi’s book is as follows: community-based solutions offer lasting immediate and long-term impacts; the ultimate goal of planning is to create transformative solutions; empowerment is key to achieving transformative solutions that are adaptable and sustainable; building resiliency is important in ensuring the longevity of planning solutions; meaningful participation should not be a one-time occurrence but rather a continuous endeavor that is linked to local organization and governance structures; the placemaker is first and foremost a listener and learner who is grounded, and reasons backward, incrementally, and continually; reflecting on one’s experiences is an important component of learning, both in terms of understanding the researcher’s or practitioner’s role in the planning process, and for evaluation, adjustment, and monitoring purposes. Through reading this book, placemakers everywhere will gain practical lessons on community involvement and participation. Academics will be impressed with the infinite possibilities of service learning and the lessons from pedagogical innovations. Those interested in international planning, housing, and settlement planning will be impressed with the author’s extensive offerings of cases, and examples. In all, the strength of this book is in the creative solutions that were crafted in the author’s cases to empower communities, maximize community assets and resources, and build lasting implementation mechanisms. Hamdi acknowledges that this book is a compilation of his ideas, field notes, project evaluations, reflections, and lectures accumulated over several years of practice. While the richness of Hamdi’s experiences contributes in many ways to the strength of the book, the wide range of cases results in narratives that are compromised in terms of depth, contextual information, and analytical detail. It would have been well worth it, to track at least a few cases from start to finish— that is, detailing how and why the author was involved in the project, the issues at hand, how data were gathered, the range of public participation techniques used, the results of the data collection and participation exercises, how solutions were created, the types of solutions that were created, organizational and structural changes that were devised for continued implementation, results, reflection, and lessons. No doubt all of these aspects of project development and implementation are present in the book, but offered through different case examples, which makes it difficult for the reader to understand the complexities associated with the examples offered. The author offers several figures and photographs. These could have been better referenced, and explained in text. The transition from micro-level analysis of specific interventions in settlement planning and macro-level statistics was difficult to follow at times, as was the transition from the imaginary Thawra to the actual cases offered in the book. The author’s goal was to present a book that is free of jargon and easy to read. He succeeded in making the book accessible. That said, there were some missed opportunities in terms of explicitly linking planning practice to theory. Those interested in this linkage will find valuable information on the different types of learning, cooperation and collaboration, incremental planning, ethics, and networks. These have not been explicitly and sufficiently rendered, however. In sum, Hamdi’s book is a fun and interesting read. It will inspire you to strap on your boots, muddle through, and venture out to experience planning in practice.

Analyzing the costs and benefits of distributed solar energy in Virginia (USA): a case study of collaborative energy planning

Solar energy policy has become controversial in Virginia and many other states. Proponents point to its environmental, public health, and economic development benefits, and argue that it can help support electric grid operations. However, detractors, including many electric utilities, contend that the growth of customer-owned, distributed solar energy systems will create costs that must be passed on to ratepayers. This article presents a case study in which the authors led a multi-faceted Solar Stakeholder Group to evaluate the costs and benefits of distributed solar energy in Virginia. We examine this project in the context of collaborative planning theory, finding that it created shared learning among participants and facilitated greater understanding of opposing viewpoints, but did not produce a consensus vision for future action. We also note some of the Stakeholder Groups broader contributions to the ‘value-of-solar’ debate and discuss its implications for future distributed solar energy efforts in Virginia.

The sustainability of preference power allocations: an exploration of the Niagara Preference Power Program through the lens of the three E’s

Preference power allocations are allowances of electricity produced at government-owned power-generating facilities that are designated for sale to specific users at below-market rates. The Niagara Preference Power Program (NPPP) provides power to 51 municipally and/or cooperatively owned rural electric providers in the New York State. In this research, we use the analytical framework of the three E’s of sustainability—ecology, economy, and social equity—to explore how the NPPP influences municipal efforts to conserve energy, integrate energy planning into community development, and advance social equity among community members. Our survey of municipal officials in NPPP communities and follow-up semi-structured interviews indicate that the NPPP offers significant benefits to participating communities. Benefits include low electric rates and high levels of energy literacy among municipal leaders. Simultaneously, preference power may complicate economic development and energy conservation initiatives. Several communities involved in this study have developed techniques for overcoming these obstacles, such as creative rate structures and approaches to the promotion and implementation of energy conservation efforts. Consequently, these select municipalities challenge deeply held assumptions about the motivations that underlie energy conservation efforts and effective communication about the value of conservation behaviors in situations with weak, indirect, and invisible financial incentives.