Community and Sustainability

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Community and Sustainability
Nancy Carlisle, A.I.A, NREL Jim Leach,
P.E.,Wonderland Hills Development Company
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Topics

• Nancy
• What is a Renewable Community?
• Why are we interested?
• Current activities at NREL
• Jim
• Results30 years of developing sustainable
  communities

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The Vision
Renewables
Energy Smart Buildings
Vehicles and Fuels
A Renewable Energy Community
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10 Critical Elements of a Renewable Community

• Community generates its own energy supply
• Design and decisions based on sound business
  principles
• Cost of living in the community is optimized for
  consumer
• Energy conservation features are core
• Vehicle miles traveled are substantially reduced
• Encourages shared resources to minimize
  consumption
• Pollution is minimal or non-existent
• Integrate workplace with living place
• Master planned community as an integrated system
• Magnet for economic development
• A community that people will demand to live in!

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Why is the concept significant?

• Carbon emission goals will require deeper
  emissions reduction over the long term
• Progress will require more complex and integrated
  decision-making
• Implementation will occur on the community level
• Momentum to be the first building around the
  world

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Key Elements of a Renewable Community

• A renewable community has net zero or near-zero
  homes, integrated transportation and advanced
  vehicles, local renewable energy generation, and
  incorporate sustainable living practices. It
  will provide economic benefit and a positive
  impact on quality of life.
• Sustainable design
• Solar/Zero Energy Buildings/Micro-grids
• Advanced and Energy Efficient transportation
• Utility role expansion power generation and
  load management
• Putting it all together

http//www.nrel.gov/applying_technologies/state_lo
cal.html
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It starts with sustainable land use planning

• The underlying principles of Dewees are that
• Development and environment are
• natural allies
• All development building should
• occur in the context that all resources
• are limited
• Communities and buildings can be
• resource providers not just resource
• users
• Land is a stewardship role for future
• generations
• It is less expensive short and long
• term to build in harmony with the
• environment
• Communities are planned for people
• and technologies are to be supportive
• not dominant
• Environmental education is an

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Buildings Efficiency coupled with passive and
active solar

The NAHB Research Center predicts that zero
energy homes could be moving into the mainstream
of the nations housing markets as early as 2012
and hold the potential for reducing the energy
consumption of all single family homes by 19 by
2050 even as more than a million new homes are
added annually.
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Vehicles Can Be Part of the Home Package
Toyota Dream House PAPI

Net Zero Energy Canadian Home
Plug-in vehicle in a Japanese Home
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What types of vehicles are in a Renewable
Community?

• Electric Vehicles Bi-directional plug-in
• Hybrid Electric Vehicles Plug-in
• Fuel Cell Vehicles Plug-in
• CNG/LNG Vehicles home refueling
• Clean Diesel / biodiesel
• Car share program
• Others

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Drake Landing, Canada
Community with microgrid, using GSHP and Solar
Thermal
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Energy supply-- Various approaches to
community-based renewable generation
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Energy Supply - Distributed or Central?
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From a Consumers Point of View A Renewable
Community Can Cost Less Than a Non-renewable
Community!
Renewable Community vs. Non-Renewable Community
Lifetime Cash Flows
Non-Renewable Community
Renewable Community
Vehicle Payments
Electricity Costs
Total Costs
After-Tax Mortgage
Vehicle Fuel Costs
0
Payments
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Work in SEACC that supports this concept

• Strategic Initiative to develop tools to support
  renewable communities (analytic, case studies,
  piloting the concept)
• Carbon Neutral Communities initiative (EERE
  Analysis Summit)
• Navys San Nicholas Island WFO project\broad
  DOD interest
• Hawaii Initiative
• Informal relationship\contact with over 30
  communities interested in piloting ideas