This project aims to enhance our understanding of the energy implications of urban form by connecting transport with the use of different types of buildings resulting from that transport. Urban form is intertwined with energy use and carbon emissions. Energy use per person in dense mega-cities, where residents live in apartment buildings and use public transportation, tends to be much smaller compared with urban sprawl areas, where residents live in detached houses and drive long distances. The division of urban areas into residential, commercial and industrial spaces also affects energy use. More energy is needed when homes, work places and shopping areas are separated as opposed to closer. One can think of the energy use of a given workplace or store as a network defined by how users of the building are coming from different areas. This networked energy model is developed for the Phoenix metropolitan area and also tracks how transport and building use changes over time as a community evolves.
The results of this project will help urban planners understand how to design more energy efficient and livable communities. For example, mixing residential, shopping and work areas can shorten driving distances, saving fuel and time. Even in an urban sprawl model, distributing home and shopping areas near one another can make walking and biking an attractive alternative for some trips. To make the results of the project usable and known to a broader group of stakeholders, a visualization tool is developed and integrated with educational and networking activities reaching urban planners.
