Communities | Highlights

AN INTEGRATED PLANNING PROCESS FOR NEIGHBOURHOOD DEVELOPMENT

CanmetENERGY’s pilot study provides proof that all parties can benefit when they use an integrated planning process to developing sustainable neighbourhoods.

Collaboration throughout the planning process - between developers, the municipality and other stakeholders - can increase the opportunity to evaluate and select sustainable alternatives for neighbourhood development. It can also reduce many barriers to their implementation. CanmetENERGY’s integrated approach for neighbourhood planning was piloted at the mixed-use Emerald Hills Urban Village in Strathcona County, Alberta. The approach is documented in the recently published book, SuNLiving: Developing Neighbourhoods with a One Planet Footprint, and is available, along with the results, on the website, sunliving.ca (in both English and French) for use by other communities.

For more information, contact Renée Lazarowich at renee.lazarowich@nrcan.gc.ca

URBAN ENERGY ARCHETYPES

Establishing the Community Energy Signature:

CanmetENERGY’s Urban Archetypes Project established an understanding of how different neighbourhoods use energy with the objective to help improve the ability of municipalities to incorporate energy criteria in their planning process.

The project explored, in thirty-one neighbourhoods within eight cities across Canada, how urban form (land use and infrastructure) influences vehicle transportation energy and average household energy consumption. CanmetENERGY selected a set of characteristics (urban indicators) to define neighbourhoods, simulated their energy use, and investigated the relationship between those two facets.

The Archetypes are available for download, in both English and French, from the Buildings & Communities section of CanmetENERGY’s website canmetenergy.nrcan.gc.ca.

In the near future, the methodology for developing the neighbourhood energy signature, and an analysis of the relationship between the urban indicators and the household energy use, will also be posted.

For more information, contact Jessica Webster at jessica.webster@nrcan-rncan.gc.ca

COMMUNITY ENERGY CASE STUDIES

Community-scale developments provide municipalities and developers with options for energy reductions, along with unique financial and operational models that are not viable at the component level of individual houses or buildings.

CanmetENERGY brings you a series of case studies portraying the decisions already made by numerous communities across Canada. The cases provide information about each project’s context; energy decisions; drivers and rationale to do the project; timelines and status; descriptions, milestones, and considerations for implementation; costs and financing; relationship to other best practices; and lessons learned. The cases are separated into two categories: District Energy or Community Energy Plans.

Contact anna.munro@nrcan.gc.ca if you have a community energy story that you would like to share through our website.