Energy advice
Browse our advice about sustainable energy planning.
Funding energy effiency programmesGovernment incentives, grants and programmes help authorities reduce demand for energy.
Tags: energy, cities and towns, neighbourhoods
Future-proofing energy demandsWe should design buildings and energy strategies with enough flexibility to respond to changing technologies and ways we use energy.
Tags: energy, cities and towns, neighbourhoods, buildings and spaces
Thinking differently - the energy hierarchyThe three Rs of the European waste minimisation hierarchy - reduce, reuse, recycle - can be applied across sustainable development, particularly to energy.
Tags: energy, regions and subregions, cities and towns, neighbourhoods
Using thermal masterplanningThermal masterplanning helps neighbourhoods to use energy more efficiently and avoid wasting heat.
Tags: energy, cities and towns, neighbourhoods
Avoiding overheatingRising summer temperatures and increasingly air tight buildings mean that heat gain is a challenge as well as heat loss.
Tags: energy, buildings and spaces
Improving the energy performance of existing homesAccording to the Sustainable Development Commission, energy used in existing homes accounts for 27 per cent of all UK emissions and around 85 per cent of the existing stock will still be in use in 2050.
Tags: energy, cities and towns, neighbourhoods, buildings and spaces
Choosing low carbon and renewable technologiesThis page provides an initial overview of technologies to reduce carbon emissions.
Tags: energy, regions and subregions, cities and towns, neighbourhoods, buildings and spaces
Establishing local networks for energy supply / combined heat and power Remote power plants are inefficient, with over 60 per cent of the energy from fossil fuels being lost through transmission and waste heat before the electricity reaches our buildings.
Tags: energy, cities and towns, neighbourhoods
Encouraging low carbon vehicle technologies and fuelsThe take up of more efficient vehicles and alternative fuels is vital to reduce CO2 emissions from the transport sector.
Tags: energy, national level, transport, regions and subregions, cities and towns
Reconciling waste to energy with recyclingWaste to energy and recycling both have a part to play in sustainable waste management.
Tags: energy, waste, regions and subregions, cities and towns, neighbourhoods
Reducing energy use in new buildingsInnovative building design can maximise energy efficiency at the same time as creating a high-quality urban environment.
Tags: energy, neighbourhoods, buildings and spaces
Building waste to energy plants in urban areasWaste to energy facilities have been successfully integrated into major European and British cities.
Tags: energy, waste, neighbourhoods, buildings and spaces
Choosing waste to energy technologiesThere are three main waste to energy processes: incineration, anaerobic digestion and gasification and pyrolysis.
Tags: energy, waste, regions and subregions, cities and towns
Choosing low-energy lifestylesWhile significant energy reductions can be achieved through the way we design our cities and the buildings within them, how we live our lives is also a key factor in reducing energy use.
Tags: energy, regions and subregions, cities and towns, neighbourhoods, buildings and spaces
Creating new patterns of ownership (ESCOs and MUSCOs)National renewable energy targets for 2020 provide significant opportunities for new patterns of ownership of energy generation and delivery systems.
Tags: energy, cities and towns, neighbourhoods
Post-occupancy evaluationDisplay energy certificates show that a building's energy performance rarely matches the design aspirations. Post-occupancy monitoring and feedback is essential to understand how to improve this.
Tags: energy, buildings and spaces
Powering transport with fuel cellsHydrogen is currently being piloted in the public transport sector on bus fleets in various locations worldwide
Tags: energy, transport, cities and towns
Ground and air generated heatThe ground and air around a development site can be used as a source of heat for new buildings via a heat pump
Tags: energy, neighbourhoods, buildings and spaces
Building in solar technologiesSolar technologies can generate either electricity – from photovoltaic cell panels, or hot water – from solar thermal panels.
Tags: energy, neighbourhoods, buildings and spaces
Using wind powerWind power has normally been regarded as a technology primarily for rural areas but technological and design advances increasingly mean that it can also be integrated into urban fringe locations.
Tags: energy, regions and subregions, cities and towns, neighbourhoods
Collecting wood fuelIf managed properly, English forestry could provide the heat requirements for approximately 500,000 homes and electricity for 1,000,000 homes.
Tags: energy, green infrastructure, cities and towns, neighbourhoods
CABE and Urban Practitioners
with the cities of Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham and Sheffield