Pictures of the Future    Spring 2007

Talk of the Town

It’s June 2020. Municipal manager John Gardiner is explaining to a visiting student how he has improved the quality of life in his urban neighborhood while cutting energy consumption in half.

John walks over to the panorama window. "Some 800,000 people live in my neighborhood. For years now, it’s been the most popular of the city’s 20 districts. And from up here it’s clear why people like it so much." Jennifer nods. "Do you know where most energy was being wasted ten years ago?" asks John. "In power plants?" Jennifer answers. "Back then they had much lower efficiency ratings, and lots of energy was lost in the form of heat." "Almost everyone gets that question wrong," says John, smiling. "A lot more energy was wasted in buildings due to poor insulation. People virtually threw fuel out the window. In those days, heating systems accounted for 80 % of household energy consumption! Buildings were old, smart building technologies were practically nonexistent, there were hardly any combined heat and power plants—and fuel cell technology wasn’t affordable."

"And what did you do about it?" "Financial incentives," John answers. "For one thing, carbon dioxide emissions have been taxed for a long time now. That initially brought some relief to the homeowners and property owners who had modernized their buildings early on. And we introduced stricter regulations for new buildings. Then too, as a municipal manager I’ve strongly emphasized performance contracting." "What’s that?" asks Jennifer. "We appointed a team of energy savings detectives. They look at all energy users in private households, businesses and public buildings, and make recommendations on modernization, which they also implement. The biggest energy guzzlers were motors and ventilation and air-conditioning technology. Today we mostly use energy-saving motors, and ventilation systems now have smart regulation systems. That cuts energy consumption by more than half." "How did you get industry on board? Didn’t it cost a lot?" asks Jennifer. "That too is a misconception," answers John. "Of course investments are necessary. But they’re usually balanced out quickly by the resulting savings. By the way, that’s ideal for local authorities, which usually have tight budgets."

"I can see a power plant in the distance," says Jennifer. "In my courses I learned that power plants have become increasingly efficient over the last 30 years." "That’s right," says John. "And thanks to the savings, we were able to revise our requirements planning downward and close down older power plants with high CO₂emission levels. When we needed new power plants, we made sure there was a mix of geothermal energy, wind energy and conventional technology. We also ensured that our suppliers installed the best technology available. Efficiency wasn’t our only criterion for the turbines; we also had to fulfill strict noise regulations. Nowadays, people living near a gas turbine plant hardly notice anything. Our aim was not only to be the world’s most energy-efficient city—we also wanted to provide our citizens with the best possible quality of life."

John leans back in his chair. "I’ve also made that a top priority here in my apartment," he says. "Take the lighting, for example. You have no idea how important lighting is for creating a sense of well-being. That OLED light panel over there is also my home movie theater. And the ceiling has a luminescent screen where I can make a romantic sunset appear every evening. You really must stay for dinner."

"Um...could be difficult, but now that you mention lighting, were you able to save energy there too?" asks Jennifer, walking toward the window. "Yes," says John. "Thanks to LEDs, which need less than a fifth of the electricity required by incandescent bulbs or halogen lamps. The price of these tiny light sources has fallen significantly. They’re so economical and have such long lifespans that today we’re even inserting them into pedestrian pathways to ensure safety. I’ve got a few of them here in the columns and the furniture..."

"Wow," says Jennifer with a polite smile. "And what about road traffic? That was always the second biggest energy consumer, wasn’t it?" "Here we used a two-pronged strategy," lectures John. "First, we used taxes and emissions certificates to promote hybrid and electric cars. Then we expanded the public transportation system significantly. We also converted the entire fleet of city buses so that they could run on hybrid diesel engines—but that was just a symbolic measure. The buses and the subway system accounted for only one percent of the city’s total energy consumption."

"And what was the second step?" asks Jennifer. "Efficient traffic management," answers John. "Of course, passenger car traffic has decreased considerably, thanks to our outstanding subway system and the tolls on city traffic, but lots of commuters and suppliers still come here by car. But now we inform drivers about congestion risks while they’re still on beltways. Automatic guidance systems then direct them through the city to parking garages."

Jennifer’s cell phone rings, interrupting John’s enthusiastic lecture. "Hi, Mike," Jennifer greets the caller and a smile lights up her face. "O.K., great, I’ll come down right away," she says and folds up her phone. "John, what you’ve just said is absolutely true. The automatic guidance system directed my boyfriend to a free parking space right in front of your building. I asked him to pick me up." She shakes hands with John and puts her half-empty glass on the counter. "Thanks for the drink and all the information. Bye!"
                                                                                                 Norbert Aschenbrenner