August 14, 2002—The San Diego Regional Energy Office (SDREO) on July 24, 2002 was declared the winner of the US Competition for Metropolitan Energy Design. That competition aimed to solicit the most innovative approaches to metropolitan energy planning and management in the nation and to identify a “subject city” to be the US entry to a complementary international competition. The Gas Technology Institute (GTI) sponsored the US competition, with support from the US Department of Energy.
San Diego’s winning plan focuses on a region-wide energy planning process (covering all local jurisdictions and the northern Baja region of Mexico) and a first-of-its-kind comprehensive assessment of the region’s gas and electric energy infrastructure. Energy self-reliance is the overall goal for this planning process, which begins with a focus on conservation and efficiency strategies to reduce the demand for energy. In addition, the plan addresses the role of advanced technologies such as solar and fuel cells for power generation, and highlights a variety of clean transportation strategies and energy-efficient land use plans to reduce energy-related emissions, curb urban sprawl, and revitalize the region’s commercial centers.
A discussion of the US contest will be a highlight of the Energizing America’s Cities conference to be sponsored by GTI in Chicago September 19-20, 2002. The conference will provide a venue for national energy leaders to discuss the energy challenges facing the nation’s cities and the innovative energy solutions being developed to address those challenges. The Chicago conference will also recognize the other six finalists in the US competition: Austin, Chattanooga, Chicago, Denver, Portland (OR), and Seattle. The Twin Cities area of Minnesota will also be recognized for its efforts to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
As the official US entry to the International Competition for Sustainable Urban System Design, the San Diego/Tijuana region will now become the subject for creation of an integrated energy, environmental, land-use, and transportation design for the year 2003. In addition, the entry will include an information resources guide for all American cities that will describe innovative approaches to sustainable energy planning, derived from the seven finalist cities in the US competition. The guide will provide information on clean power generation, distribution and use technologies, alternative transportation fuels/fleets, energy efficiency programs and practices, financing for municipal sustainability, and emerging technologies.
The US entry will compete against those from cities in seven other nations, including: Buenos Aires, Argentina; Vancouver, Canada; Changshu, China; Berlin, Germany; Goa, India; Tokyo and Mishima, Japan; and Vologda, Russia. The winning plan will be announced at an international conference on sustainable urban design in Tokyo, Japan, in June 2003.
Sponsored by the International Gas Union (IGU), the International Competition for Sustainable Urban System Design has challenged eight nations in seven global regions to develop urban designs that integrate energy, environmental, building, transportation, and social systems in a manner that sustains both local and global resources.
San Diego and the international teams will submit their entries to a panel of internationally recognized energy, environmental, urban planning, and management experts in December of 2002, and will then present their designs at the 22nd World Gas Conference in Tokyo, Japan, in June of 2003. Immediately following that event, the IGU will launch an education and outreach initiative to disseminate the sustainable design concepts and management practices to cities around the world.
