Green Development Planning - Chula Vista, CA

PlaceMatters is working with partners to develop a comprehensive, innovative, community-scale model for energy efficiency and sustainable resource management for the 15,000-acre Otay Ranch development in Chula Vista, California. This transit-oriented development, just south of San Diego, includes 3-6 villages being built to accommodate 70,000 additional residents in 23,732 new dwelling units within the next 15 years.

At the center of the new development will be a mixed-use village adjoining a unique campus to be shared by five area universities and colleges, including two from nearby Mexico.

This innovative project is integrating technology and management strategies to maximize energy efficiency at the community scale. PlaceMatters’ Planning Collaborative, working with several partners and planning tools, is using CommunityViz to analyze impacts, visualize land use alternatives and maximize efficiencies and their integration with power generation technologies.  The Project also looks to combine American Forests’ CityGreen software with CommunityViz to provide an integrated analysis of both green and built infrastructure.

Goals

  • Minimizing energy consumption in buildings, transportation elements, and water systems
  • Maximizing the use of cost-effective renewable energy resources
  • Reducing energy-related emissions from both on-site and off-site sources
  • Maximizing the reliability and security of energy services to critical facilities and functions, as well as the community-at-large
  • Creating a replicable market approach to accelerate the demand for energy smart-development and associated energy-efficient technologies

Partners: Global Energy Center for Community Sustainability (GEC) at the Gas Technology Institute (GTI); City of Chula Vista; U.S. Department of Energy
Issue Areas: Green Development; Energy; Housing; Transportation
Methods: Visualization; Impact Analysis; Scenario Analysis
Tools: CommunityViz; CityGreen; Building Energy Analyzer; ENERGY 10