Energy-saving Strategies In Urban Planning And Design

Climate change has become a major challenge for the world, for which, the field ofarchitecture and urban planning will also face new tasks and requirements. From KyotoProtocol to Copenhagen Climate Conference,“low carbon” is becoming the target for manycities to reach in different countries, and at the same time the concept and design practices ofgreen buildings, low-carbon buildings, zero energy buildings keep emerging. Architecture andurban planning has developed beyond the scope of aesthetics, functions and culture. Lowcarbon and environmental friendliness is challenging the field of architecture and urbanplanning as a new and urgent historic mission of the era.At present, eco-city planning and construction is still in its infancy in China. Mosteco-city planning and designs are being suspected of "playing the concept ", effectivestrategies for ultimate energy saving lack, especially in block-level urban planning anddesign，and energy-saving strategy research is rarely found. This paper has studied relevanttheories and literature, and analyzed a series of energy-saving strategies including theapplication of computer simulation technologies targeting at block and community levelplanning and design. Combined with the “low-carbon communities” case in Yangzhou OldCity for further application research, it has aimed to explore practical and feasibleenergy-saving strategies that can be copied in urban planning and design.The paper first introduces the background of the topic, so as to define the scope and focusof the study, and it generalizes and analyzes the energy consumption structure and influencingfactors of planning projects, in order to clarify the object of design method research. Then itdescribes energy-saving principles and urban planning and design strategies, as well ascomputer simulation in urban planning and design represented by Ecotect. It also takes the realcase of “low-carbon project” in Yangzhou Old City as an example, elaborating on thedevelopment of energy-saving strategies in the process of urban planning and design, in termsof background, climatic conditions, passive strategies, optimized orientation, building shape,optimized layout, open space, functions, as well as transportation. It finally comes to aconclusion that further summarizes urban planning and design strategies.