1. Scaling Energy Connections:
Buildings, Cities and Vehicles
John Phelan, P.E.
Energy Services Manager
Fort Collins Utilities
Net Zero Cities
October 22, 2013

2. First Principles – Climatic Design
• Solar geometry
• Seasons
• Heat flows
• Wind patterns
• Skilled and knowledgeable industry
• Delivering high performance buildings is
rarely a technical issue

3. Assumptions – Energy Urban Design
• Buildings
• Don’t move
• Last 50-100 years
• See multiple rehabilitations in their lifetime
• Every project is an opportunity not to be missed

4. Scaling Energy Connections – Why?
• System level efficiency
• Source to end-use
• Carbon Reduction
• Vibrant and healthy community

5. Scaling Energy Connections
• Interconnection and optimization of energy systems
• Infrastructure
• Electricity - wires
• Thermal (natural gas) - pipes
• Liquid fuels (transportation) - trucks

6. Current State
• Electricity
• Nearly 75% fossil based
• Thermal (natural gas)
• Nearly 100% fossil based
• Liquid fuels
(transportation)
• Nearly 100% fossil based
• Utilities sell commodities
• Cities are made up of
“buildings” and “projects”

7. Future State
• Interconnected and optimized energy systems
• Renewable based electric system
• Thermal and liquid fuels become the lingering fossil based
resources
• Conversion
• Thermal to electric
• Liquid fuels to electric

8. Challenges
• Information based electric grid
• New utility business model
• Services, not commodities
• Need to scale efficiency and renewables by orders of
magnitude

9. Challenges
• Urban design focus on “buildings” or “projects”
• Wrong scale to be interconnected
• Best we can do now is to optimize
buildings as individual assets after the fact
• Need to anticipate future
optimization at larger scale

10. Current Projects
• Fort ZED
• Smart energy test-bed
• Technical, partnerships, business models
• Efficiency and renewable energy
• Best practices and innovation, driving to scale
• Drive Electric Northern Colorado

11. Back to transportation
• People love cars, especially in the west
• Electrification potential for benefit or trouble
• Get ahead of the curve
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Urban design – where we live
Vehicles – how we move
Utility design – behind the scenes
Supply resources – make it clean
• Humans… - make it easy

12. Thanks!
jphelan@fcgov.com