developing a strategic decision-making process for local energy ...

ABSTRACT
DEVELOPING A STRATEGIC DECISION-MAKING PROCESS FOR
LOCAL ENERGY PLANNING AND URBAN LAND-USE
EVALUATIONS: THE CASE FOR BALÇOVA GEOTHERMAL
ENERGY
The concept of ‘renewable energy’ for countries such as Turkey which are
classified as poor, in terms of reserving the mentioned fossil energies could be an
opportunity for being independent. ‘Geothermal Energy’ among the renewable energy
sources in our country is known as an important type of valid and potential energy
sources.
Design and land-use are closely linked to the energy efficiency levels for an
urban area. The current urban planning practice does not involve an effective land-useenergy
evaluation in its ‘blueprint’ urban plans.
The case of Balçova, a district in the Izmir Metropolitan area, is used
conformingly for evaluating the proposed master plan and the “geothermal energy
district heating system” use for the concern district.
The examination of the existing development plan with an “energy sensitive”
point of view, determination of the questioning criteria’s, and the evaluation of
alternative compromises that can be done on planning principles, form the originality of
thesis. The construction is completed by the integration of these policy-plan- project
scaled approaches during this evaluation.
According to the thesis main idea, the proposed energy sensitive land-use
planning method can be an effective tool for planners as simulation media in GIS
programs using, to evaluate efficiency levels for different plan proposals, letting to know
how much energy saving causes how much deviation from the other planning ideals.
In the extent of the thesis, an alternative energy sensitive (integrated) land-use
planning approach is aimed in the example of ‘geothermal energy district heating
system’ by using development tools of land-use planning, planning brief and plans on
‘the increase in energy efficiency in urban settlement’ approach.
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