CARBON NEUTRAL COMMUNITY
PATHWAY
Based on the definition of carbon neutral
community, a pathway or methodology was identified for communities
to become carbon neutral. This pathway can be implemented
to the various sectors that exist within the community,
which includes residential, commercial and industrial. The
pathway basically consists of three main steps as shown
by figure 1. They are
STEP 1: Assessment of Demand and
Carbon Emissions
The first step in the carbon neutral community pathway is
to assess the building stock and some demographics of the
community. This step includes data collection and data analysis.
… more
STEP 2: Reduction of Demand and
Carbon Emissions
The second step in the pathway is to reduce the demand and
carbon assessment to a minimum possible which is the heart
of the whole process. However, most communities are not
aware of the importance of this step and tend to skip it.
This is due to the perception that the carbon neutral community
concept is all about incorporating renewable energy into
the community, which is actually the final step in the pathway.
In order to reduce the demand and carbon
emissions, various energy efficient measures can be implemented.
This includes improvement in building fabric, use of energy
efficiency appliances and change in energy consumption behaviour.
… more
STEP 3: Offset of Remaining Demand
and Carbon Emissions
Once the demand and carbon emissions have been reduced to
a minimum possible, the remaining demand and emissions must
be offset through green technologies and measures. This
includes incorporating renewable energy supply into the
community with the intention of substituting supply from
fossil fuels. However, most of the time, due to the limited
renewable resources within the community, not enough supply
is generated to meet the essential demand of the community.
In this case, load shifting and green ‘offsetting’
is used…
…..more