The concentration of the urban population is seeing a global rise.

The concentration of the urban population is seeing a global rise. The key to accommodating the incoming mass is through planned infrastructure. One of the key areas of concentration while planning should be energy distribution and consumption. Intelligent infrastructure which is energy efficient is the core of tomorrow’s city planning.

Energy-efficient buildings

“Buildings, too, are children of earth and sun” as architect Frank Lloyd Wright had said to keep safeguarding the sustainability of our planet they should be built in an energy-efficient manner. A lot of modern designs and materials are being adopted to keep the structure’s energy efficient. Designs now stretch on the maximum utilization of whatever natural resources they can find around like the daylight or rainwater. New materials are being used on cladding and facade design so that a minimal amount of air conditioning is required. Ventilations are planned so that cleaning is almost naturally done instead of using the high watt consuming vacuum cleaners and other electronic equipment. All most all new buildings now enforce the use of at least a solar panel to save on energy bills.

Smart traffic

The traffic system is also undergoing a huge change to increase energy efficiency. Moving on from the hybrid cars, even every crossing and parking zone is reinventing itself to save on fuel consumption. The streetlights are already set to work at night time, but we can change the way they work even at night. They can go to rest mode when they find no movement within their range and hence saving money. Parking sensors can detect free parking and transmit the location to relevant person saving on fuel and time.

Shared power grid

We all use a lot of devices having storage battery and many of us draw non-conventional energy through solar cells, dynamos and thermal absorbers. So, the concept of a grid can be implemented as we both have the generators and storage. For example, our car battery can act as extra storage for the power generated via our solar cells, on the terrace, throughout the day. We can actually start selling surplus power to our neighbor saving conventional energy.

Mass transit for the shared economy

Building a superfast and comfortable transportation system like high-speed trains helps save individual spending. People use more and more of these transits which have an indirect contribution to fuel conservation making people keep their cars at home.