Senior Urban Planner and Technologist VHB JERSEY CITY, New Jersey
This session will introduce planners to how to deploy technologies and techniques from smart communities to achieve real and lasting climate action. The Smart Communities offers opportunities to enhance climate action planning through providing opportunities to deploy future-forward technologies that augment the climate action process. This can include utilizing advanced climate modeling and digital twin technologies to assess and monitor climate risk, utilize flood and heat island modeling to create green infrastructure plans for climate adaptation, mitigating carbon emissions through using both zero-emission vehicles, intelligent transportation systems, clean transit, and safer streets to decarbonize mobility, utilizing renewable energy and microgrids to support zero-emission community energy, and modifying land use and building codes to reduce the carbon footprint of the built environment.
A case study will be provided for the Village of Sleepy Hollow, New York which is working with VHB to develop a Climate Action Plan that combines both Climate Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies to ensure long-term sustainability and equity. Part of the overall strategy was working with the disadvantaged community to integrate smart communities strategies with a climate action planning process to create an innovative plan that ensures that the village is both future and climate ready.
Understand how technologies like climate and carbon modeling, decarbonized mobility, and data informed land use and building codes can be utilized to enhance Climate Action Planning outcomes.
Link different digital tools from digital web-based engagement hubs to interactive 3D GIS models to enrich public engagement and build consensus around climate action.
Enhance their climate action plans through better leveraging data and technology that better identifies issues from carbon emissions and climate risks and work collaboratively to develop mitigation and adaptation strategies.
