Alex Laskey believes that behavioral science can help drastically reduce energy demand in homes:
Matt McDermott, noting that “[u]p to 10 percent of peak energy demand in the summer” goes to cooling buildings, focuses on reducing energy use through intelligent urban design:
Placement of trees and vegetation matters. Planting trees along western and eastern exposures both cools buildings and reduces energy demand. Planting on southern exposures does this as well, but must be balanced against reducing the ability of a building to take advantage of solar heating in cooler months. Vines can be used for similar results. The EPA says planting trees on the west and southwest exposures of a building can reduce energy needed for cooling by 7-47 percent. In parking lots and along streets, trees obviously provide many cooling benefits as well. …
Green roofs offer similar benefits as do trees and vegetation in reducing temperatures, though there have been some genuine questions raised about their effectiveness. A green roof can reduce the energy demand of a building, reduce air pollution in the same manner as vegetation planted on the ground, as well as help manage stormwater runoff. A far less expensive option targeting roofs, cool roof techniques radically reduce surface temperatures of a building (50-60°F lower than conventional roofing), as well as reducing energy demand, both by changing the reflectivity of the roof. Overall, a cool roof can reduce yearly energy demand of a building by 50 cents per square foot.
