Energy-scape elements: An approach on integrating landscape elements with renewable energy devices

Abstract

Today Landscape elements have been recognized as contributors to the physical quality of urban environments. More recently, they are considered as valuable contributors in increasing the property values, creating a place attractiveness, offering job opportunities, giving sense of social belonging, improving the public health, creating sustainable urban environment and improving the overall quality of life. The present research aims to use landscape elements in enhancing the urban environments by integrating these elements with renewable energy devices and creating Energy-scape elements. The research explores the impact of Energy-scape elements upon time, area, money and power produced by conducting two marketing survey cover the properties of landscape elements and renewable energy devices. This paper shows that landscape elements can be integrated with renewable energy devices and create Energy-scape elements, it also identifies Energy-scape elements and present its properties and measure its efficiency by applying it on a case study. A comparison between energy consumption before using Energy-scape elements and after using Energy-scape elements will also be presented. Energy-scape elements will help in reducing the growth of the global environmental problems such as ozone depletion and climate change and will help the 3rd world countries to develop since that the energy is the skeleton of any development. The objective of this research is to help landscape designers to understand the benefits of Energy-scape elements and to identify the type and location of Energy-scape system that can be used in their projects. The outcome is divided into two parts; theoretical outcome and empirical outcome. The theoretical outcome presents a database for the properties of Energy-scape elements that occurs from integrating landscape elements with different renewable energy sources. While, the empirical outcome presents a pilot project using Energy-scape elements and presents comparison between energy consumption before and after using Energy-scape elements.