Bryn Eyre and Energy Conservation
By virtue of design, Bryn Eyre will substantially conserve energy in comparison to conventional suburban developments. Specifically, Bryn Eyre will reduce energy by:
- Shifting travel mode – Walking, biking, and transit service will be emphasized in order to limit automobile dependence. The plan for Bryn Eyre incorporates several design elements which will significantly reduce vehicle miles traveled, and thus energy consumed, by its future residents.
- Mixed land uses – Residents will be in close proximity to shops, offices, workplaces, and parks. Rather than driving to these destinations, people will have the option of walking or biking.
- Walkable schools – Three elementary school sites and one middle school site are being provided to the Twin Valley School District in the plan for Bryn Eyre. These schools are distributed throughout the community, so children will be able to walk to school as opposed to relying on buses or their parents.
- Pedestrian accessibility – Bryn Eyre will include a number of features designed to encourage walking and biking.
- Wide sidewalks throughout the town,
- An extensive network of walking trails, and
- Frequent benches and bike racks.
- High density – Bryn Eyre will achieve a gross density of more than four dwelling units per acre which is substantially higher than surrounding developments. In fact, Berks County has an overall density of 0.25 households per acre, while the adjacent municipalities of Robeson and Caernarvon Townships have densities of 0.11 and 0.15 households per acre, respectively.[1] Research has repeatedly shown that high-density communities consume far less energy than typical, large-lot developments.
- According to a 1996 study using data from the National Personal Transportation Survey, doubling density decreases vehicle miles traveled by 38 percent.[2]
- A 1991 study found that “transportation fuel consumption per capita declines by one-half to two-thirds as urban densities rise from four to twelve persons per acre.”[3]
- Internal capture – The traffic engineers for Bryn Eyre, Orth-Rogers & Associates, estimate that the town will realize a 40% internal capture rate. Residents will not be forced to leave the community in order to run errands, go to work, or seek entertainment. Thus, the number of car trips—and the length of those trips—will be reduced, conserving energy.
- Proximity to major interstate highways – Bryn Eyre is located at the intersection of two interstate highways, I-76 (Pennsylvania Turnpike) and I-176. Residents and visitors will therefore spend much less time commuting on local roads.
- Transit service – A public transit service is planned for the Bryn Eyre community. It will likely consist of two components connected together at a transportation center near the junction of PA Route 10 and the I-176 Interchange. The first component is a shuttle service internal to the community designed to connect the residential neighborhoods and the Town Center and District Centers. The second component is an external transportation service connecting Bryn Eyre to the major local employment centers. It is anticipated that the two services will grow with the development and will be fully realized at buildout.
- Multiple housing types – We will offer a variety of housing types including small houses and all kinds of multifamily units. Compared to the oversized “McMansions” typical of sprawl developments in Pennsylvania, these housing types consume less energy partly due to their size and partly due to inherent efficiencies. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, higher density development which creates more common walls—as is the case with townhouses, apartments, twins, duplexes, and condominiums, all of which are proposed at Bryn Eyre—can reduce space heating requirements by as much as 20 percent on a square footage basis.
- Renewable energy – We will continue to explore opportunities for renewable energy with the adjoining Conestoga Landfill. As a byproduct of decomposition, landfills give off methane which can be reused for a variety of purposes including conversion to electricity. Although tentative, there is a probability that renewable energy could be provided which would meet the needs of the future residents of Bryn Eyre for the next forty years. Granger, a gas and electric company, recently opened up a methane to gas operation at the nearby Lanchester Landfill and they have expressed interest in working with us to generate electricity at Bryn Eyre.
