Create villages, not cities, often great distances from metropolitan areas. Planners of all types must contest with real, working cities, phenomena they wish to control but cannot. Besides changes in urban form, individual decisions can in aggregate considerably reduce energy consumption in cities. Reducing energy consumption has the added benefit of saving money, so it is an easy sell. Problem is the savings are sometimes not immediate.
People have to invest over a longer period to realize savings.
Reduction in car use. Public transit Appropriate energy use. 1 in 4 houses in the US is heated with electricity. Energy is lost making electricity. One person has likened electricity for heating as using a chainsaw to cut butter.