Getting there takes energy

We know how to build pedestrian friendly cities and we know that they are low carbon cities. We lament the fact that bicycle use is dropping in China from 60% a few years ago to 25% today. And while we know all this we don't know how to incetivize pedestrian friendly cities.

Community is illegal today because regulations that limit the ingestion of poison are against the law. In some communities its against the law to hang your clothes out to dry. Lowering speed limits to keep children from getting killed and saving energy is illegal. The hybrid Prius, energy-efficient appliances, florescent bulbs, bicycles, and clean air regulations are examples of policies that have addressed failures of the market place and show how dinosaur industries have shot themselves in the foot.

Buildings are no different. A buildings location is very important with respect to how much energy it uses. We can't keep planting them like rice in remote places and expect a better plane to a hybrid commute plan.

In a study on the transporation energy footprint of a building
http://www.buildinggreen.com/auth/article.cfm?fileName=160901a.xml
these conclusions are drawn

The fact remains that the additional energy use from more employees driving to work may well exceed the energy savings realized by a green building.

Buildings are responsible for much more energy use getting people to and from those buildings. For an average office building in the United States, calculations done by Environmental Building News (EBN) show that commuting by office workers accounts for 30% more energy than the building itself uses.
For an average new office building built to code, transportation accounts for more than twice as much energy use as building operation.

Measures to reduce transportation energy use can have very significant ancillary benefits relating to water runoff, urban heat island mitigation, and habitat protection, while creating more vibrant, livable communities.