3E Links readers are early adopters of sustainable policies, products, and practices, and agents of change who educate friends and colleagues about the triple bottom line. Please share your issue of 3E Links with others and encourage them to subscribe by e-mailing info@sustainablepittsburgh.org.

Events

Southwestern PA Delegation Attends D.C. Revitalizing Older Cities Summit

In mid-February, a group of nearly 30 Southwestern Pennsylvanian leaders joined with those from cities across the nation on Capitol Hill to explore the vital links between federal policy and the revitalization of their cities and towns.

The Northeast-Midwest Institute organized the Revitalizing Older Cities Capitol Hill Summit (www.nemw.org/ROC_Summit.htm) to demonstrate that federal policy can and does impact the prosperity of our nation's historic industrial cities and towns – especially those in the Northeast-Midwest region of the country. The Summit’s primary theme was that the overall health of our nation is measured by the health of our cities.

Sustainable Pittsburgh was pleased to participate and help facilitate the sizable representation from our region. As part of the program, the Southwestern PA delegation met with members of Congress including Senators Casey and Specter and numerous Representatives and staff.

Click here to view a brief summary of key takeaways from the Summit.
Visit the Northeast-Midwest Institute's website to view presentations from the Summit.

Resources

Great Communities Don’t Just Happen

Featuring:
John K. Trant, Jr., Chief Strategic Planning Officer, Cranberry Township
Court Gould, Executive Director, Sustainable Pittsburgh
Friday, March 6
2:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Cranberry Twp. Municipal Center/Council Chambers
To RSVP, Linda Rocco, 724-776-776-4806, x 1118 or Linda.rocco@cranberrytownship.org

This session will focus on the Township’s Principles for Sustainable Development, as well as the results of a detailed Sustainability Assessment to evaluate all aspects of the Township’s physical plant, policies, and operations. The discussion will also include a review of the Growth Management Analysis. This phase of the planning process began with an evaluation of the Cranberry Township market to gain a better understanding of the growth pressures. The results of the Market Assessment were used to create three alternative futures (Growth Scenarios) for the Township. Each scenario was then evaluated based on its impacts to the Township’s physical infrastructure, operations, and finances. Ultimately, a preferred scenario was identified, around which detailed implementation strategies were created.

This session will focus on these aspects of the Cranberry Plan, as well as the 82-member Citizen Advisory Panel and the group’s role in the planning process.

Going Green with Sara Snow

Thursday, March 12
11:30 am - 4:00 pm
Duquesne University Power Center, Uptown
Cost: $45 when you mention the flyer
To register call 412-396-6233 or visit www.sbdc.duq.edu

What does all this green mean for my business? How can I be responsible and yet afford greening my business? Join the Small Business Development Center at Duquesne University, along with Sustainable Pittsburgh's Champions for Sustainability and the PA Dept. of Community and Economic Development, in welcoming Sara Snow, the living green expert and host of the Discovery Health Show, “Getting Fresh with Sara Snow”. Opening remarks will be from Lindsay Baxter, City of Pittsburgh's Sustainability Coordinator, and a panel discussion will feature:
- Amanda Parks, Equita
- Brian Dworkin, Castle Co-Packers, LLC
- Dave Mazza, Pennsylvania Resource Council
- Ned Eldridge, eloop, LLC

Diversity: Corporate Leadership and Issues for Our Region

Thursday, March 19
3:30 pm - 5:30 pm
Kurtzman Room, William Pitt Student Union, University of Pittsburgh, Oakland
Free to attend. To register contact: ethics@gspia.pitt.edu or 412-648-1336

Join the Johnson Institute for Responsible Leadership, Sustainable Pittsburgh, and the CORO Center for Civic Leadership in a presentation by Keith Caver, Vice President and Practice Leader, Executive Development, Executive Solutions Group, Development Dimensions International (DDI) and President of Caver Consulting, LLC.

This public presentation will focus on corporate strategies for encouraging diversity as well as personal strategies for career management and development. The panel discussion will focus on strengthening SWPA through diversity and leadership development. Caver is the co-author of Leading in Black and White: Working Across the Racial Divide in Corporate America and one of the leading authorities on corporate diversity and leadership.

2009 Student Sustainability Symposium

SAVE THE DATE
Thursday, April 16
9:00 am – 2:00 pm (lunch provided)
31st Floor Conference Room
425 Sixth Avenue, Regional Enterprise Tower, Downtown Pittsburgh
For more information contact: Ward Allebach (412) 606-9075

Learn what local students and universities are doing to promote sustainability on-campus and in the City of Pittsburgh. “One Step at a Time: Shrinking the Campus Footprint” is a cooperative project of Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Pittsburgh, and Duquesne University. Hosted by Sustainable Pittsburgh; supported by a grant from The Heinz Endowments.

Register Now: 2009 9th annual SWPA Smart Growth Conference

"Sustainable Community Essentials: applying the policy and practice"
Thursday, May 21
9:00 am - 6:15 pm (continental breakfast and lunch included; cash bar during evening reception)
David L. Lawrence Convention Center, Downtown Pittsburgh
Keynote speaker: Douglas Farr, AIA, author of Sustainable Urbanism and founding principal of Farr Associates
Cost: (Conference with lunch) Early Registration: $30. After May 1: $50 (free to elected officials)
Register Now

- Keynote: Douglas Farr, AIA, author of Sustainable Urbanism and founding principal of Farr Associates, an architecture and planning firm regarded as one of the most sustainable design practices in the country. Having a mission to create sustainable human environments, Farr Associate's unique niche is in applying the principles of LEED at the scale of the neighborhood.

- Update by James Ritzman, Deputy Secretary for Planning, PennDOT on the Federal Stimulus Package and PennDOT Smart Transportation Initiative

- Panel review of sustainable community initiatives around the region featuring:
Mark Alan Hughes, Director of Sustainability, City of Philadelphia
Murray Rust, Montgomery & Rust, Inc.
Jason Dailey, Cranberry Township
Jesse Jon Salensky, Vandergrift Improvement Program
Nathan Wildfire, Sustainable Policy Coordinator, East Liberty Development, Inc.

- Workshops tracking new "Essentials of Sustainable Communities" resources (14 topics from which to choose via conference registration)

- Reception featuring table displays by lead organizations per the 14 Essentials of Sustainable Communities

Today's difficult times are placing extraordinary strains on our region's communities. Rising costs of all types are putting a tight squeeze on municipalities and residents. Expectations and needs are also increasing. The policy and practice of sustainable development offers solutions. Come learn how your community, municipality, or county can put sustainability to work to save taxpayer dollars and avoid costs, meet needs equitably, conserve resources, and attract investment. Sustainability is central to professional management of local government and a collective imperative for Southwestern Pennsylvania's competitiveness and quality of life. Learn how to accelerate your community's success on environmental stewardship, social equity, economic development as well as fiscal viability and organizational capacity to learn, innovate and adapt.

Presented by:
Community Design Center of Pittsburgh
Local Government Academy
Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development
Pittsburgh Partnership for Neighborhood Development
Smart Growth Partnership of Westmoreland County
Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission
Sustainable Community Development Network, Sustainable Pittsburgh
University of Pittsburgh Institute of Politics

LEED the way to Green Buildings - Part II

An External Commercial Green Building
Monday, March 9
Noon - 4:00 pm
Regional Enterprise Tower, 23rd Floor, O'Neill Room, Downtown
Cost: $15 (includes lunch and workshop materials)
RSVP by March 6 to 412-392-0610 or information@aaccwp.com

Featuring Byron Falchetti, President, Standard Property Corporation: A Highmark Company & Chairman, Green Building Alliance

This workshop, the second of a four-part series, will present the four levels of green building certification, and the evolution of green design & performance measures in the region. Highmark's Silver Certified Data Center will be presented as an example of green design and construction. Who should attend? Professionals from all industries and business levels: attorneys, architects, business consultants, accountants, & construction and trade professionals.

Electronic Billboard Meeting Notice

Wednesday, March 11
5:30 pm
200 Ross Street, John P. Robin Civic Building, 1st Floor, Planning Dept. Conference Room (Downtown)

This purpose of this meeting is to solicit input on the issue of amending city regulations to allow for the provision of LED billboards. Working with the City of Pittsburgh Department of Law, City Councilman Burgess, crafted legislation that defines regulations for LED advertising signs. It permits such signs so long as they conform to all advertising sign regulations; approval is through the Zoning Board of Adjustment’s special exception process. There are currently over 900 billboards in the City of Pittsburgh.

While the regulation revision effort will provide a means for the industry to employ LED’s it was not intended to facilitate more billboards or unrestrictive conversion of nonconforming signs to LED’s. The City Planning Commission is concerned with the impacts of LED's compared to static billboards, the number of billboards that currently exist in the City of Pittsburgh, and the effects of the proposed regulations. They would like further public input to assist them in making decisions related to the proposed legislation.

"After Peak Oil"

A conference presented by by Johns-Hopkins University School of Public Health
Thursday, March 12
8:30 am - 4:30 pm
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD (Available via Live Webcast)
Registration is free, but required.
More information

This conference, sponsored by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Center for Public Health Preparedness, will address the linkages between peak oil, climate change, the built environment, and the public’s health. Special focus will be paid to identifying the consequences as well as envisioning solutions and building resistance to what will be a great threat to public health. Featured speakers include:
- Rep. Roscoe G. Bartlett - Congressman Bartlett has demonstrated his leadership and his concern about peak oil by becoming a founding member of the Congressional Peak Oil Caucus. As one of three scientists in the Congress, Dr. Bartlett is also a senior member of the Science Committee and specifically uses his science knowledge on the Energy and the Environment as well as the Research and Science Education subcommittees.
- Howard Frumkin, MD, MPH, DrPH - Dr. Frumkin, Director of CDC’s National Center for Environmental Health, considers Peak Oil a major threat to the public’s health. He recently coauthored a comprehensive article on the topic in the January issue of Public Health Reports titled Energy and Public Health: The Challenge of Peak Petroleum.

Solar Panel Workshop

March 16-20, 2009
Conservation Consultants, Inc., 64 S. 14th St., South Side
Space is limited
For more information call CCI at 412-431-4449 and enter ext. 200 or 240.
Details and registration now online

CCI’s 5-day solar workshop is created for contractors, electricians, sales reps, entrepreneurs & career-changing professionals new to solar business, and covers solar-electric (PV) equipment, system design, installation, estimating, solar industry economics, business models, and career paths. It also includes the start for NABCEP's new Entry Level Certificate of Knowledge of PV Systems (the industry- standard general-knowledge certificate for people entering the field).

Career Development Workshop

Preparing Yourself for Leadership
With Keith Caver
Thursday, March 19
William Pitt Student Union Ballroom
University of Pittsburgh, Oakland
12:00 pm - 2:00 pm, Lunch will be served.
Space is limited, reservations are required.
To register contact: ethics@gspia.pitt.edu or 412-648-1336 by March 12.

This workshop, presented by the Johnson Institute for Responsible Leadership, will focus on effective strategies for students to position themselves for leadership positions. Keith Caver is Vice President and Practice Leader, Executive Development, Executive Solutions Group, Development Dimensions International (DDI) and President of Caver Consulting, LLC. Caver is the co-author of Leading in Black and White: Working Across the Racial Divide in Corporate America and is one of the nation’s leading authorities on corporate diversity and leadership.

The Future of Green Jobs

Featuring Jerome Ringo
Monday, March 31
6:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Westin Convention Center Hotel, Pittsburgh
Cost: Early: $40 for GBA/AACC members; $50 non-members
After March 10: $50 for GBA/AACC members; $60 for non-members
For information call 412-431-0709.

Jerome Ringo, President, Apollo Alliance, catalyzes crowds with his rousing speeches about the importance of a clean energy, good job economy--and the role we can all play in shaping a green-collar future for our community and providing real solutions for our energy crisis.

- Dedicated champion of environmental justice and advocate of clean energy
- 20-year veteran of Louisiana's petrochemical industry
- Union member who worked to secure a safe work environemnt and quality jobs
- 2005 Chair of National Wildlife Federation board
- U.S. Delegate at the 1998 Global Warming Treaty Negotiations in Kyoto, Japan

Resources

Climate Fears Are Driving 'Ecomigration' Across Globe

Adam Fier recently sold his home, got rid of his car and pulled his twin 6-year-old girls out of elementary school in Montgomery County. He and his wife packed the family's belongings and moved to New Zealand -- a place they had never visited or seen before, and where they have no family or professional connections. Among the top reasons: global warming. Halfway around the world, the president of Kiribati, a Pacific nation of low-lying islands, said last week that his country is exploring ways to move all its 100,000 citizens to a new homeland because of fears that a steadily rising ocean will make the islands uninhabitable. The two men are at contrasting poles of a phenomenon that threatens to reshape economies, politics and cultures across the planet. By choice or necessity, millions of "ecomigrants" -- most of them poor and desperate -- are on the move in search of more habitable living space

Seeing in 3D: The Dynamics, Diversity and Density of Southwestern Pennsylvania’s Labor Market

The report presents an extensive look at the labor force in Southwestern PA and raises some issues that Three Rivers Workforce Investment Board believes the region faces looking forward. The report contains discussion points that are meant to encourage readers to think about the information offered before them, including the 50/50 challenge related to the aging workforce and the national drop out crisis, and take the extra step of devising action plans to address the region’s opportunities and challenges. Share your thoughts on the report or feel free to comment on items posted in TRWIB's blog. If you would like to write an entry for the blog or suggest topics, please contact Michelle Massie, TRWIB’s communications manager, at: mmassie@trwib.org.

More

Stimulus Watch - Pittsburgh submittal

Below are the "shovel-ready" projects for which this city submitted in the 2008 U.S. Conference of Mayors report. You can click on a project to read (and add to) its description. You can also discuss the project and vote on whether you believe it is critical or not. The total cost of all the projects submitted by Pittsburgh is $278,291,020

National Award for Smart Growth Achievement: 2009 Call for Entries

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is pleased to announce that applications are now being accepted for the eighth annual National Award for Smart Growth Achievement. This competition is open to public-sector or private sector applicants that have used the principles of smart growth to create better places. Private-sector applicants are encouraged to submit applications for projects that demonstrate a significant public-private partnership. Interested parties are encouraged to submit applications for smart growth activities that have shown significant activity between April 23, 2004, and April 23, 2009. Successful applicants will have incorporated the principles of smart growth to create places that respect community culture and the environment, foster economic development, and enhance quality of life and public health. Applications are due on April 23, 2009.

News Release: The Pittsburgh Foundation creates new blog

The Pittsburgh Foundation has launched a new blog, Community E-Forum to host discussions and ideas around issues that have a bearing on our mission: to make our community a better place for us all. The blog initially includes a welcome from Grant Oliphant, the Foundation’s President and CEO, and an article from him about Neighbor-Aid and efforts that are being undertaken to secure stimulus package funding for nonprofit organizations that are struggling to meet human services needs, together with guest articles by Germaine Williams, Program Officer with the Foundation and Saleem Ghubril, Executive Director of The Pittsburgh Promise.

DVRPC presentation on Climate Change Initiatives

Barry Seymour, Executive Director, Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission. April 11, 2008 presentation on Climate Change Initiatives . . DVRPC and Climate Change: Opportunity: - Foster Eco-Industry Clusters, - Promote Location Efficiency, - Invest in the Environment, - Become a model region, - Eco-brand the Delaware Valley. . .Integrate climate change and energy concerns throughout DVRPC activities, e.g. - GHG and energy implications of transportation investments, - Elevate climate change & energy implications of DVRPC goals, - Brownfield development, - Ozone reduction, - Transit-oriented development

DVRPC's Climate Change Initiatives Program

DVRPC's Climate Change Initiatives program area leads, supports, and coordinates efforts in our region to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to prepare for climate change. Over 90 percent of greenhouse gas emissions are from stationary or mobile energy consumption. The latest science indicates a reduction in GHG emissions of 80 percent is required by 2050 to keep global climate change within an acceptable range. A 50 percent reduction by 2035 would put our region on track to achieve this. DVRPC firmly believes addressing this issue now as a region will help our region's long-term economic competitiveness.

Carbon Dioxide, Climate Change, and the Boston Region MPO

A Discussion Paper
The purpose of this document is threefold. Part I provides the Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization with an overview of climate change and its local impacts. Part II provides a summary of the MPO's plans and programs that are already resulting in the reduction of GHG emissions. Part III provides specific potential "next step" actions to deliberately continue existing programs or start additional GHG-reducing initiatives.

It's all connected!

Climate change. Population growth. Poverty. Environmental degradation. Conflict. Global health crises. Intractable global problems? We don’t think so.

At Facing the Future we believe in the transformative power of widespread, systemic education to improve lives and communities, both locally and globally. Our positive, solutions-based programming is designed by and for teachers, and brings critical thinking about global issues to students in every walk of life. We work within the education system to help teachers help students achieve academic success, while preparing them to create and maintain positive, healthy, and sustainable communities. We provide curriculum resources, teacher workshops, and service learning opportunities used by teachers, schools, and districts in all 50 states and over 60 countries. By 2020, Facing the Future programming will reach over 12.5 million students each year.

Ohio works to get on track for a share of railway stimulus funds

All Aboard Ohio, a nonprofit organization promoting rail, has asked the Ohio Department of Transportation to go after $400 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation for 10 projects, including $250 million to establish passenger rail service on existing tracks between Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton and Cincinnati.

Pittsburgh's a missing link for passenger trains

As the federal government takes us still deeper into debt to get Americans working again, we'd better come out the other end with a more viable transportation system. Because the system we enjoy now is based almost entirely on the assumption that gasoline will remain cheap, and that not only won't cut it forever, it will enrich a lot of people who hate us. The country is moving toward rail again, and Western Pennsylvania needs to find a way to climb aboard.

Fund set up to aid minority entrepreneurs

"According to the 2002 Census Bureau's economic data, Pittsburgh had the sixth-smallest number of black-owned firms among the top 40 metropolitan regions in the country," said Slaughter. While the number of such firms did increase by 39 percent from 1997 to 2002, more financial and technical assistance is needed to help minority firms "navigate the vicissitudes of entrepreneurship," said Slaughter.

The Next Page: CleanTech 101

It's been said that the United States is the Saudi Arabia of wasted energy. For example, it's estimated that 64 percent of all the energy burned to generate electricity is lost as waste heat escaping through the smoke stack. Simple thermodynamics allows us to capture another 10-15 percent of that energy. This kind of low-hanging fruit comes into close focus in hard times like these and completes the picture of a right- and left-foot way to move forward. Saving energy is just as big a part of the solution as making clean energy. It buys us time. America has a couple of generations' worth of opportunities like this one to do more with less. (Europeans use about half the energy we do on a per capita basis.)...It will be imperative that we wisely use our remaining fossil fuel to not just provide needs for now, but to use in the building of the renewable grid that will enable us to maintain some semblance of our lifestyles and economic growth well into the future. Changing our personal lifestyles and behaviors is the hardest thing of all to accomplish but, for better or worse, it's really the only way.

For information on becoming a Member of Sustainable Pittsburgh, please visit our website.

3E Links is sent as a service to Sustainable Pittsburgh Members and interested parties and is being distributed for informational purposes. The information above was provided by or obtained from the organizing institution or one of its representatives. Our distribution does not imply endorsement. To unsubscribe, reply to this e-mail and type UNSUBSCRIBE in the subject line.

Click here to access the 3E Links Archive. Use "Search" on SP's homepage for a great resource.

Sustainable Pittsburgh affects decision-making in the Pittsburgh Region to integrate economic prosperity, social equity and environmental quality bringing sustainable solutions to communities and businesses.

Sustainable Pittsburgh benefits from support in 2009 from:

Bayer Corporation
Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation
Dollar Bank
The Giant Eagle Foundation
The Heinz Endowments
Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield
Elsie H. Hillman Foundation
Richard King Mellon Foundation
Dylan Todd Simonds Foundation
University of Pittsburgh


Special thanks to the SP Members

Sustainable Pittsburgh
425 Sixth Avenue, Suite 1335
Pittsburgh, PA 15219
(412) 258-6642
fax (412) 258-6645
E-mail SP