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Events

Resources

Join us in launching Great Outdoors Week!

Wednesday, May 14
11:00 am - 1:00 pm
Market Square, Downtown

Stop by during your lunch break to get a sneak peek at all of the fun events happening during Great Outdoors Week, which begins Friday, May 16 and ends Sunday, May 25. Try out the climbing wall, test out a kayak (safely on land!), listen to music from WYEP, and meet outdoors groups that can help you get outside. Stop by for giveaways and enter to win some great raffle prizes!

Great Outdoors Week serves to introduce and engage individuals in the many outdoor recreation opportunities available in Southwestern PA. Various events are scheduled around the region during this week, including five signature events:
5/16 – National Bike to Work Day
5/17 – Venture Outdoors Festival
5/18 – PNC Pedal Pittsburgh
5/20 – “Learn to Row” Indoor Session
5/25 – Rachel’s Sustainable Feast

Individuals from all skill levels and backgrounds are invited to participate. For a full listing of activities, visit www.greatoutdoorsweek.org.

Resources Continued

Town Hall Meeting: Help shape the future of Market Square

Monday, May 5
5:00 pm SHARP
Harris Theater (809 Liberty Avenue, Downtown)
www.downtownpittsburgh.com

Mayor Luke Ravenstahl and landscape architect, Dina Cole Klavon, will present three design concepts for Market Square Ask questions and offer comments during this informative session. Or, send your thoughts via e-mail to MarketSquare@DowntownPittsburgh.com. The design concepts can be viewed on the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership's Website .

Affordable Housing Forum - Register Now

May 13 - 14, 2008
Affordable Housing Forum
Pittsburgh Hilton, Downtown
www.marcnahro.org

The Affordable Housing Forum is designed to provide participants with an understanding of the key elements of the development process and cutting edge techniques to revitalize and manage your assets. Panelists in our opening session focus on evaluating your current portfolio and assets, maximizing internal strengths and partnership opportunities, as well as engaging community stakeholders in assessing growth and development opportunities.

Concurrently scheduled are two workshop series: the first track, designed for novice community developers, will focus on identifying and analyzing opportunities, the development process, financing options, and roles of housing authorities. The second session is for experienced developers and managers seeking public housing revitalization strategies, approaches to serving an aging demographic, and redeveloping or preventing foreclosures. Click here to see the agenda.

Great Outdoors Week Kickoff

Wednesday, May 14
11:00 am - 1:00 pm
Market Square, Downtown

Stop by the kickoff and get a sneak peek at all of the fun events happening during Great Outdoors Week, which begins Friday, May 16 and ends Sunday, May 25. Try out the climbing wall, test out a kayak (safely on land!), listen to music from WYEP, and meet outdoors groups that can help you get outside. Stop by for giveaways and enter to win some great raffle prizes!

Great Outdoors Week serves to introduce and engage residents of Southwestern Pennsylvania in the many outdoor recreation opportunities available in Southwestern PA. Various events are scheduled around the region during this week, including five signature events. Individuals from all skill levels and backgrounds are invited to participate. For a full listing of activities, visit www.greatoutdoorsweek.org.

8th Annual Southwestern Pennsylvania Smart Growth Conference

Revitalize the Region: Seize Market Interest to Redevelop Core Communities
Friday, May 16
Omni William Penn Hotel, Pittsburgh
8:30 am - 3:30 pm (continental breakfast and lunch included)
Keynote speaker: Christopher Leinberger, Metropolitan Land Strategist & Developer
Cost: Early Registration: $30. After May 1: $40 (free to elected officials)
Register online at www.sustainablepittsburgh.org For more information call 412-258-6642 or emailinfo@sustainablepittsburgh.org

Presented by:
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 Pittsburgh
University of Pittsburgh Institute of Politics

Sponsored by:
BNY Mellon
Babst, Calland, Clients, and Zomnir, P.C.
Bombardier
Building Owners and Managers Association - Pittsburgh
National Association of Industrial and Office Properties - Pittsburgh Chapter

For sponsorship and tabling opportunities call 412-258-6643.

This conference, designed for communities in the region that desire to accelerate their redevelopment, will be rich in content, featuring tools, case studies, and technical assistance opportunities. A window of opportunity is growing for communities that are prepared to foster smart growth in step with the shift in the development market that is now occurring. Renewed interest in urban and core communities by developers and investors spells opportunity for restoring prosperity. This shift is fueled by demographic, economic, and cultural trends that are serving to revalue our core communities. Want to be better prepared to seize this market interest? This Smart Growth conference will help communities better understand the changing market, appreciate how to capitalize on their assets, comprehend what needs to done to participate in the market-based renaissance, and engage in a network to pursue mutual interests. Our region's sustainable growth depends on it.

Conference Highlights:
Project Region: The new regional transportation and development plan, plots a new smart growth course for Southwestern Pennsylvania focused on restoring and reinvesting in the region’s existing communities. Learn how the Region's Plan is aligned with emerging market interest in reinforcing existing places and targeted corridors with a strong emphasis on preservation, maintenance and operation of existing infrastructure.

Deal Makers and Breakers: To fully benefit from the Region's Plan, it's incumbent on existing communities to understand what developers and investors are looking for when they scan a region for opportunity. In a unique undertaking, the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties (NAIOP) and the Center for Urban and Regional Policy at Northeastern University (CURP) have collaborated to investigate new approaches municipal officials can employ to help attract new development to their communities. Project leader, David Soule will engage conference participants in discovering what is takes to attract smart growth investment. Furthermore, a consultancy will be launched to work with communities around the region to take a proactive, aggressive stance to meet the complex needs of firms looking to start up operations, relocate, or add new facilities.

Window of Opportunity: Keynote, Christopher Leinberger (see below), will demonstrate the shifting market now brewing in favor of “walkable urbanism” -- downtown and suburban downtown revitalization, New Urbanism, transit-oriented development, green field mixed-use development (“lifestyle centers”), regional mall redevelopment, among others. He will review ways the real estate sector is re-tooling how it designs, plans, regulates and finances to serve these markets to formulate and implement the next American Dream. A panel of regional developers and government leaders will discuss the trend of revaluing urbanity now stirring in our SWPA and how to accelerate market readiness.

Zoning for Smart Growth: Too often zoning techniques that shaped the growth of the American suburb create barriers to meeting today's community visions for traditional types of development. Gregory Heller of the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission will be on hand to explore new innovations in zoning that provide flexibility to respond to changes in private market demand. Learn from Gregory and local leaders how your community can be an early adopter and zone the way to seize market interest to redevelop core communities.

Keynote Speaker:
Christopher B. Leinberger is a metropolitan land use strategist, developer, teacher, consultant and author helping to make progressive development profitable. He is a founding partner of Arcadia Land Company, a real estate development firm serving to create walkable communities in harmony with nature.

Leinberger is a Visiting Fellow at the Brookings Institution focusing on research and practices to help transform traditional and suburban downtowns to places that provide “walkable urbanism." He is also a professor and director of the Graduate Real Estate Program at the University of Michigan which focuses on downtown and suburban town center revitalization, transit-oriented development, new urbanism, and conservation development.

In his recently released book, The Option of Urbanism, Leinberger reviews how Americans are voting with their feet to abandon strip malls and suburban sprawl, embracing instead a new type of community where they can live, work, shop, and play within easy walking distance. He explains why government policies have tilted the playing field toward one form of development over the last sixty years: the drivable suburb. Conversely, Leinberger shows how the American Dream is now shifting to include cities as well as suburbs and how the financial and real estate communities need to respond by building communities that are more environmentally, socially, and financially sustainable.

Leinberger has written award-winning articles for publications such as The Atlantic Monthly, The Wall Street Journal and Urban Land magazine. He has been profiled by CNN, the Today Show, and National Public Radio.

Conference support provided by:
The Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation
The Heinz Endowments
The Richard King Mellon Foundation

Saving $ - Managing Water: Regional and collaborative approaches to water, sewer, and stormwater management in Pennsylvania

Thursday, May 22
8:30 am - 5:00 pm
Harrisburg Hilton
Registration: $25 registration covers breakfast, lunch, materials; Register by May 12, 2008
Visit www.eli.org/PennWater.cfm for conference information and registration.

Pennsylvania is blessed with abundant water resources, but our communities face many demands relating to management of stormwater, safe and efficient handling of sewage, public water supplies, and integrating land uses. Governor Rendell recently created the Sustainable Water Infrastructure Task Force to explore options for ensuring that Pennsylvania maintains a sustainable water and wastewater infrastructure. Later this year, the new State Water Plan will be released for public review; and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection is revising the Act 537 Sewage Facilities Regulations. All these initiatives call for more collaboration and efficiency in water resource and infrastructure management. Many experiments are already underway among Pennsylvania communities. Understanding the implications and opportunities presented by these recent initiatives is critical for leaders seeking to solve the state’s water, sewer, and stormwater management and infrastructure needs. Understanding the implications and opportunities presented by these recent initiatives is critical for leaders seeking to solve the state’s water, sewer, and stormwater management and infrastructure needs.

CERTIFYING SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTS: A SMaRT WORKSHOP

A Champions for Sustainability Workshop
Friday, May 23
9:00 am - 3:30 pm
PPG Headquarters, One PPG Place, Third Floor, Room 3A (Downtown)
Fee: $100/Person for C4S and Sustainable Pittsburgh Members; $150 for non-members
Registration Deadline: May 16, 2008
Register online at www.C4SPgh.org/know.html
Contact: Matthew Mehalik at mmehalik@sustainablepittsburgh.org or 412-258-6644

Come to this workshop to learn about and to begin certifying your company’s products according to Sustainable Materials Rating Technology (SMaRT) consensus-based standards adopted through an American National Standards Institute (ANSI) accredited process. This is the first offering of this workshop in Western Pennsylvania, and space is limited to the first 30 companies who register. This workshop provides companies with the needed guidance and background in four key areas:
• Product Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)
• Documentation of the absence of harmful chemicals
• Energy efficiency and baseline assessments
• Documentation of social equity indicators

You will learn how to:
• Wave money by examining new ways of making products using sustainable materials and reduced energy flows
• Improve its product-to-market time
• Respond to increasing demands for sustainable products
• Create new capacities for innovation and new markets

Registration Fee Includes Continental Breakfast and Lunch Buffet.

Call for Volunteers: Hard to Recycle Collection

Saturday, May 31
10:00 am - 2:00 pm
Allegheny County Health Department Offices (39th Street and Penn Avenue, Lawrenceville)
Contact: Sarah at 412-431-4449 ext. 236 or email at saraha@ccicenter.org

Volunteers are needed between the hours of 9:00 am and 3:00 pm to help set up and clean up, unload cars, collect fees, and direct traffic. Refreshments will be provided. All volunteers will also receive a coupon for one free hour of kayaking from Kayak Pittsburgh! Morning and afternoon shifts are available. For a complete listing of items to be accepted and associated fees, visit www.prc.org.

Farm to Table

Enjoy the bounties of summer and fall through the Pathways to SmartCare Farm to Table Wellness Program! Subscribe to a local farm and receive a weekly delivery of fresh, local produce.
Contact: Erin Hart at 412-563-7807
www.pathwayswellnessprogram.com

Program Information: When you purchase a food subscription you get a weekly box of produce from a local farm. Every week, the farm delivers your share to a nearby drop-off site and you pick it up. It's fresh and hasn't been stored or transported thousands of miles. It's a nutritional way to feed yourself and your family. You can buy it for your home or your place of work so you always have good quality, healthy food available. Organic subscriptions are also available.

Resources

How to Win the War on Global Warming

The U.S. produces nearly a quarter of the world's greenhouse gases each year and has stubbornly made it clear that it doesn't intend to do a whole lot about it. Although 174 nations ratified the admittedly flawed Kyoto accords to reduce carbon levels, the U.S. walked away from them. While even developing China has boosted its mileage standards to 35 m.p.g., the U.S. remains the land of the Hummer. Oh, there are vague promises of manufacturing fuel from switchgrass or powering cars with hydrogen—-someday. But for a country that rightly cites patriotism as one of its core values, we're taking a pass on what might be the most patriotic struggle of all. It's hard to imagine a bigger fight than one for the survival of the country's coasts and farms, the health of its people and the stability of its economy—-and for those of the world at large as well.

VIDEO: Running Out Of Water?

Is this country running dry? The Environmental Protection Agency says at least 36 states are projecting water shortages in the next five years. Chris Wragge speaks to Steve Fleischli about it.

More

4 counties get $1.75 million to clean up industrial sites

"Brownfield cleanup is one of our highest priorities as an agency right now, because it has an immediate social impact on the community," Mr. Welsh said yesterday, after presenting officials from four Western Pennsylvania counties with $1.75 million in grants to assess and clean up abandoned industrial and commercial sites. "Brownfield initiatives demonstrate how environmental protection and economic development work hand-in-hand," he said.

Who are America's 'overlooked' masses — and how can we help them?

More recently, there's been a dramatic shift--many planners playing a big role in dramatic back-to-the-city and downtown revivals. And now, argues Donald Carter of Pittsburgh-based Urban Design Associates, the time is ripe for trained planners to become standout leaders of city redesign that will engage the public and other stakeholders, respect local traditions and heritage, and look to sustainable design as a tool for decision-making.

Smokestacks and smokescreens

But even with the Liberty-Clairton area taken out of the mix, Pittsburgh would still rank 16th out of 222 ranked cities, according to the American Lung Association.

McKeesport officials tout signs of rebirth

Much of what is happening now, which includes the paving of 87 city streets, construction of two baseball fields and the razing of abandoned houses, was spurred by more than $27 million in federal, state and county funding that poured into McKeesport, said city administrator Dennis Pittman. "We have sustained the blows from our loss of the steel industry and now we are trying to diversify our business base with companies that have a specific connection to McKeesport," he said.

New Report Lays Out Potential Implications of Global Warming Carbon Allowance Proposals on Consumers and Power Companies

A new report released today shows that carbon allocation scenarios under Congressional legislative proposals to limit global warming pollution will have dramatically different financial impacts--with billions of dollars at stake--on power companies and consumers. . .The report found that overall CO2 emissions from the nation’s electric power sector rose by 29 percent from 1990 to 2006. Sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions dropped 40 percent and 46 percent, respectively. The disparity is primarily due to CO2 emissions not being regulated and pollution limits being in place for SO2 and NOx under the Clean Air Act. "Emissions of all these pollutants are important to investors because there are financial risks associated with them," said Mindy S. Lubber, president of Ceres and director of the Investor Network on Climate Risk. "CO2 emissions are an especially big investor concern because emerging policies to limit emissions will make power plants substantially more expensive to operate, requiring large CO2-emitting power companies to reduce their emissions or pay for them."

Sustainable Fashion & Textiles book review

Sustainable clothing and eco chic fashion have entered mainstream consumer consciousness with a barrage of recent media attention. But what really is sustainable clothing and is it different from organic clothing? Contributed by C4S Steering Committee member Bonnie Siefers of Jonano.

Sweden's carbon-tax solution to climate change puts it top of the green list

In 2007 Sweden topped the list of countries that did the most to save the planet--for the second year running--according to German environmental group, Germanwatch. Between 1990 and 2006 Sweden cut its carbon emissions by 9 percent, largely exceeding the target set by the Kyoto Protocol, while enjoying economic growth of 44 percent in fixed prices. . .The main reason for this success, say experts, is the introduction of a carbon tax in 1991. Swedes today pay an extra 2.34 kronor (20p) per litre when they fill the tank (although many key industries receive tax relief or are exempted). "Our carbon emissions would have been 20 percent higher without the carbon tax," says the Swedish environment minister, Andreas Carlgren. "It was the one major reason that steered society towards climate-friendly solutions," reckons Lindberg. "It made polluting more expensive and focused people on finding energy-efficient solutions."

Commission plans new sustainability policy measures

The European Commission intends to announce a package of measures next month to stimulate sustainable industrial development across the EU. The proposals would set framework conditions needed to eliminate market failures and deal with environmental externalities, Didier Herbert, head of the sustainable industrial policy unit of the Commission told a conference organised by the UK's Environmental Industries Commission in London today.

Climate change could force 1 billion from their homes by 2050

Pressure is therefore growing for the international community to reach a formal consensus on ways of dealing with the issue. Mr Johnstone said: "We're strongly in favour of there being adequate international mechanisms to cope." Danny Sriskandarajah, head of migration at the IPPR, said: "The displacement of millions of people will be one of the most dramatic ways in which climate change will affect humankind." Hilary Benn, the Environment Secretary, said a global agreement must be reached. "Climate change is the most serious long-term threat to development in poor countries, and if unchecked millions of people may be forced to migrate to escape the effects of drought, flooding, food shortages and rising sea levels," he said.

U.S. move toward digital TV seen spurring an e-waste surge

The U.S. transition to digital-only broadcasting next February will have many Americans scrambling to buy new digitally compatible televisions, relegating their old TVs to the dump--an alarming prospect for environmentalists and some lawmakers. "We have millions of televisions and monitors with untold tons of lead headed to landfills," said Rep. Bart Gordon (D-Tenn.), chairman of the House Science and Technology Committee, which held a hearing yesterday on "e-waste" management.

Firms Coming Clean on Carbon

Thousands of companies supplying some of the world's largest corporations know climate regulations are coming and are agreeing to measure their emissions of climate-altering greenhouse gases. "Companies, including those in least developed countries, are worried about the risks of extreme weather, water shortages and so on that climate change poses," said Paul Dickinson, CEO of the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), an independent not-for-profit organisation in Britain that is coordinating the effort. Multinationals like Tesco and Unilever may not generate huge amounts of carbon emissions from their own stores or head offices, but their suppliers--which number in the thousands and are located all over the world--certainly do. It would be foolish to pretend these were not part of a corporation's carbon footprint, Dickinson told IPS.

Virtue’s reward? Companies make the business case for ethical initiatives

The Pureit is an illustration of how multinationals are trying to get to grips with the notion of sustainability. In the US and western Europe, the priorities are reducing the amount of packaging, cutting fuel consumption and providing for consumers who want to be sure that their purchases have been produced in an ethical or environmentally friendly fashion. .. Yes, this is Wal-Mart, long-time prime target of environmentalists, fair-trade campaigners and union activists. Lee Scott, Wal-Mart's chief executive, now sounds like the greens who for so long excoriated his company. Mr. Scott says he wants Wal-Mart to move towards being powered entirely by renewable energy, to create no waste and to sell “products that sustain our resources and environment”. . .Hau Lee, professor of operations, information and technology at Stanford business school, defines sustainability as “ensuring that we are using resources today that will not jeopardise the resources of tomorrow.” But sustainability goes further than that: companies are using their sustainability programmes to cut costs, develop innovative products and find new consumer markets.

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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 2008 from:

Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation
Dollar Bank
The Heinz Endowments
Elsie H. Hillman Foundation
Roy A. Hunt Foundation
Richard King Mellon 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