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Events

Region’s leading companies step up to the Pittsburgh Green Workplace Challenge, which officially launched this week

Businesses have until October 31, 2011 to enter the competition

Wednesday marked the official launch of the Pittsburgh Green Workplace Challenge (GWC), a competition demonstrating the triple bottom line business case for sustainable business practices. Companies participating in the competition can now begin submitting their completed actions.

Competition organizer, Sustainable Pittsburgh, along with the City of Pittsburgh Mayor’s Office, Allegheny Conference on Community Development, the Pittsburgh Climate Initiative and many others are encouraging businesses to sign up now to enter the competition. To date, there are fourteen participants in the challenge, representing businesses in the small to mid markets, as well as the Fortune 500 sector. Businesses can participate whether they are tenants or building owners.

The yearlong competition will:
- Showcase overall achievements of the region's leading businesses in terms of resource efficiency and conservation (energy and water), waste reduction, and decreasing emissions.
- Provide a positive public platform for businesses to be recognized (via aggregate point scores) for going beyond regulations to implement voluntary measures that are good for business, the environment, and people too.
- Promote practical measures companies can take to accelerate sustainability and corporate excellence.

Sustainable Pittsburgh is pleased to partner with the Pittsburgh Business Times as the Media Sponsor.

View the press release here.
View recent blog post from the Allegheny Conference.
Help spread the word. Share this flyer with your contacts.

SIGN UP NOW!
Learn more at http://greenchallenge.c4spgh.org or email Amanda Virbitsky.

Resources

Information Forum: Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission –
Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) Update and CMAQ Program Development and Management

Monday, September 19
9:30 – Noon
Regional Enterprise Tower, 31st floor
No fee to attend
Pre-registration to: info@sustainablepittsburgh.org or (412) 258-6642. Please provide full contact information.
Please note that photo identification is required to enter the Regional Enterprise Tower. Please allow extra time for security in the lobby.
Webcast Available: This forum will also be available as a live webcast. Space is limited. Please contact Tom Straw (tstraw@spcregion.org) at SPC by noon Thursday September 15 if you are interested in logging on to the forum.

The Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission (SPC) is now focused on developing the region’s 2013-2016 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP). The TIP serves to identify needed regional transportation investments over a four-year period that support the region’s Long Range Transportation and Development Plan within fiscal constraint. A visible element of the TIP development process will be the recommended program of projects for the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Program (CMAQ).

The CMAQ Program is a federal program that funds transportation projects that a) reduce congestion, b) remove vehicles from the roadway or c) otherwise enhance vehicle emissions and reduce air pollution. In the past, the SPC region has funded diesel retrofit projects for truck fleets, railroad locomotives and marine vehicles; as well as highway improvements, rail line extensions, busways and a myriad of other project types.

One key component of the program is that the benefit of any project selected for funding must stay within the same region. So, while SPC may be able to fund rail switching equipment that stays in a more or less prescribed location, it may not be able to fund diesel retrofits for vehicles that are free to travel across state lines, for example.

Learn about these important regional processes for prioritizing needed transportation improvements by attending the event on September 19. Gain insight in what it takes to get a project ready for the TIP and in particular learn about the CMAQ funding process and project eligibility.

This information forum, being presented by SPC in cooperation with Sustainable Pittsburgh, is timely given that both the TIP update process and CMAQ project selection process are just beginning. At the forum, staff will highlight TIP update activity, present the process and schedule for developing and managing the CMAQ Program, and engage participants in a lively Q&A session including opportunity for attendees to discuss potential project ideas in an informal, rapid-fire session with SPC staff.

REGISTER NOW: Transportation Funding Issues Facing Pennsylvania - Lunch with PennDOT Deputy Secretary Jim Ritzman

Tuesday, September 20
11:30 am - 1:00 pm (Lunch will be served)
Rivers Club, 301 Grant Street, One Oxford Centre, Suite 411
Cost: $20
Please RSVP by September 15 at http://www.otma-pgh.org/TFAC-Lunch
Flyer

Join the Southwestern Pennsylvania TMAs - ACTA, OTMA, and PDP - for a discussion with PennDOT Deputy Secretary, Jim Ritzman, about Transportation Funding Issues Facing Pennsylvania.

This event is sponsored by Airport Corridor Transportation Association, the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership, and the Oakland Transportation Management Association. Co-Sponsors for this event are Allegheny Conference on Community Development and Sustainable Pittsburgh.

Current Trends in Sustainable Communities
4th Annual Sustainability Conference

Thursday, September 22
8:00 am – 4:00 pm
Phipps Conservatory
ASCEE/EWRI/Sustainable Pittsburgh (C4S) Members: $120
Non-members: $150; Students: $30
Breakfast and Lunch Included
All attendees will receive a certificate for 6.0 Professional Development Hours
For more information: including registration, visit www.asce-pgh.org or contact Bob Dengler at (412) 922-5575 or rdengler@GFNET.com
To view the flyer, see page 4 of this newsletter

The Pittsburgh Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), Environmental Water and Resources Institute (EWRI), and Sustainable Pittsburgh’s Champions for Sustainability (C4S) are hosting a daylong conference on Current Trends in Sustainable Communities. The conference features keynote PA Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Michael Krancer. Topics include: ASCE’s Institute for Sustainability Report Card for Engineering Projects; Sustainable Infrastructure in Masdar City, United Arab Emirates; Marcellus Shale Impacts and Opportunities; and Sustainable Transportation Community Assessments. The conference ends with a presentation and tour of the Center for Sustainable Landscapes at Phipps Conservatory.

REGISTER NOW - Sustainability and Healthcare Series Workshop 3
Understanding Patient and Family Centered Care for Sustainable Healthcare

Thursday, October 6
4:30 pm – 9:00 pm
New Hazlett Theater, North Side
Cost: $25 for C4S/Sustainable Pittsburgh Members for full event
$30 Nonmembers for full event
Students: Special Rate
Opening video screening is free
Light Refreshments Provided
More information and registration

This third workshop in a five-part series on Sustainability and Healthcare focuses on policy—-and how it can lead to a more sustainable healthcare industry. Innovative programs are being developed in response to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (PPACA), signaling this recent legislation is a key driver of policy change in America.

“Understanding Patient and Family Centered Care for Sustainable Healthcare” features an abbreviated screening of Remaking American Medicine along with two panel discussions focused on PPACA’s impact on healthcare institutions and individuals, respectively. The event provides an opportunity to understand how shifts in the healthcare system to more patient and family centered practices present challenges to healthcare institutions, individuals, and the traditional role of corporations as the gateways to access and management of healthcare benefits.

Southwestern Pennsylvania’s leading position in the delivery and quality of healthcare will continue as this region’s patients and organizations begin to understand the sustainability-related benefits and responsibilities that come from policy innovations that: increase access to healthcare, require greater community engagement, rest upon better communication practices, stand upon measurable, improved health outcomes, and challenge current service practices. The event ends with a call to action for attendees to become more aware of their rights and responsibilities in this dynamic period for healthcare services.

Who should attend?
This event is open to all individuals working in the healthcare industry, in addition to individuals interested in learning more patient rights, equity, and advocacy.

These Sustainability and Healthcare workshops advance the mutually reinforcing agendas of sustainability and healthcare. The emphasis for each event involves articulating the health outcomes, healthcare benefits, and business case, as well as best practices, resources, examples, and how to get started. See what happened at previous Sustainability and Healthcare workshops:
Strategic Environmental Solutions - July 21
Making the Business Case - June 2

Creating Sustainable Communities Conference

Thursday, November 3
7:30 am — 4:00 pm
Point Park University
Registration: $30
Questions? Contact Hannah Hardy at (412) 481–9400 or hhardy@pecpa.org Registration information and conference schedule will be available in late August at:
www.dcnr.state.pa.us/conservationscience/sustainablelands/conferences/index.htm
This conference qualifies for 5 recertification credits for the PLNA Pennsylvania Certified Horticulturist and the PLANET Landscape Industry Certified Technician, as well as 5 continuing education credits through ASLA.

Join conference organizers at Point Park University in downtown Pittsburgh for a conference that promotes green infrastructure, healthy communities and low-cost land management practices for government officials, park managers, landscape architects, planners and anyone else interested in balancing human needs with natural resource protection.

EVENT ORGANIZERS: Allegheny County, Allegheny County Conservation District, City of Pittsburgh, Dept. of Conservation and Natural Resources, Friends of the Riverfront, Pa. Environmental Council, Penn State Cooperative Extension, Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy, Sustainable Pittsburgh, Western Pa. Conservancy

SAVE THE DATE: 11th Annual SWPA Smart Growth Conference “Smart Growth is Smart Business”

Tuesday, December 13
Downtown Pittsburgh - Location TBD
Featuring: Henry Cisneros, Executive Chairman, CityView

This year's conference will launch a 'businesses for smart growth' initiative in southwestern Pennsylvania. Filling a strategic gap, the event will solidify the bottom line business case and economic imperative for regional smart growth and galvanize business constituency.

Business leaders around the nation increasingly recognize that regional growth and development patterns -- guided by principles of smart growth and sustainability -- improve quality of life, lessen the cost of doing business, increase profitability, help reduce tax and infrastructure costs, and contribute to talent recruitment and retention.

Time is ripe for a business initiative focused on advancing our region's goals for more efficient and sustainable development to spur economic prosperity and extend this region's signature livability to more persons. The bottom line business case of smart growth is apparent.

Mark your calendars as the Smart Growth Conference is an invitation to address the ways smart growth is smart business:
- engage the private sector in harnessing smart growth market opportunity
- explore innovative means of ensuring financial feasibility of sustainable development
- channel the pattern and character of growth and development to improve productivity and hasten regional sustainability that protects and enhances business investments
- opportunities to have an impact on state, regional, and local planning and programming
- incentives to level the field for development and redevelopment to revitalize our existing communities
- the new economics nexus of land use, transportation, housing, and development

Keynote speaker Henry Cisneros is the executive chairman of CityView, an urban institutional investment firm which finances commercial and residential developers. His governmental experience and dedication to America's cities are important features of CityView's "Smart Capital for Smart Growth" strategy focused on urban solutions. Headquartered in Los Angeles with offices in New York, Dallas and San Antonio, CityView has invested in and developed more than $2 billion in real estate assets for 45 projects in 30 markets across 13 states since 2003. CityView is one of the nation's premier institutional investment firms focused on urban real estate, incity housing, and metropolitan infrastructure and is a fully-integrated operating company with an active management approach. Prior to establishing CityView, Henry Cisneros served as Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and was the four-term Mayor of San Antonio, Texas.

The 11th Annual SWPA Smart Growth Conference is presented by:
Allegheny Conference on Community Development; Green Building Alliance; NAIOP, the Commercial Real Estate Development Association, Pittsburgh Chapter; Pittsburgh Technology Council; Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission; Sustainable Pittsburgh; Urban Land Institute Pittsburgh District Council

Two Special Screenings of YERT in Pittsburgh — Next Week!

Special "Overflow Screening"
Wednesday, September 21
7:00 pm - 9:00 pm (Doors open at 6:30 pm)
Theater at Homewood Library, 7101 Hamilton Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15208
Reservations are strongly encouraged. Please fill out the form at: http://yertreservation.questionpro.com/

The Pittsburgh Premiere of YERT at Chatham University on Sept. 20 is filled to capacity, and is accepting wait list applications at http://yertreservation.questionpro.com/. Event organizers will accept wait list entries at the door after those with reservations have been seated. Also, due to popular demand, an additional "Overflow Screening" has been created for the following night, Sept. 21 @ 7pm, at the Homewood Library Theater, with reservations strongly encouraged at http://yertreservation.questionpro.com/. Mark Dixon (YERT Producer) will be available for Q&A on both Tuesday and Wednesday's screenings, and Ben (YERT Director) will be at Tuesday's Q&A — and both can't wait to see you next week!

Neighborhood Revitalization: Keys to Success and Future Challenges

Urban and Regional Analysis Brown Bag Seminar
Thursday, September 22
Noon - 1:30pm
University Center for Social and Urban Research, University of Pittsburgh, 3343 Forbes Ave, Oakland, 15260
RSVP to pncis@pitt.edu.
More information

Bring your lunch and join the University Center for Social and Urban Research for presentations and lectures that highlight neighborhood, community, economic, and other social research by its esteemed colleagues. Presenters include local, national, and international social research experts. The brown bag on September 22 features Karl Schlachter, Senior Vice President & Senior Project Manager, McCormack Baron Salazar, Inc. in discussing "Neighborhood Revitalization: Keys to Success and Future Challenges."

The next brown bag on Friday, October 7 covers "Shrinking Cities: What Can Be Done," presented by Alan Mallach, Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution, National Housing Institute, and Visiting Scholar, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.

Healthy People Global Goods

Goods Movement: Public Health Implications for the Mid Atlantic
Friday, September 23
9:00 am - 4:45 pm (Registration and Continental Breakfast begins at 8:00 am)
University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
Registration Fee: $50
More information and registration
Approved for 6.25 AICP CM

Goods Movement: Public Health Implications for the Mid-Atlantic builds on Clean Air Council’s ongoing Goods Movement Program. The goal of the conference is to educate public health and environmental advocacy organizations, planners, public health agencies, and elected officials about the public health impacts of goods movement and the role that they can play in addressing these impacts.

The Council has identified public health professionals, planners and health advocates as an under-represented constituency in the effort to better assess and develop programs and policies to reduce the public health and environmental harm generated by moving goods. The conference will bring in new stakeholders, develop the knowledge base of the issue within the public health and planning fields, and cultivate long-term participation with a sector whose valuable input is missing from the broader conversation. A more complete understanding of the health and neighborhood sustainability issues associated with goods movement will allow leaders in these fields to work together in developing and implementing region-specific policies and solutions.

Social Capital and Equality

Friday, September 23
10:00 am
University Club, Ballroom B, 123 University Place, Oakland 15260
Event is free and open to the public but RSVPs are requested: CMSGSPIA@pitt.edu or (412) 648-2282

University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public and International Affairs Center for Metropolitan Studies presents the 2011 Wherrett Lecture, featuring Dr. Robert Putnam, Peter and Isabel Malkin Professor of Public Policy, John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

Author of Bowling Alone and Making Democracy Work, Professor Putnam has served as adviser to presidents and national leaders around the world. The London Sunday Times has called him “the most influential academic in the world today.” His recent research topics include: the changing role of religion in contemporary American civic life; and how diversity and immigration, social and economic equality, and social capital are related across time and space, especially in the U.S.

Public hearing on Proposed Oil and Natural Gas Air Pollution Standards

Tuesday, September 27
9:00 am - 8 pm
David L. Lawrence Convention Center in Rooms 315–316, 1000 Ft. Duquesne Blvd., Downtown Pittsburgh 15222
Contact: Joan Rogers (rogers.joanc@epa.gov) by 4 p.m. on Sept. 23 to register to tell your story or share your opinion.
More information about the public hearing
Information from the Clean Air Council

The Clean Air Council invites you to participate in this public hearing on Oil and Natural Gas Air Pollution Standards.

Many of the air pollution sources associated with fracking, gas exploration, production and processing are currently unregulated. The associated processes and pieces of equipment release air pollutants known to be harmful to public health and the environment.

For instance, VOCs mix with air, sunlight and nitrogen oxides to form ground-level ozone (smog) and harmful airborne particulates. Benzene and formaldehyde have been linked to elevated levels of cancer and neurological health issues.

The EPA has proposed a suite of regulations that will reduce this pollution. For further information on these amendments or the public hearing, please contact Matt Walker from the Clean Air Council at mwalker@cleanair.org.

Rachel's Sustainable Feast

Saturday, October 1
2:00 pm – 6:00 pm
Springdale High School, Springdale, PA
Tickets: Non-members: $15 || Members: $12 || Door: $20
Purchase Tickets

Join the Rachel Carson Homestead Association for its fifth annual Sustainable Feast! The Feast will showcase sustainable and locally sourced dishes prepared by Southwestern Pennsylvania’s most popular and talented chefs, such as Six Penn’s Kevin Klingensmith, Avenue B’s Jenn and Chris Bonfili, Park Bruges’ Kevin Hunninen, Tin Front Café’s Ellie Gumlock, and many more. In addition to mouth-watering cuisine, the event will also feature music, a farmers' market, eco-friendly crafters, artisans and businesses, and politicians and advocacy groups who work to protect our land, water and air.

The fifth annual Rachel’s Sustainable Feast is a culinary festival celebrating the legacy of Rachel Carson. This festival aims to introduce visitors to as many of the terrific environment and conservation groups, the top chefs who are committed to buying locally, plus the great local farmers who are either growing organically or sustainably, providing fresh, nutritious food for the region while conserving the land and soil for future generations.

Resources

Green Workplace Challenge is on

Sustainable Pittsburgh’s Green Workplace Challenge is off and running. This is a one-year competition where companies try to decrease their energy and resource use to be deemed the greenest of them all.

As more workers make the commute by bike, cyclists campaign for rights, improved safety

Between an increase in trails and bike lanes in and around Pittsburgh and the higher price of gas, more and more people are opting to leave their cars in the driveway and hop on a bike. It's not just those who live near Downtown -- suburbanites are realizing the benefits of bike commuting, too. . . Mr. Bricker, of Bike Pittsburgh, said that 50 to 60 percent of people are "interested but concerned" about commuting by bicycle. . . "This is a popular thing, it's not a marginal thing," he said. Still, better pavement, colored bike lanes, and physical barriers between sidewalks, bike lanes and car lanes would ease some fears about biking and improve relations between drivers and cyclists, Mr. Bricker said.

Time to Take Action

This year, around $700 million of Federal transportation funds, which in reality is less than 2 percent of total transportation dollars, will be spent on bicycling and walking. In 2012 that figure might be a big fat zero.

We expect that in the next few days, Senator Coburn (R-OK) will ask Congress to eliminate the federal Transportation Enhancements program – the primary funding source for the past 20 years for bike lanes, trails, bike racks on buses, bike education etc. This isn’t safe or smart; it’s not good for the economy or the environment; this is bad health policy and bad transportation policy. But they are going to try because they don’t think bicycling matters.

Pittsburgh metro area named one of nation's least diverse

Larry Davis, dean of the University of Pittsburgh's School of Social Work, said one downside is the inertia that can come from such a stagnant population. "It's the interface of cultures that creates energy and synergism for new ideas," he said. "If you value diversity, you realize that those places that have it have become more vibrant." . . Most migration to cities has come from outsiders sensing opportunities there, rather than locally organized efforts to attract them. Nonetheless, Pittsburgh community leaders created a private, nonprofit group, Vibrant Pittsburgh, which has worked on marketing the region for the past few years with a welcome message to the underrepresented, diverse populations.

More

15 honored as 'Women Greening the Pittsburgh Region'

The Women and Girls Foundation has named 15 honorees for its annual awards and fundraising gala, this time in the field of "Women Greening the Pittsburgh Region." They will be feted Nov. 19 at the August Wilson Center for African American Culture, Downtown.

Politicians, activists plug Obama jobs act in Hill District

On Dinwiddie, the Trek Development Group is building 23 rental homes, for $8.3 million -- the first phase of what could become a 70-home, $25 million effort to transform a street that had been largely vacant. Project Rebuild is mainly focused on home construction, Mr. Donovan said, so coming phases would be perfect candidates for funding. "We are very hopeful for the passage of this act, so we can continue with that work," said Trek's president, Bill Gatti.

About the Urban Waters Federal Partnership

This partnership will reconnect urban communities, particularly those that are overburdened or economically distressed, with their waterways by improving coordination among federal agencies and collaborating with community-led revitalization efforts to improve our Nation’s water systems and promote their economic, environmental and social benefits. Specifically, the Urban Waters Federal Partnership will: . . .

Landscape Performance Research: Monetizing the Value of Green Infrastructure

In an era of shrinking coffers and aging infrastructure, the Center for Neighborhood Technology (CNT) and American Rivers joined forces to outline a method for more accurately valuing the benefits of green infrastructure. The resulting guide, The Value of Green Infrastructure: A Guide to Recognizing Its Economic, Social and Environmental Benefits, establishes a framework that gives planners, builders, and city officials the ability to choose infrastructure investments that are effective, efficient, and long-lived. . . The guide fills an information gap that has until this point hampered widespread deployment of green infrastructure, defined here as a network of decentralized stormwater management practices such as green roofs, trees, rain gardens and permeable pavement. . . This work extends initial research conducted in support of CNT’s Green Values Calculator, a web-based tool that quickly compares the performance, costs, and benefits of green infrastructure to conventional stormwater practices.

PennFuture Facts: Water, water everywhere

From the flash flooding on Washington Boulevard in Pittsburgh in August to the massive floods in three-quarters of the state in September, and all the heavy and historic rain events in between, it's clear that we could end up with so much water in the wrong places that we would have substantial damage -- but not a drop to drink. It's time to stop trying to overpower Mother Nature and start working with her. . . Fortunately, both rural and urban Pennsylvanians are working to bring new -- and old -- solutions to our water problems. Throughout the state, citizens are implementing plans that will prevent water pollution and damage from excessive rain events, rather than simply adding more pipes and plants to treat or divert the exploding amount of dirty water.

A War Against Food Waste

According to the most recent available statistics, more than 30 million tons of food was dumped in landfills in 2009, making food by far the most abundant material there by weight, the federal Environmental Protection Agency says. (That calculation excludes industrial, construction and hazardous waste.) This amounts roughly to 200 pounds a year for every man, woman and child in the United States. . . The lack of progress in redirecting food waste from landfills has persisted as something of an anomaly over the last two decades. While overall recycling rates, including the composting of yard trimmings, has risen by 10 percent since 1990, the amount of food composted or redirected from landfills has decreased. Today, only 2 percent of food waste is composted or otherwise recycled; by contrast, 62 percent of paper is recycled.

Women's Environmental Votes in Congress

This analysis covers environmental voting records of women in Congress in comparison with men for the 107th through the 111th Congresses (2001 to 2010), as reflected by scores assigned by the League of Conservation Voters’ National Environmental Scorecards. The study demonstrates that women, overall and regardless of party, vote consistently more in favor of environmental protections and policies than men in Congress. An impressive 34 out of the 40 instances studied show women earning a higher LCV score than men, when broken down by party. In the U.S. House of Representatives, women scored anywhere between 15 to 30 points higher than men. In the U.S. Senate women scored an average of 66.1 percent, whereas men scored 45.4 percent.

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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 ($1,000 and up) in 2011 from:

Allegheny County - Dan Onorato, County Executive
Bayer Corporation
Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation
BNY Mellon
Dollar Bank
FedEx Ground
The Heinz Endowments
Highmark
Elsie H. Hillman Foundation
Richard King Mellon Foundation
Pashek Associates LTD
Pittsburgh Quarterly
PNC Financial Services Group
Port Authority of Allegheny County
UPMC


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