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Events

Sustainable Pittsburgh Comments on Allegheny Places – Allegheny County’s Comprehensive Plan

The mission of Sustainable Pittsburgh is to accelerate the policy and practice of sustainable development in southwestern Pennsylvania by advancing plans and actions that simultaneously promote economic development, social equity, and the environment. Allegheny Places is substantially consistent with this mission. The elected and appointed officials responsible for the plan are to be commended for raising the bar by imbedding sustainability principles in their comprehensive plan. In particular, using social equity as an overall framework for the plan is profound and a national best practice. Attributes that distinguish Allegheny Places include:

- The outreach to all citizens of the County during the development of the plan
- Developing the plan within a social equity framework illustrated by a commitment to equal opportunity, good jobs for all in a diversified economy, a focus on transit and decent housing for all citizens
- Reinvestment in existing developed places and brownfields. It is especially gratifying and material to the region's long term prosperity that both Allegheny Places and Project Region – adopted by the Southwest Pennsylvania Commission – recognize this principle of sustainable development.
- Recognition of the social, economic, and environmental costs of sprawl and need to break away from patterns of strip development
- Promoting a multimodal approach to transportation and emphasis on transit-oriented development
- Conservation of natural, historic and cultural resources
- Focus on revitalizing existing business districts, urban neighborhoods, and infill development
- Collaboration with local municipalities to obtain consistency
- Linking of energy and resource conservation with land use patterns, infrastructure investments, and development and building design.
- Acknowledgement of many practicalities of building mixed-use communities
- Identification of greater sharing and consolidation of services, and more multi-municipal cooperation and planning as essential to prosperity
- Recommendations around capacity building of Allegheny County's land use planning function

Above all, is the recognition that Allegheny Places should be used as a tool to manage change through County policies, programs and targeted investments. Sustainable Pittsburgh applauds the many strong statements found throughout the plan that articulate the County's commitment to sustainability and smart growth.

Sustainable Pittsburgh offers several observations that are consistent with the spirit of Allegheny Places but could make the plan even stronger.

To read more click here .

Resources

Pop City Bike Forum

Thursday October 23
6:00 pm
AVA Lounge (next to Shadow Lounge), East Liberty
Free; space is limited.
rsvp@popcitymedia.com

Here's your chance to make Pittsburgh a more bike-friendly city. Join Pop City in a special forum with Steve Patchan, the City's new bicycle/pedestrian coordinator, Scott Bricker, director of Bike Pittsburgh and Amy Garbark, USA cycling official.

The audience will drive the discussion which will be moderated by Matt Stroud who just completed a cross-country bike trip from Boston to San Francisco. Come with questions, problems, solutions and join the discussion. Can't make it? Email us your question or comment by clicking here.

Panel Discussion: Suburbia Now

Saturday, October 25
10:30 am - Noon
CMA Theater, Carnegie Museum of Art, Oakland
More information

Architect Teddy Cruz and photographer Laura Migliorino, both represented in Worlds Away, discuss their work inspired by suburbia. A township planner from Cranberry, a community north of Pittsburgh committed to sustainable development, shares a local perspective on challenges and opportunities facing contemporary suburbs.

Design Excellence Lecture Series: Fred Dust

Monday, October 27
6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
University Center at Point Park University, 414 Wood St., Downtown
Reception follows lecture and panel discussion
Fee: $45 for Subscription to the series of three lectures; $20 for ticket to the Fred Dust lecture
Contact: 412-391-4144 or visit cdcp.org

The Community Design Center of Pittsburgh’s (CDCP’s) new Design Excellence Lecture Series is a series of three lectures by nationally-acclaimed civic design and planning experts followed by a panel discussion of local design practitioners and a reception for all attendees.

Please join CDCP for the inaugural lecture featuring Fred Dust, IDEO partner and global practice lead for the firm’s Smart Space practice. His presentation – Tales of the City: New Public Collaborations — will be followed by a panel discussion by Anne-Marie Lubenau, AIA, Rob Stephany, and Rami el Samahy, moderated by Mary Navarro.

Low- Cost Municipal Transportation Improvements

Friday, November 7
9:00 am – Noon (8:30 am registration)
Anderson Library of Penn Hills, 1037 Stotler Rd., Pittsburgh 15235
Contact: Anita Lengvarsky at alengvarsky@localgovernmentacademy.org or 412-237-3171
More information

As state funding dries up and PennDOT focuses more on bridges, municipalities are left to maintain traffic signals, mitigate congestion, and accommodate bicycles and pedestrians. How do municipalities handle transportation issues when taxpayers are demanding improved services without large tax increases? The purpose of this seminar is to present low-cost transportation improvements that municipalities can pursue with solutions that reduce congestion, reduce vehicle emissions and encourage alternative modes of transportation. The seminar also includes an update on the SPC’s traffic signal optimization program that will greatly assist municipalities.

Participants will learn:
- Solutions for traffic congestion
- Tools for traffic safety
- How to get started
- Funding options

The Fully Sustainable Nonprofit

Monday, November 10
9:00 am - 11:00 am
Bayer Center for Nonprofit Management, Downtown
Fee: $40 ($30 if payment is received by Nov. 3)
For information or to register call Ivana Spehar at 412-397-6009 or e-mail spehar@rmu.edu.
You may also register online here.

In this wide-ranging panel discussion, we will consider sustainability as a holistic approach to nonprofit management. Court Gould, Director of Sustainable Pittsburgh, will present the philosophical concept of the fully sustainable nonprofit. He'll be followed by Chris Siefert, Deputy Director of the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh, who will talk about green building, Scott Leff, Associate Director of the Bayer Center, who will discuss financial sustainability, and Dr. Barbara Baker, President of the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium, who will explore the sustainability of an organization's brand.

Real Estate Finance Course

November 10-12, 2008
9:00 am – 5:00 pm
DoubleTree Hotel Pittsburgh City Center, Downtown
Tuition: $595/person
CDC Staff: $395/person ($200 discount per person)
PCRG Members: $195/person ($400 discount per person)
Tuition sponsorship is available courtesy of Citizens Bank
Contact: Sarah Stutts of the Pittsburgh Community Reinvestment Group at 412-391-6732, ext. 210 or sstutts@pcrg.org
More information

The Pittsburgh Community Reinvestment Group (PCRG) has partnered with the National Development Council (NDC) to bring the three-day course “Real Estate Finance” to Pittsburgh! This course offers participants a step-by-step look at the real estate development process from the perspective of lenders and investors. Participants analyze economic development real estate projects – retail, office, mixed-use – and, using the rates of return required by lenders, developers and investors, determine the amount of public sector financing needed to make projects feasible. Public sector financing tools and techniques, designed to attract, leverage and complement private financing, are utilized to maximize equity while minimizing the amount of public investment.

Creating a Sustainable Organization

Thursday, November 13
9:00 am - 5:00 pm
Regional Learning Alliance, 850 Cranberry Woods Drive, Cranberry Township 16066
Registration information

An Interactive Forum for the HR Professional, CEO, CFO, Sustainability Director and...the list goes on.
Companies all over the world are embracing sustainability as one of the most important factors for staying competitive. With world-class experts both speaking and facilitating interactive sessions, this is an opportunity for participants to:
• Better define what sustainability means for your organization
• Improve your sustainability strategies - to increase profits and satisfy all stakeholders: employees, customers, vendors and shareholders
• Learn how local and national organizations have profitably implemented sustainable practices
• Understand how to build and maintain an adaptable sustainability culture
• Learn how to modify HR processes and functions to support sustainability

This is your chance to learn how companies such as Wal-Mart, Giant Eagle, Bayer MaterialScience LLC and many others have implemented sustainable practices into their operations. Matt Mehalik of Sustainable Pittsburgh will be a featured speaker. Event presented by HR Leadership Forum and Duquesne University.

16th Annual Pennsylvania Community Forestry Council Conference: Healthy Trees - Healthy Communities

November 13 -14
Chatham University, Pittsburgh, PA
Fee: $100 for both days or $75 for one day.
Register online at http://www.pittsburghforest.org/communityforestryconference
Reserve your room by October 22nd to receive a discounted rate.
ISA and ASLA continuing education credits available!
Contact: Danielle Crumrine, Friends of the Pittsburgh Urban Forest at 412-362-6360 or danielle@pittsburghforest.org or Mark Remcheck, Extension Educator, Urban Forestry Allegheny County Cooperative Extension at 412-473-2540 or mar15@psu.edumar15@psu.edu
View the Conference Brochure

Tree commission members, arborists, architects and landscape architects, municipal DPW staff, students, educators, elected officials, and anyone who cares about creating healthy & sustainable communities should attend this conference. Featured keynote speakers include: Thomas Hylton, President, Save our Land, Save our Towns, Inc. (Day 1) and Ray Tretheway, Executive Director, The Sacramento Tree Foundation (Day 2).

What Are Sustainable Communities, and How Do We Get There?

Monday, November 17
7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
Monroeville Public Library Gallery Space, Monroeville
Contact: Mark Hudson, Adult Services Librarian, at 412-372-0500 ext. 13 or hudsonme@mac.com

Come join a lively community discussion with Court Gould of Sustainable Pittsburgh to explore what sustainability is about -- its promise and potential. There is growing excitement about sustainable communities, and the mantra of simultaneous wins in economy, social equity, and environment sounds appealing. But what does sustainability mean, how can we assess if a community is on the right track, and what's the best foothold for accelerating the path to sustainability? We'll explore these questions and benefit from your ideas about practical steps the community can take for making sustainability the new business-as-usual.

cityLive! Pittsburgh's DNA

Tuesday, November 18
6:30 pm
New Hazlett Theater, North Side
More information

Our city was transformed in the past by physical interventions that changed its DNA forever. Big and small, planned and organic, each has had an everlasting impact. What are the 10 biggest changes that we have seen? Are these now embedded in Pittsburgh's blueprint? What will, or should, the next 10 be. Speakers include John Rahaim, Mark Minnerly; moderated by Eve Picker.

Rachel Carson Homestead Association 33rd Annual Meeting

Wednesday, November 19
5:30 pm - 8:00 pm
PNC Firstside, Firstside Café
More information

Hear remarks by Devra L. Davis, Ph.D., M.P.H., Director, Center for Environmental Oncology, University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute.

"The Impacts of the Foreclosure Crisis on Local Government”

2008 Wherrett Lecture on Local Government
Friday, November 21
8:30 am
William Pitt Union on the University of Pittsburgh campus
RSVP: GSPIAIC@pitt.edu or 412-648-2282 by November 4

The Innovation Clinic at the University of Pittsburgh's Graduate School of Public and International Affairs (GSPIA) and the Allegheny Conference on Community Development are proud to announce that Dr. Susan Wachter will present the fall 2008 Wherrett Lecture on Local Government. Dr. Wachter is Professor of Real Estate and Finance at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business and author of over 150 publications. Additionally, she is the former Assistant Secretary of Policy Development and Research at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, former President of American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association and coeditor of Real Estate Economics, the leading academic real estate journal.

6th Annual Public Officials Design Charrette (PODC)

MUNICIPAL LEADERS, take note.
Finalized Date and Times:
Friday, November 21
12:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Greentree Municipal Building
Free; lunch will be provided.
Open to limited number of municipalities.

Municipalities in SWPA, this is for you:
Free expert consultation on pressing sustainable community design challenges and opportunities.

Sustainable Pittsburgh's Sustainable Community Development Network, AIA Pittsburgh, and the Local Government Academy are now welcoming interested municipalities to propose to be "clients" for this free, half-day, hands-on, charrette-style consultation.

How it works: Up to five municipalities will be selected to benefit from the assistance of a team of pro bono experts. The municipality identifies a pressing sustainability challenge or opportunity and we assemble a team of experts to be on hand to work through the issue and generate practical solutions. Issues may relate to: main street revitalization, infill development, transportation access, energy efficiency or resource conservation, community development, a social or human service concern, community or green space, etc.

Are you an interested municipality? Please call 412-258-6643. We'll discuss your needs and determine if there's a good fit. All that is required is attendance from your municipality to include at least one elected official, a municipal staff person, and one community leader.

The Sustainable Workplace: Efficient, Healthier, Innovative and Cost-Effective.

Wednesday, December 10
1:00 pm - 3:00 pm
Fee: $40 ($30 if paid by Dec.3)
For information or to register call Ivana Spehar at 412-397-6009 or e-mail spehar@rmu.edu.
You may also register online here.

Learn how you can apply sustainability policies and practices in your day-to-day decision making and office to accelerate innovation.

5th Annual Southwestern Pennsylvania Regional Equitable Development Summit

"The Employment Goal - Inclusion in the Workforce: Positioning Our Region to Prosper and Compete"
Thursday, December 11
8:30 am - 12:30 pm (8:00 am - Registration and Continental Breakfast)
Twentieth Century Club, 4201 Bigelow Blvd., Oakland
Fee: $10 Sustainable Pittsburgh members; $15 non-members
Register online
Contact: info@sustainablepittsburgh.org or 412-258-6642
Keynote: Radhika Fox, Associate Director, PolicyLink

Deploying talents of all residents and unleashing the benefits and innovation that come from diversity in the workforce are essential for a region and businesses that strive to secure a competitive edge. Our region, with its stagnant population growth, can ill-afford to leave behind anyone not working to his or her potential.

This year's Summit builds on the momentum from last year's discussion from which a leadership group came together to identify actions to address our region's equitable development. Rising to the fore is the regional economic benefit derived from enabling all African-Americans and others of color to participate fully in the workforce and to live to their productive potential. As southwestern Pennsylvania comes together and more than ever acknowledges that prosperity is directly linked to ensuring all residents are contributing through good jobs and opportunity, it is apparent that ongoing disparities in employment for persons of color are incongruous.

During the Summit, Radhika Fox of PolicyLink will present a draft of a landmark framing paper, specific to southwestern PA, that substantiates this reality and economic imperative. This work will illustrate the bottom-line business benefit and productive role a fully employed diverse population stands to play in the economy. It will serve to catalyze much more than a lip service response concerning a targeted employment agenda. Summit participants will have the opportunity to help shape the paper and to advance partnerships and practical steps the region will take to remove barriers and to seize on inclusion in employment as a vital part of our region's economic development strategy and success among business and industry.

PolicyLink is a national research and action institute advancing economic and social equity by Lifting Up What Works. Radhika Fox is a senior associate at PolicyLink and principal author of Shared Prosperity, Stronger Regions: An Agenda for Rebuilding America ’s Older Core Cities; Expanding Housing Opportunity in Washington DC: The Case for Inclusionary Zoning; and Regional Equity and Smart Growth: Opportunities for Advancing Social and Economic Justice in America.

Presented by the Regional Equitable Development Strategy Group, Sustainable Pittsburgh's Sustainable Community Development Network, and the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public and International Affairs: Johnson Institute for Responsible Leadership.

Sponsored by:
Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation
Richard King Mellon Foundation
The Heinz Endowments

Resources

Economic Impacts of Climate Change on Pennsylvania

This report identifies key economic sectors in Pennsylvania, which are likely affected by climate change, and the main impacts to be expected for these sectors. The report provides examples of the direct economic impacts that could be experienced in the state and presents calculations of indirect effects that are triggered as impacts on individual sectors in the economy ripple through to affect others.

Tapping Power From Trash

In fact, power from landfill methane exceeds solar power in New York and New Jersey, and landfill methane in those states and in Connecticut powers generators that produce a total of 169 megawatts of electricity — almost as much as a small conventional generating station. The methane also provides 16.7 million cubic feet of gas daily for heating and other direct uses.

More

The Business of Climate Change Challenges and Opportunities

And, as the title indicates, we consider that climate change poses many challenges but also presents many business opportunities. Firms that recognise the challenge early, and respond imaginatively and constructively, will create opportunities for themselves and thereby prosper. Others, slower to realise what is going on or electing to ignore it, will likely do markedly less well. The firms that will prosper in a climate-changed world will tend to be those that are: early to recognise its importance and its inexorability; foresee at least some of the implications for their industry; and take appropriate steps well in advance.

"Economic Choices 2008" -The Issue of Climate Change

That's the cost side. On the revenue side, demand for carbon-friendly products is soaring. Demand for fiberglass used in windmills is expanding 26 percent a year; glass for solar panels is growing 45 percent a year. That's a small indication of the kind of business opportunities available, as the political leaders in the United States and the rest of the world prepare to cut back on carbon emissions. Analysts say the climate change legislation backed by John McCain, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama could lead to massive shifts in wealth from companies that generate carbon emissions to companies that control them. For western Pennsylvania, that is both an enormous economic challenge and an opportunity.

Climate Change Could Raise Pennsylvania's Average Annual Temperature 12 Degrees, Threatening Environment and Economy, New Report Finds

"Scientists are already seeing the effects of global warming in Pennsylvania, including less snow, more rainfall, drier summers and more days with extreme heat," said Melanie Fitzpatrick, UCS's Northeast impacts science coordinator. "And if we continue to rely primarily on coal, oil and natural gas, by late this century the annual average temperature in Pennsylvania could rise 12 degrees above the long-term average. But if we reduce our emissions, we may cut projected warming by half. Temperatures are going to go up, but there is still time to avoid the worst.". . .The state already has taken several important steps to address the problem. For example, it has recruited several renewable energy technology companies to build manufacturing facilities in the state, and is supporting the growth of wind-generated electricity by purchasing large quantities of "green power." But Pennsylvania can do significantly more, Fitzpatrick said. The state should require coal-fired power plants in the state to replace a percentage of the coal they burn with biomass. It also should ban construction of new coal-fired plants unless they can capture and store their carbon emissions. At the federal level, the state's congressional delegation should support strong legislation to reduce emissions nationwide and promote renewable energy sources.

States Aim to Cut Gases by Making Polluters Pay

Ten states from Maryland to Maine are about to undertake the nation’s most serious effort yet to tackle climate change, putting limits on carbon dioxide emissions from utilities and making them pay for each ton of pollutants. . .The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, or RGGI, will cap emissions for 233 plants. By putting a price on the carbon dioxide they emit, it gives plants a financial incentive to clean themselves up, with the proceeds channeled to energy-saving and renewable energy programs in each state. The states will set their own limits, with each issuing tradable permits, or allowances, for carbon pollution. On Sept. 25, utilities will start bidding at auction for allowances, which they can later sell — mimicking the so-called cap-and-trade programs that effectively reduced acid rain in the 1990s. . .This first carbon cap-and-trade program in the country, proposed by former Gov. George E. Pataki of New York, has been five years in the making. It is being watched by Californians, who are designing an even more ambitious, economywide program of regulations, and by Congress, which has considered — and this summer rejected — a national cap-and-trade program. . .California, which two years ago passed a law to control greenhouse-gas emissions across the economy, has joined with six other states and four Canadian provinces in a similar effort, the Western Climate Initiative. This group is still devising the details of their cap-and-trade system.

Examples of Sustainability in Cranberry Township

Building a sustainable future for the community is a critical component of the Cranberry Plan.

Converteam counting on renewable energy, expanding and hiring 100

Pittsburgh-based Converteam, manufacturer of high performance power conversion systems and wind turbines, is expanding and hiring 100 at its North American headquarters as part of its growing commitment to renewable energy. Converteam has an established reputation in the field of wind energy with 3,000 wind turbines around the world that use Converteam electronics. Company growth is attributed to all four of Converteam’s sectors, which manufactures electromechanical machines that convert power for propulsion in the defense, marine, oil and gas and energy industry, says Ralph Ross, director of human resources. But the key is renewable energy, he says. “We see renewables as the industry that will lead us further into the future,” says Ross. “We are very much in a growth mode to have job openings in a bad economy. People want to be here. We’re very high on the workforce in Pittsburgh.”

Overwhelmed social services get emergency fund

The number of people seeking emergency shelter nearly has tripled during the past year, and The Pittsburgh Foundation is setting up an emergency fund to meet the needs of people crushed by the economic downturn. . ." People understand that their neighbors are struggling with the basics, and Pittsburghers are stepping up to meet the more urgent needs," he said.

Project Funding: Pennsylvania Community Transportation Initiative

$60 Million of federal/state transportation funds will be made available for these incentivized projects over the first two years of the 2009 Transportation Improvement Program. Projects may receive up to $5 million for these projects. (No more than $300,000 for planning activities). NOTE: This is not a grant program. State and federal guidelines, eligibility, and regulations apply. Applicants will request funds through PennDOT’s Center for Program Development and Management. The application should be sent to nritchie@state.pa.us . Applications will be forwarded to the appropriate PennDOT District Office as well as the associated MPO/RPO upon receipt. The Department may contact applicants for further information prior to making a decision on project funding. Initial applications will be accepted no later than December 15, 2008. Projects will be selected based on the degree to which the project supports Smart Transportation principles and the ability to implement local land use actions in support of the transportation investment. The Department will attempt to award a mix of projects that demonstrates a range of smart transportation principles.

Summit Shows Varying Approaches to Green Manufacturing

Stokes touched on a number of concepts businesses have embraced in their different journeys towards sustainability, but ultimately said what is most needed – frameworks, metrics, benchmarking and tools for developing fact-based sustainability – is still missing. And while more companies understand the benefits both to their bottom line and the environment of going green, some are taking the wrong approach, Stokes said. “A CSR report is the end-point of this journey, not the start,” he said, chastising businesses that put out corporate social responsibility reports without first have holistic strategic visions and real governance over their supply chains, products, energy and resources.

Payless Adds a Shade of Green to Its Footwear

Payless ShoeSource is launching a line of shoes designed to have a lower impact on the environment, joining a number of other footwear makers and retailers that have already done the same.

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

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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 Giant Eagle Foundation
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