Tag Archive: economics
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Building Operator Event: Growing and Retaining Your Facilities Workforce
Leave a CommentAre you looking for ways to fill your workforce gap? This luncheon will provide strategies to grow your facilities operations & maintenance workforce and keep them engaged.
Limited seats! This free lunch is open to all Pennsylvania facilities operations and maintenance staff, especially those that work in the following sectors in PA: K-12 school districts, local/municipal government, state government, and colleges and universities.
Building Operator Certification (BOC) graduates: Please bring a facilities coworker with you to this event! (Must register separately.) Also, by attending this lunch, you will earn 1.5 continuing maintenance points.
Agenda:
11 a.m. – Sign in and networking
11:30 a.m. – Lunch buffet
12:30 p.m. – 2 p.m. – Featured speakers will present insider strategies to “Growing and Retaining Your Facilities Workforce”
Featured speakers:
John Tooley, Senior Building Science Consultant with Advanced Energy — Attracting, Developing and Retaining Superior Employees
Alison Diehl, Director of the National Sustainable Structures Center at Pennsylvania College of Technology — Upcoming grant-funded building operator training opportunities in PA
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Practical Lessons in Winning Public Support for Infrastructure Project
Leave a CommentLet’s face it – winning public support for unfunded infrastructure mandates is difficult to do. Public officials (both elected and unelected) constantly struggle to communicate the value of infrastructure investments in a way that builds broad-based support from constituents. This session covers the best strategies for planning and successfully engaging the public on difficult-to-win topics like infrastructure investments, tax increases, and municipal compliance activities.
Speaker: Mark Heckmann, Castle Shannon Council President
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Practical Lessons in Winning Public Support for Infrastructure Project
Leave a CommentLet’s face it – winning public support for unfunded infrastructure mandates is difficult to do. Public officials (both elected and unelected) constantly struggle to communicate the value of infrastructure investments in a way that builds broad-based support from constituents. This session covers the best strategies for planning and successfully engaging the public on difficult-to-win topics like infrastructure investments, tax increases, and municipal compliance activities.
Speaker: Mark Heckmann, Castle Shannon Council President
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Responsible Waste Management Guide Released [VIDEO]
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September 12, 2018
PNC Park, Pittsburgh, PASustainable Pittsburgh and the Pittsburgh Pirates hosted a workshop to detail the latest waste and recycling options for businesses, organizations, institutions, and municipalities located in Southwestern PA. It attracted a wide range of attendees, including professionals in sustainability, operations, and facilities management; managers, staff, and elected officials from local governments; and citizens advocating for responsible waste management programs in their schools and communities.
Local waste management experts and sustainability pros shared updates on recycling and waste management markets, along with best practices for establishing a program, forming a waste hauler contract, getting employees and community citizens on board, and more. Immediately following the workshop, participants got to see responsible waste management in action during a tour of PNC Park and the Pittsburgh Pirates’ cleaning operations.
As a highlight of the workshop, Sustainable Pittsburgh’s Business Sustainability Pros introduced the new Material and Waste Management Resource Guide for Southwestern PA, a project of the Materials and Recycling Group of Sustainable Pittsburgh’s Champions for Sustainability network.
To download the free resource guide, see Sustainable Pittsburgh’s Responsible Waste Management page.
Speakers included:
- Abby Lawler-Morycz, Allegheny County
- Kathy Hrabovsky, Allegheny County
- Marcie Eberhart, American Eagle Outfitters
- Pam Adams, Centre Region Council of Governments
- Debbie DeLong, Ph.D., Chatham University
- Rebecca Kiernan, City of Pittsburgh
- Kim Olivito, FedEx Ground
- Phyllis Barber, Highmark
- Justin Stockdale, Pennsylvania Resources Council
- Sissy Burkhart, Pittsburgh Pirates
- Gina Johnson, Sustainable Pittsburgh
- Jim Price, Sustainable Pittsburgh
- Allison Robinson, Ph.D., UPMC
- Erika Deyarmin-Young, Waste Management
VIDEO: PBS NewsHour Recycling Market UpdatePresented by Sustainable Pittsburgh’s Champions for Sustainability in collaboration with Sustainable Pittsburgh’s Sustainable Community Development Network.
Thank you, sponsors:
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The High Cost of Energy: How a Community Can Protect their Most Vulnerable Residents
Leave a CommentPeople living at or below the poverty line are more likely to live in older housing with leaky windows and doors, and poorly insulated walls that waste energy, saddling them with much higher energy costs than those in upper income brackets. There are several ways that municipalities and community-based organizations can help mitigate this challenge. Options include having well-crafted and enforced occupancy regulations and helping to connect those in need to energy efficiency assistance programs. Serving in this role advances a community’s sustainable development by improving the lives of residents, the environment, and the local economy.
Preventing housing from falling into disrepair can solve the problem of unreasonably high energy costs before it becomes one. Well managed and institutionalized code enforcement is an essential first step. Adopting and effectively enforcing the International Property Maintenance Code, as suggested in the “Sustainable Neighborhoods” section of the Sustainable Pennsylvania Community Certification, can prevent poorly heated and/or ventilated spaces from being rented to unsuspecting residents. Community leaders may find homeowners on fixed or limited incomes need assistance to make their homes code compliant or more energy efficient.
Working with and connecting residents to organizations like Conservation Consultants Inc. (CCI), Rebuilding Together Pittsburgh, and Habitat for Humanity can benefit struggling low income homeowners with energy efficiency upgrades. In addition, both major regional electric utilities, Duquesne Light and First Energy (Penelec, Penn Power, and West Penn Power), have programs that can offset the costs of energy upgrades. As a stopgap measure, federal programs such as the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), can provide relief to families living in homes that may be at risk of an outage. Having these resources available through a community newsletter, website, knowledgeable staff, and community-sponsored events can make a world of difference.
By administering excellent code enforcement and serving as the conduit to publicly available energy efficiency programs, conscientious leaders can conserve energy, mitigate carbon emissions and protect their community’s most vulnerable residents. In addition, reducing energy consumption community-wide serves everyone by improving public health with improved air quality and ensuring residents have more income to spend in the local community. For information on how to incorporate these or other community sustainability recommendations please visit the Sustainable Pennsylvania Community Certification, reference the Library of Sustainable Municipal Policies and Practices, or contact Jim Price at jprice@sustainablepittsburgh.org.