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Events

Short videos available on sustainability in practice in certified sustainable PA communities

On June 5, 2015, Sustainable Pittsburgh, the Pennsylvania Municipal League, & Local Government Academy hosted a special luncheon for municipalities that achieved certification in the Sustainable Pennsylvania Community Certification program.

As part of the program, five certified sustainable communities presented on how they are applying the policy and practice of sustainability for high performing communities. Videos of these presentations are now available. Each video is between six and nine minutes and are accessible at sustainablepacommunitycertification.org.

Watch them here!

One week away! Register today for special Aug. 27 workshop on Air Quality

You're invited to join Sustainable Pittsburgh for this timely workshop on August 27 addressing the regional imperative of improving air quality. Part of the Green Workplace Challenge monthly workshop series, this program features an inspiring group of collaborators that are leading the way in terms of the best science, best practices, best technology, and best approaches to rise to the challenge of improving air quality. Twelve remarkable speakers featured. View the list.

All are welcome to attend to learn more about what these leaders are doing as well as to learn ways to reduce emissions, achieve measurable progress, and gain recognition. Cleaning up our air is essential to a sustainable region fostering healthy economy, environment, and people.

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Resources

Green Workplace Challenge Workshop #9: "Air Quality"

Thursday, August 27
8:00 am - 12:00 pm (Registration 7:30 am - 8:00 am)
UPMC East, 2775 Mosside Boulevard, Monroeville 15146
Cost: $10 GWC Participants; $25 Non-Participants/Sustainable Pittsburgh/C4S Members; $35 Non-Members, Non-Participants
Breakfast provided.
More information and registration, including agenda

Join Sustainable Pittsburgh for the ninth workshop of the 2014-2015 Pittsburgh Green Workplace Challenge (GWC)! The GWC is a yearlong competition for employers in southwestern Pennsylvania to track and measure performance in energy, water, waste, and transportation. This workshop will focus on air quality in our region.

Featured Speakers
- Melissa Bilec, Assistant Professor, School of Engineering, University of Pittsburgh
- John Cecere, Facilities & Construction Manager, UPMC
- Bill Collinge, Post-Doctoral Associate, University of Pittsburgh
- Aviva Diamond, Field Manager, Western PA, Moms Clean Air Force
- Holly Dugan, Administrative Assistant, Mullin & Lonergan Associates
- Rachel Filippini, Executive Director, Group Against Smog and Pollution
- Dr. Jay Harper, Medical Director, UPMC
- Bob Hodnik, Facilities Director, UPMC Health Plan
- Philip R.S. Johnson, Program Director for Science and Environment, The Heinz Endowments
- Jim Kelly, Air Pollution Control Manager, Allegheny County Health Department
- Jen Kullgren, Community Forester, Tree Pittsburgh
- Tammy Minton, CNO, UPMC East
- Aurora Sharrard, VP of Innovation, Green Building Alliance
- Linda Wigington, Project Lead, Reducing Outdoor Contaminants in Indoor Spaces (ROCIS)

Take Back Drugs Day

Friday, September 11
10:00 am - 2:00 pm
Multiple Locations
For a list of locations and additional details, check out the flyer.

Bring your unwanted, unused, or expired medicine as part of the Take Back Drugs Day. UPMC Police will be on site to ensure all material collected is handled in accordance with all federal, state, and local laws. This event is held in support of the DEA's National Prescription Drug Take Back Day (Saturday, September 12, 2015).

Our Landscape Today: Community Impact Summit

Saturday, September 12
8:00 am - 5:00 pm
Washington & Jefferson College
Free and Open to the Public
For more information and questions call (724)-229-3550 or E-mail eva@coalfieldjustice.org.
More information
Registration

The Center for Coalfield Justice will host a community-wide “Our Landscape Today – Community Impact Summit” on September 12. Landscape Today is a project designed to create an understanding of the environmental and public health issues that residents face due to coal and natural gas extraction. This summit is an opportunity for residents to share their own knowledge with local and regional community members, organizers, experts, and leaders.

Register Today! Living Product Expo and Conference

September 16-18, 2015
David L. Lawrence Convention Center, Pittsburgh PA 15222
Cost:Living Future Members $620, Non-Members $820 (Full Three Day Pass)
www.livingproductexpo.org/

The Living Product Challenge re-imagines the design and manufacture of products to function as elegantly and efficiently as anything found in the natural world. Living Products are informed by biomimicry and biophilia; manufactured by processes powered only by renewable energy and within the water balance of the places they are made.

Join the Living Futures Institute for the inaugural Living Product Expo in Pittsburgh, PA. The Expo is a groundbreaking new event that will bring together leading minds in the product industry and ignite a revolution in the way materials are designed, manufactured and delivered.

Featured speakers:
Arlene Blum, Executive Director of the Green Science Policy Institute
Jeffrey Hollender, Co-Founder & CEO, Hollender Sustainable Brands LLC
Bill Strickland, President and CEO of the Manchester Bidwell Corporation
John Warner, President The Warner Babcock Institute For Green Chemistry

Who should attend?
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) managers, sustainability directors, business leaders, product designers, industrial engineers, professors, and students.

Note special event session: Friday, September 18, 5:00 pm - 6:30 pm:

Convening Summit: Pittsburgh Region Brainstorm - Accelerating Living Product Capacities in Southwestern Pennsylvania
Hosted by Sustainable Pittsburgh Champions for Sustainability (C4S) business network and Green Building Alliance
The next chapter for the Pittsburgh region goes deeper: Much of the Expo has been about an evolving ecosystem where entrepreneurship, advanced design, and sustainability converge. This convergence positions manufacturing to build sustainability-oriented, high-value-added market opportunities. Come to this “Convening Summit” to contribute to planning for what comes next from Pittsburgh's hosting the Expo.

3rd Annual Oakland Transportation Fair

Wednesday, September 16
1:00 pm - 2:00 pm
University of Pittsburgh’s Alumni Hall- Connelly Ballroom

It’s an exciting time for transportation – especially in the Oakland community. Building off of the 2015 theme of Accessibility, Placing People at the Center, the 3rd Annual Oakland Transportation Fair is proud to connect attendees to an inside look at what’s happening in the world of transportation planning, policy, infrastructure and technology. Exhibitors will demonstrate how they are “Placing People at the Center!” This FREE and INTERACTIVE event is brought to you by the Oakland Transportation Management Association.

RAIN First Annual Conference

Thursday, September 17
8:45 am - 3:00 pm (Registration at 8:15 am)
Carnegie Science Center, Works Theater, 1 Allegheny Avenue, Pittsburgh 15212
Cost: $20, includes conference, breakfast, lunch & admission to H2o Exhibit at Science Center
rainmatters.org/rain-conference

The River Alert Information Network (RAIN) will host its first annual conference, “Celebrating and Enhancing Source Water Protection” on Thursday, September 17, 2015, at the Carnegie Science Center’s Works Theater. The one-day conference will focus on ways to protect drinking water supplies in the Ohio River Basin and efforts already underway to improve emergency response to potential spills or contamination events.

Conference sessions will cover pertinent topics such as:
- ‘measuring what matters’
- a vision for safe drinking water in the Ohio Basin
- the RAIN Early Warning Network - a source water protection tool of choice
- perspective from the PA Department of Environmental Protection
- continuous in-stream monitoring trends
- opportunities for partnership with RAIN
- building regional resiliency through safe drinking water and
- water quality tools that boost drinking water protection such as green infrastructure and household hazardous waste collection.

Speakers and moderators include:
- James Good, Executive Director of Pittsburgh Water & Sewer Authority
- John Ashton, Asst. Manager, Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County
- Ron Bargiel, Water Quality Manager Environmental Management and Compliance, Pennsylvania American Water
- Gina Cyprych, Chair of RAIN and Laboratory & Water Quality Manager at Pittsburgh Water & Sewer Authority
- Ronald Schwartz, Assistant Regional Director, PADEP Southwest Region Office
- Dustin Shull, PADEP Water Program Specialist
- Robert Winters, Protective Security Advisor, Pittsburgh District – US Dept. of Homeland Security
- Jan Lauer, District Manager, Allegheny County Conservation District
- Kevin Gurchak, Manager of Environmental Compliance, Allegheny County Airport Authority and incoming Chair of Three Rivers Pollution Response Council
- Stanley States, Ph.D.

PARK(ing) Day Pittsburgh!

Friday, September 18
Website
facebook.com/ParkingDayPGH
Questions? Need help? Email: parkingdaypgh@gmail.com

PARK(ing) Day is an annual, one-day, international event in which artists, designers, activists and citizens collaborate to temporarily transform parking spots into “PARK(ing)” spaces. The event is an opportunity to have people think about how important public spaces are and how parks improve our communities. These park installations aim to transform urban environments designed for vehicle use into a communal space for public use.

Join this annual celebration of transforming parking spaces into temporary public parks!
Build your own park
Help others build parks
Visit PARK(ing) Day parks near you

Allegheny Green + Innovation Festival

Saturday, September 26
11:00 am – 4:00 pm
Hartwood Acres Amphitheater, 4070 Middle Road, Allison Park 15101
More information

Featuring numerous local exhibitors, food and craft vendors and non-profit organizations, the Allegheny Green + Innovation Festival highlights innovation and sustainability in the region. At the Festival, learn how to reduce your carbon footprint and green your community. Interactive, educational exhibits have included bike-powered squirt guns, holistic health, renewable energy, alternative forms of transportation, and storm water retention, all designed to engage every age group.

This year's festival will be ZeroWaste and will be powered by ZeroFossil. Uber Pittsburgh is offering free rides to new users, up to $20. Users would be responsible for the cost of their return ride. Please download the Uber App, and then use the code “ACSUMMER” to take advantage of the offer. Please visit the following link for additional information: http://www.alleghenycounty.us/summer/index.aspx

AGIF occurs in conjunction with Hay Day - a fun-filled family event featuring a petting zoo, hay rides, inflatables, arts and crafts, and other activities for individuals, kids and families.

Interested in exhibiting at the Festival? Complete and return this form! Volunteers are also welcome. Email specevents@alleghenycounty.us.

PA Chapter of the American Planning Association - 2015 Annual Conference

October 18-20, 2015
Westin Convention Center Pittsburgh, 1000 Penn Avenue, Downtown Pittsburgh 15222-3835
More information

With 500 planners expected, 49 classroom sessions, 5 mobile workshops, up to 14.5 CM credits (including law and ethics) and a new "Fast-Fun-Fervent" format showcasing 7 presenters, 7 topics, in 7 minutes, join the PA Chapter of the American Planning Association for this annual conference in Downtown Pittsburgh.

In particular, on Tuesday, from 8:15 am - 9:45 am, check out the "Sustainability: Fad, Fashion or Reality?" session featuring local sustainability experts. Moderated by Ray Gastil, AICP, Director of Pittsburgh City Planning, panelists include:
- James Brasuel, Editor of Planetizen
- Andrew Butcher, CEO-Co-Founder, GTECH
- Beverly Cigler, PhD, Distinguished Professor of Public Administration, Penn State University
- Court Gould, Executive Director, Sustainable Pittsburgh
- Christine Mondor, AIA, LEED AP, Chair, City of Pittsburgh Planning Commission.

Resources

Help Wanted: SCA Sustainability Fellow

The SCA Sustainability Fellow will be responsible for providing support to Sustainable Pittsburgh’s 2014 – 2015 Green Workplace Challenge as part of its contributions to the Pittsburgh Climate Initiative. The SCA Sustainability Fellow will be managing the network and advancing the objectives of the Green Workplace Challenge program in the Pittsburgh area.

Applications can be submitted through the SCA system at http://thesca.force.com/members. Once an application is created, candidates can search positions and add the Sustainability Fellow: Green Workplace Challenge Actions to their application.

‘VERY HONORED’
Cranberry receives Platinum Certification

Cranberry Township has been awarded the Platinum Certification for its sustainability practices by the Pennsylvania Municipal League and Sustainable Pittsburgh. . . The assessment for the award tracks 131 policies and practices that define a sustainable community. Cranberry has been previously awarded the Gold Certification through the program, Puff said. The township has been working for the last three years to move up to the platinum level. The 2008 Sustainability Assessment, a 2010 Energy reduction Action Plan and the 25-year comprehensive community plan were some of the policies and practices that lead to the award, the release states.

Connecting the Regional Trail System

In the fall of 2011, the Power of 32 regional visioning project identified initiatives to unlock the potential of the region and improve its future. A key initiative was to connect the regional trail system – to increase recreational opportunities, economic development related to trails, and a greater sense of regional connectedness.

More

Effort To Divert Water From Lake Michigan Sets Off Fierce Debate

Waukesha is just outside the Great Lakes Basin. But under an agreement OK-ed by the eight Great Lakes states and Congress seven years ago, the city of 71,000 is allowed to apply for Great Lakes water. It's the first community to make such a request. And a Wisconsin agency controlled by Governor and Republican presidential candidate Scott Walker has given its preliminary OK. It would cost Waukesha residents about $200 million to build pipelines, roughly 20 miles from and back to Lake Michigan. But at state-run hearings this week, Waukesha resident Tom Constable said he'd be OK with higher water rates. . . Waukesha says lake water is the only reasonable alternative to continued use of the city's groundwater, much of which is contaminated with naturally occurring radium. But Waukesha's application includes four smaller neighboring communities. And Milwaukee officials, such as Alderman Bob Bauman, contend more water for the suburbs means more problematic growth.

Methane Leaks in Natural-Gas Supply Chain Far Exceed Estimates, Study Says

Natural-gas gathering facilities, which collect from multiple wells, lose about 100 billion cubic feet of natural gas a year, about eight times as much as estimates used by the Environmental Protection Agency, according to the study, which appeared on Tuesday in the journal Environmental Science and Technology.

The newly discovered leaks, if counted in the E.P.A. inventory, would increase its entire systemwide estimate by about 25 percent, said the Environmental Defense Fund, which sponsored the research as part of methane emissions studies it organized.

America's Wonder Women & The Battle For Equal Green(s)

But wait, there's more! Although not all turf is created equally, most artificial turf consists of small black beads of cut up tire called crumb rubber. Containing carcinogens and countless chemicals, exposure to crumb rubber causes multiple risks to players' health. For example, plentiful evidence exists to determine that crumb rubber exposure can lead to cancer. Ethan Zohn, a former goalkeeper who was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma in 2009 has studied the connection between soccer players with cancer to their exposure to turf and crumb rubber. Among the 52 players with cancer he has studied, 46 of them have been goalkeepers, a position that has a higher interaction with turf than others.

U.S. City Building Benchmarking, Transparency, and Audit Policies

This benchmarking graphic includes information on cities that have also passed building audit policies.

Corporate governance and sustainability: Who's connecting the dots?

RobecoSAM, which together with the S&P Dow Jones Indices publishes the globally recognized DJSI, looks for two key factors when evaluating a company’s ESG governance performance. “We’re interested in who within a company is responsible for sustainability issues on both a strategic and an operational level,” said Matthias Müller, a senior analyst. “We look for a specific board committee formally responsible for sustainability and/or if executive managers sit on a sustainability committee that sets the company’s corporate responsibility agenda.”

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 ($1,000 and up) in 2015 from:

Alcoa Foundation
Bayer USA Foundation
Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation
BNY Mellon
FedEx Ground
The Heinz Endowments
Elsie H. Hillman Foundation
Henry L. Hillman Foundation
Levin Furniture
Richard King Mellon Foundation
Pashek Associates, LTD
PITT OHIO
The PNC Financial Services Group
UPMC


Special thanks to the SP Members

Sustainable Pittsburgh
307 Fourth Avenue, Suite 1500
Pittsburgh, PA 15222
(412) 258-6642
fax (412) 258-6645
E-mail SP