Sustainability Assessments

the problem:

There are 6 Pennsylvania communities along the Great Allegheny Passage rails-to-trail that have been designated "Trail Towns" because they have services and amenities to offer to trail users. They are West Newton, Connellsville, Ohiopyle, Confluence, Rockwood, and Meyersdale. These communities are struggling economically, and jobs and businesses have been and are being lost. I am here with 4 other young professionals to help the Trail Towns with revitalization projects, including Sustainability Assessments for businesses.

vital stats:

people impacted:

0

people involved:

5

why it's important:

The 5 of us will contact businesses to offer Sustainability Assessments in order to help them reduce their operating costs through upgrades in energy efficiency, water conservation, and waste management. In turn, these businesses will help mitigate environmental costs and spread awareness of simple actions anyone can take to save money and the environment. By helping businesses save money, we are hoping they would be able to stay open. Also, once businesses have implemented suggested improvements that were contained in the Sustainability Assessment report, they will receive a sticker or certificate that they can place in their window to advertise that they have reduced their environmental footprint. These businesses will also be highlighted in advertisements and websites. This can attract new customers, especially trail users.

the plan of action:

As a student intern at the University of California, San Diego, I gained experience giving Office Energy Assessments. I will take my experience and templates from those Assessments and mold them into Sustainability Assessments for businesses. My four colleagues have also received training in conducting an energy assessment.

We have created a guideline for the Sustainability Assessments and identified initial businesses to contact, and we need to purchase equipment to conduct the evaluations. Once we have the equipment, we will start conducting the free Sustainability Assessments. A report will be written with our findings and suggestions for improvement. We will present the report to the business and provide them with resources in order to reduce their operating and environmental costs.

The Office Energy Assessments I have been involved in averaged about 33% energy savings.

how you can get involved:

If you own or work in a business in one of the Trail Towns and are interested in having a Sustainability Assessment, please contact us at trailtown@thesca.org or call our office at 724-603-3151.

project updates:

09/14/2009

We have conducted 8 Sustainability Assessments and have completed 2 reports so far. We have calculated that one of the businesses could save over $500 per year on utility costs by implementing our energy and water conservation recommendations.

04/20/2009

We have purchased and received the equipment necessary for conducting our Sustainability Assessments, and we plan on assessing our first business soon!

TTOC Sustainability Assessments.JPG

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