Sustainable Jersey A Better Tomorrow, One Community at a Time: - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

• Identifies actions to implement to help

municipalities become more sustainable

• Provides tools, resources, and guidance to

enable communities to make progress

• Provides access to grants and funding for

municipalities that are working toward certification

Sustainable Jersey™

A Better Tomorrow, One Community at a Time:

• Program start: February 2009
• 403 (70%) NJ municipalities

participating

• 82% of NJ’s population lives in these

communities

• 139 municipalities certified:
• 117 towns at bronze level
• 22 towns at silver level

Participating Communities

Who Participates In Sustainable Jersey?

Notes: (1) Partisan category based on data from 2010 NJ Legislative District Data Book. (2) Registration and Certification Statistics current as of 4/2/2012.

Municipal Governing Body Majority All New Jersey Municipalities Registered in Sustainable Jersey Certified in Sustainable Jersey Democrat 183 32% 119 33% 36 33% Republican 325 58% 203 57% 57 53% Independent 58 10% 37 10% 15 14%

• Concrete steps municipalities can

implement to become certified and more sustainable; actions include:

• Ordinances
• Programs and Plans
• Policies and procedures
• Retrofit or renovation of facilities

Actions

Certification Levels

• Bronze:
• Total of at least 150 points
• Mandatory Green Team
• 3 Priority Actions
• Silver:
• Total of at lest 350 points
• Mandatory Green Team
• 3 Priority Actions
• Gold:
• Based on levels of performance – Linking local

performance to central goals

• Reducing GHG according to statewide targets
• Improving fleet efficiency 35%

Workshops, Trainings and Events

• Each “action” comes with a detailed tool

and step by step “how to” directions

• Access to free Sustainable Jersey workshops,

trainings, webinars (40+ events annually)

• Dedicated help line and ongoing TA

Sustainable Jersey Structure

• Partnership Between:

– The College of New Jersey (ISPG), The New Jersey League of Municipalities, The State of New Jersey

• Partnership formed a non-profit Non-

Governmental Organization (NGO)

• Sustainability actions and standards

created by volunteer expert and stakeholder Task Forces

Program Funding Three Funding Sources:

• 1/3 Private Foundations
• 1/3 Business Sponsors
• 1/3 State Funding

Who Created The Actions/Standards?

• To create rigorous and broadly accepted standards, we

created a Sustainable Communities Working Group

• Over 300 volunteer leaders from:
• Academia
• the non-profit sector
• the business community, and
• state, local, federal, and county government
• Organized 22 Taskforces to identify best practices in their

topic area

• Identified best practice “actions” for local governments to
• Developed standards and guidance materials
• Coordinate resources and support programs

Building Partnerships & Leveraging Resources

Students help the Mount Holly Green Team create a rain garden

Policy Alignment w/ Other Organizations

• Energy Star: US Environmental Protection Agency
• Alternative Transportation: Transit Management

Organizations

• Anti-Idling: NJ Environmental Federation
• Green Building: USGBC, Somerset Partnership
• Energy Audits: NJ Board of Public Utilities
• Natural Resource Inventory: Assoc NJ Environmental

Commissions

• Clean Ocean Action: Blue Star Program
• Land Use: New Jersey Future (Land Use NGO)
• Walking and Wellness: Mayor’s Wellness Campaign,

NJ Dept. of Health

• Recycling and Waste, Water and Resource Protection

Ordinances: NJ Department of Environmental Protection

Incentives and Grants

• Over $100 Million in

Leveraged Public and Private Funds

• Sustainable Jersey Small

Grants funded by PSEG & Walmart

• $1.2 mil to 100+ communities
• Formally Linked to

Numerous State Programs

• Priority in NJBPU Municipal

Energy Audit Program

• Priority in NJ DEP –

Community Forestry Grants

Recognition and Promotion

• Annual Sustainable Jersey

Awards

• Sustainability Champion Awards

(large, medium and small population categories)

• Leadership Award
• Innovation Award
• Collaboration Award
• Creativity Award
• Recognition at Sustainable Jersey luncheon at NJLM Annual

Conference

• Customized Sustainable Jersey logo for certified towns
• Promotion in publications and outreach

NJLM Annual Awards Conference

• 2010 - November 16th

–

• Approx. 350 people

– Awards honored Innovation, Collaboration, Leadership, and Creativity – Awards also given to “Sustainability Champions” – Announced certification of 38 municipalities

• 2011 – November 15th

Program Impact

• Since 2010, over 7,000 individual actions

have been implemented and submitted for certification

• 5,000+ were approved as meeting the

Sustainable Jersey standards

• Hundreds of formal “Green Teams” have

been formed by local governments

Sustainable Jersey Framework

Certification Program:

+ Action portfolio + Resources and support + Certification process + Recognition and visibility

Small Grants Program Outreach, Education, & Events Regional Leadership Development Resiliency Network Targeted Initiatives Thought Leadership & Research

Sustainable Jersey Sustainable Jersey For Schools

Branded Programs Program Elements

Strategic Initiatives

• Sustainable Jersey for Schools
• Sustainable Jersey Gold
• Regional Leadership Networks
• Supporting Inter-State Collaborations
• NJ Resiliency Network

Emissions Per Unit Of Energy Fuel Vulnerability

Low Medium High

Low Medium High Diesel Generator

Next Generation Resiliency Technologies With Sustainable Energy Benefits

Nat Gas Generator Nat Gas Co-Gen Solar Islanding With Storage Nat Gas Fuel-Cell

Efficiency Islanding Storage Micro-Grids Applicable Across All Generation Technologies

= Back-Up Plus Other Service = Back-Up Only

Generation Technologies