Getting Ready for Sustainable Jersey Certification

March 20, 2013

Webinar Agenda

• 2013 Certification Cycle

• Focusing on your Green Team

• Planning for certification

• Case Study: Camden

• Submitting your application

• Common Pitfalls

• Sustainable Jersey support

• Wrap-Up

Introductions

Sustainable Jersey Staff Presenters • Winnie Fatton, Program Manager (Moderator) • John Loyer, Project Coordinator • Samantha McGraw, Project Coordinator

Guest Presenter • Chris Waldron Director of Sustainability, Camden County Chair, Winslow Township Environmental Commission Green Team, City of Camden

Benefits of Sustainable Jersey Certification

• Certification process guides your town’s work towards sustainability

• Extensive support and training

• Priority access and notification on incentives and grants

• Showcase results and gain recognition internally and externally

• Fuels the statewide movement

2013 Certification Cycle

• June 16 – Application Deadline

– Indicate all actions you plan to complete for credit by marking “Ready for Review”

• Mid-July – First Round Review Comments Provided

• September 15th – Revision Deadline to be Eligible for Recognition at the 2013 NJLM Conference

• Mid-October – Second Round Review Comments

• November 13th – Final Application Deadline

• Mid-December – Final Decision on Pending Applications

Questions

Planning for Certification

Certification Requirements

• Bronze

– Green Team

– 150 Points

– 2 out of 7 priority actions

– 6 out of 16 categories

• Silver

– Green Team

– 350 points

– 3 out of 7 priority actions

– 8 out of 16 categories

Priority Actions

• Inventory and Upgrade All Buildings (50 points)

• Natural Resources Inventory (20 points)

• Energy Management & Tracking (10 points)

• Fleet Inventory (10 points)

• Municipal Carbon Footprint (10 points)

• Sustainable Land Use Pledge (10 points)

• Water Conservation Ordinance (10 points)

Action Categories

• Animals in the Community

• Arts & Culture

• Community Partnership and Outreach

• Diversity & Equity

• Energy Efficiency

• Food

• Green Design

• Greenhouse Gas

• Health & Wellness

• Innovative Demonstration Projects

• Land Use & Transportation

• Local Economies

• Natural Resources

• Operations & Maintenance

• Sustainability Planning

• Waste Management

Develop a Plan

• Get your Green Team organized

• Identify the Sustainable Jersey action you plan to pursue

• Form small groups to work on each specific action and identify a group leader

• Review documentation requirements for each action

• Review materials submitted by other towns

• Develop a list of tasks to complete the action and the associated target dates

• Track progress and adjust plan as needed

• Upload action documentation by June 16th

Most Popular Actions

• Easy to Tackle Actions

– indicates actions that have been attempted the most by municipalities

– has the HIGHEST success rate of approval upon review

– May use to help guide you in identifying what actions to pursue

Available here:

http://www.sustainablejersey.com/grants-resources/green-team-resources-and-presentations/

Additional Actions to Consider

• Energy Efficiency

– Inventory and Upgrade All Buildings (50 points)

– Direct Install (New) • Outreach Campaign to Local Business Community (10 points)

• Achieving Target Increase in Local Business Participation (10 points)

– Home Performance with Energy Star (New) • Outreach (10 points)

• Municipal Program (20 points)

• Arts/Culture

– Establish a Creative Team (10 points)

• Greenhouse Gas

– Climate Adaptation and Flooding (Coming Soon!)

Actions to Consider

• Land Use & Transportation

– Complete Streets Program (20 points)

• Operations & Maintenance

– Green Fleets • Fleet Inventory (10 points)

Partners Providing Technical Support

• Transportation Management Associations (TMAs)

• New Jersey Board of Public Utilities Clean Energy Program (NJBPU CEP)

• Association of New Jersey Environmental Commissions

• Citizens Campaign

• Clean Ocean Action

• Mayors Wellness Campaign

• Water Resources Program at Rutgers

Master Action Tracking Spreadsheet

• Download from Website

– Green Team Resources Page & Actions Page: • http://www.sustainablejersey.com/grants-resources/green-team-

resources-and-presentations/

• http://www.sustainablejersey.com/certification/actions/

• Helpful Planning Tool

• Track progress & checklist for uploading materials

• Spreadsheet Includes:

– Action name, submission requirements, shelf life, resubmission requirements, points

Questions

Sustainable Camden County

Guest Presenter • Chris Waldron

– Director of Sustainability, Camden County – Chair, Winslow Township Environmental Commission – Green Team, City of Camden

Questions

Applying for Certification

New Sustainable Jersey Website

• Access the website

– Primary Contact: Same email address and password

– Others: Sign Up for an Account

• Navigating the website

• Green Team Resources & Presentations Page

• Municipal Dashboard

– Create/Update Application, Municipal Profile, Manage Municipality Users (Owners & Contributors), Download Resolution

Working on Your Application

• Choose “Begin Application” or “Update Application” on Municipal Dashboard

• Use “Training Needed” and “Action Planned” columns

• Make note of “Approved Actions,” “Completed Actions,” and “Planned Actions” boxes on right hand side of page to track progress

• Think of your application as a living document; a file-cabinet that will constantly change and get updated even after certified

Working on Your Application

• Upload Documentation to verify action was completed – Click on action title

– Input narrative and upload any files

• Maximum 6 files per action

• Individual file size max is 20 MB

• Accepts most file types

– Click “Save Action Submission”

Submitting Your Application • Submit application

– Mark actions that you plan to complete for credit; status will change to “Submitted”

– Recalculate totals in the “Completed Actions” Box and click “Submit”

• Application is locked while under review – Cannot update those actions marked “Submitted”

• Receive Reviewer Comments – Click on Comments at top of application to view all at once

– View comments in individual actions

• Address comments and resubmit – Cannot edit recently “Approved” actions

– Editing of any actions (including “Approved” or “Expired”) turns them back to “In Progress”

Why Actions Are Not Approved Pitfall How to Overcome

Action Implemented Expired/Too old

Review Submission Requirements; Update action as necessary.

Proper documentation not submitted

Double check action submission requirements and documentation uploaded

Misinterpretation of Action Goals Be sure to closely read the “What to Do” and “What to Submit” portion of the action to verify that what you plan on submitting is in line with the intent of the action

Seeking credit for same activity under two different actions

One activity may only be given credit under one action; Have someone that oversees entire application

Not conducting outreach/education component required for many actions

Read the submission “What to Do” and “What to Submit” sections closely

Not completing the prerequisite action

Be sure to read the Introduction to each action and the “What to Submit” section to make sure the action does not have a prerequisite or that it has been completed.

Why Actions Are Not Approved

Sustainable Jersey Support

• Technical Support

– Samantha McGraw: 609-771-2938; info@sustainablejersey.com

• Events & Trainings

– Listed on website (Events & Training Page)

– Ability to add your events

• Join the Sustainable Jersey Mailing List

• Follow Sustainable Jersey on Facebook and Twitter

• Creation of Regional Hubs

• Additional Support Needed?

Wrap-Up

• Additional Questions

• Online Survey

– Link will be emailed to you

– Tell us how we can better serve you

• Webinar Posted on Website

• Thank You for Your Participation