1. The Township’s EAC Includes Charges of:
“To Recommend Plans And Programs To The Appropriate
Agencies”
“To Promote A Community Environmental Program”
“Undertake such environmental tasks as requested by the
governing body of this municipality”
To fulfill these responsibilities and lead our community on a
sustainable path, the EAC needs a framework which will
focus our energy on results (rather than activities) and
provide a path of continuous quality improvement.
2. To Meet This Challenge the EAC has:
Researched local, state-wide, national, and international
sustainability frameworks for municipal governments
Applied service, cost, and quality analysis to recommend
the most effective path to assess current community wide
sustainability status and future planning
To learn, focus, and fund future sustainable outcomes and
local actions to enhance community sustainability
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5. What Is A Sustainable Community?
A sustainable community is economically, environmentally, socially healthy and
resilient. It meets challenges through integrated solutions rather than through
fragmented approaches that meet one of those goals at the expense of the others.
And it takes a long-term perspective – one that’s focused on both the present and
future, well beyond the next budget or election cycle. A sustainable community’s
success depends upon its members’ commitment and involvement through:
Active, organized, and informed citizenship.
Inspiring, effective, and responsive leadership.
Responsible, caring, and healthy community institutions, services, and
businesses.
As a result, a sustainable community manages its human, natural, and financial
resources to meet current needs while ensuring that adequate resources are
equitably available for future generations.
The STAR Community Rating System measures current outcomes and evaluates
local plans while providing a roadmap to a sustainable future.
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25. Local Yo!cal Weighs In
“My quick advice is go for it - the reason
Philly and NYC haven't been more
engaged is that both cities have very
mature and codified sustainability
plans/programs, so there is less value in
having a roadmap/evaluation tool. That
said, a lot of great work went into
developing Star and it could be valuable
to both cities in the future as a revamping
guide, but I see the most value in it for
communities just getting started.”
Alex Dews, former Manager of Sustainability, City of Philadelphia and now (very
recent) Executive Director of the Delaware Valley Green Building Council
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27. “Reading has turned to STAR Communities as a
way to both measure progress in every major
aspect of community performance and adopt
emerging best practices in those areas where we
are behind. It provides an objective, third party
standard to compare ourselves against. We expect
STAR to become a national benchmark for any
community that wants to remain competitive in
the 21st century, as well as the main toolkit for
addressing the many challenges it presents. In a
nutshell, I believe it's the single best resource to
improve any community.”
Another Yo!cal Weighs In
Eron LLoyd, Special Assistant for Performance and Sustainability, City of Reading, PA
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30. The Township will demonstrate it has conducted an
assessment and rating of sustainable goals verified by an
independent third party
The STAR Leadership Community designation will help to
raise environmental awareness among citizens by providing a
base for future programming that promotes a more
sustainable community.
The STAR Leadership Community Program will not incur any
monetary cost to the Township ~ Future STAR participation
may range from $500 to $1500 per year (e.g. re-verification
in three years) paid by the EAC’s Sustainability Fund.
32. Slides for Anticipated Questions
Slide 33 Goal areas and point system
Slide 34 How STAR works to drive continuous quality
improvement
Slides 35-37 ~ Example of how one of the 44 Objectives is scored
(Waste Minimization) via Outcomes and/or Local Actions
Slide 39 how STAR’s verification process works
Slides 40-41 David Lettermen’s Top Ten List for participating in the
Spring Leadership Communities Program.
Slide 42 Additional information about Leadership Program
Scholarship and other invited communities
Slide 43 Our future “Ode to Sustainability”?
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40. TOP 10 REASONS TO JOIN THE
2015 SPRING LEADERSHIP
PROGRAM
1. Learn tips and tricks from Certified STAR Communities on
how they reached certification at the 2-day in-person
orientation training.
2. Apply for scholarship money to make tight budgets
stretch further.
3. Receive one year of on-call support from experienced
STAR staff on everything from technical questions to
project management to marketing your score.
4. Improve your application for future grants — such as
Partners for Places where there is a category for certified
STAR communities.
5. Get certified within a year (or in as little as 6 months, like
Fayetteville, AR!)
41. 6. Benchmark our performance against the national
standard for sustainability.
7. Build strategic partnerships and bring our community
together to start building a local culture of sustainability.
8. Get tangible metrics to measure progress towards the
goals of our comprehensive or sustainability plan.
9. Brand our community as a leader in sustainability.
10. Publicize sustainability achievements to our community
and create PR or funding opportunities for Township
Departments, community partners, or elected officials.
TOP 10 REASONS TO JOIN THE
2015 SPRING LEADERSHIP
PROGRAM
42. LEADERSHIP STAR COMMUNITY
PROGRAM
STAR Member Communities can apply to
participate in the Leadership STAR Community
program, a one-year full-support program,
which costs $7,500. Abington Township has
been awarded a 75% scholarship ($5625) and
the EAC has approved paying the remaining
$1875 from its Sustainability Fund.
The program includes:
Technical Guide
Self-Assessment Tool
Full Reporting Tool
Two day STAR Training in Washington, D.C.
Verification Fee
Star Crosswalk (aligns local plans/initiatives)
Access to Online Resources
Assigned STAR Coordinator
Preferred Status for National Publicity
STAR Community Webpage
43. We have a vision that’s mighty indeed.
Abington’s sustainability is our mission, for all to
excel and succeed.
To rise ever higher and transform “achievement
gaps”
Into a love for creating best practices that never
never succumbs to negative raps.
Not ones to rest on our laurels or submit to the
status quo,
Abington’s future upholds unwavering principles,
empowering all to prosper and grow!
Editor's Notes
These are some of the EAC’s responsibilities and powers in the Township’s code. While our EAC puts much energy into activities, at this juncture, we need a framework to demonstrate results if we are to fulfill our responsibilities to lead our community on a sustainable path.
We looked at the service, cost, and quality aspects of these frameworks. This means delivering service “on time-all the time,” with the” highest justifiable quality”, and the lowest reasonable cost.
Our purpose is to learn how to implement a sustainability plan which provides focus through a demonstrated framework that can lead to future funding or investment in our community.
Of the sustainability tools, programs, and best practice frameworks we examined, STAR Communities offers the best path to take Abington “To Sustainability and Beyond.”
For too long, community sustainability has been a nebulous concept with competing definitions and frameworks. There has never been a national standard by which to measure sustainability performance (e.g., economic prosperity, health and safety, climate protection, etc.) at the municipal or county scale. Establishing goals and guiding principles is the first giant step toward addressing this critical need and to give local governments the tools to accelerate their efforts and achieve greater success. STAR’s guiding principles are: 1. to think and act systemically; 2. instill resiliency; 3. foster innovation; 4. redefine progress; 5. live within means; 6. cultivate collaboration; 7. ensure equity; 8. embrace diversity; 9. inspire leadership, and 10. continuously improve.
What are the goals of a sustainable community and why is sustainability important? Sustainability has benefits and community impact. The STAR Community Rating System helps communities measure their strengths and provide an active roadmap for the future by setting goals and measuring progress along the way.
STAR was developed to meet the needs of local governments. Just as LEED was developed for the building industry and community planning to drive leadership in engineering and environmental design, STAR is emerging as the premier indicator of sustainable governmental leadership.
STAR was developed between 2008-2012 using an open, consensus-based process by an impressive group of stakeholders including government leaders, non-profit and private sector leaders and funders, academia, and sustainability leaders through thousands of volunteer hours.
Technical Advisory Committees comprised of experts from across the country determined scientifically valid, cost-effective ways of evaluating
local government progress with oversight and guidance from a Steering Committee. After the rating system was released in
2012, the eight Technical Advisory Committees were consolidated into a 21-member Technical Advisory Group. In order to
maintain the rating system’s credibility, all substantive changes to STAR are approved by the Technical Advisory Group then
sent to the Steering Committee for acceptance.
The Steering Committee is the governing body responsible for guiding the development of the STAR Community
Rating System. The committee is charged with maintaining the rating system as a leadership tool, preserving its
integrity, and evolving STAR using the consensus process in accordance with the mission, guiding principles, and
strategic plan of STAR Communities.
STAR’s Technical Advisory Group’s purpose is to enhance and, where necessary, clarify the
STAR Community Rating System. The group maintains and advances the technical aspects of the existing STAR
Community Rating System; continuously builds, improves and advances credit intents, requirements and guidance;
upholds the technical rigor, fairness and transparency in the STAR Community Rating System development process;
and holistically oversees, integrates, manages and envisions the technical aspects of the STAR Community Rating
System.
The STAR rating system was piloted by 34 communities to validate or improve its rating tool.
STAR has key philanthropic partners, sponsors, and affiliates. Penn State is about to become a STAR affiliate as the University is looking to enhance its sustainability programs at the Main, Malvern, and Abington campuses. Penn State is adding the Civic and Community Engagement as a minor to the Abington campus and STAR is all about civic engagement.
In sum, STAR Communities helps cities and counties set a clear path for sustainability with helpful tools that measure progress.
The STAR Community Rating System is a valuable resource for local governments and community stakeholders working to create or revise a sustainability plan, conduct a sustainability assessment, establish local sustainability priorities, and focus ongoing sustainability initiatives. That’s just what the EAC was looking for but how does it work?
The path to sustainability is different for every community. Each community approaches STAR in a different manner. Based on its needs.
STAR is a framework that offers certification. What is the value of certification?
• Demonstrate commitment to local sustainability or brand a community for its sustainable pursuits
• Receive national recognition for leadership and achievements
• Gain competitive advantage and attract funding
• Improve transparency and accountability and showcase results
• Communicate resilience and risk management to municipal bond agencies
• Build and strengthen partnerships within government and with community
These are the participating STAR Communities. The green stars represent communities that have been STAR certified and the orange circles are that are using the STAR framework or pursuing certification.
Here is a breakdown of STAR Communities by region.
Currently, there are twenty certified communities and an additional 15 are expected to attain STAR certification this winter. STAR Communities are large and small. Northampton Massachusetts’ population is 28,000 and was the first certified 5 STAR Community, the highest rating. STAR is a very robust rating tool and verification of certification is by an independent third party. It is constantly evolving and raising the bar for sustainable achievement. While communities were initially certified in 2013, the program is about to release it’s third revised rating system.
So how does this rigorous rating system work?
The STAR framework integrates economic, environmental, and social aspects of sustainability, and provides communities
with a menu-based system to customize their approach based on local conditions and priorities. Goals and objectives are mapped and rated in the online system, helping local leaders set goals and measure progress across all areas.
Seven Sustainability Goal Areas collectively represent a definition of community-scale sustainability:
Built Environment: Achieve livability, choice, and access for all where people live, work, and play
Climate & Energy: Reduce climate impacts through adaptation and mitigation efforts and increase resource efficiency
Economy & Jobs: Create equitably shared prosperity and access to quality jobs
Education, Arts & Community: Empower vibrant, educated, connected, and diverse communities
Equity & Empowerment: Ensure equity, inclusion, and access to opportunity for all citizens
Health & Safety: Strengthen communities to be healthy, resilient and safe places for residents and businesses
Natural Systems: Protect and restore the natural resource base upon which life depends
An eighth category, Innovation & Process, supports the evolution of sustainability practice by recognizing best
practices and processes, exemplary performance, innovation, and collaboration in areas of regional priority. For instance, Abington has the only accredited Fire Department in the Commonwealth.
Each goal has five to seven objectives.
Since many public, private, and non-profit organizations within the community contribute towards advancing sustainability
goals, the rating system recognizes these efforts, not only those of the local government. The rating system awards credit
for Local Actions performed by community actors other than the applicant local government, provided that the applicant
demonstrates that the activities have had a significant, positive impact on progress towards achieving the desired Outcome(s)
for the community as a whole.
Communities can pursue the most important or relevant objectives, addressing regional variability and differing priorities along the way.
The rating system is organized by goals, objectives, and evaluation measures; this design is intended to align with local
government processes and standard practice. The structure features a set of components that reflect public sector
mechanisms that are proven effective in advancing change. Terms are those commonly used by local governments and
their community partners to communicate strategic objectives and desired outcomes.
Within each goal area is a series of objectives aimed at achieving community-level aspirations. Objectives are measured
in two ways: through attainment of community level outcomes and/or completion of local actions that are essential to
reaching the outcomes. These evaluation measures provide the avenue for communities to achieve credit in the rating
System.
Let’s look at STAR’s Economy and Jobs Goal which has these six objectives. The 6 Objectives work together to promote equitably shared prosperity and access to quality jobs.
For example, EJ-1: Business Retention & Development and EJ-3: Local Economy both focus on supporting existing
businesses within the community to retain workers and drive expansion to create a self-reliant local economy.
Recognizing that a robust local economy also needs to attract and incubate new businesses, EJ-5: Targeted Industry Development
and EJ-2: Green Market Development seek to fortify existing industry clusters and promote emerging green industries that
protect the environment while strengthening and diversifying the local economy.
EJ-6: Workforce Readiness recognizes the importance of a skilled workforce to fulfill local business needs and take advantage
of available job opportunities, while EJ-4: Quality Jobs & Living Wages evaluates workers’ quality of life through increased
household income and living wages.
This is an illustration of how the framework’s goals, objectives, outcomes, and local actions work. Each of the seven goals have between five and seven objectives. Each objective has outcome thresholds to be met. Communities may also submit demonstrated local actions if they are unable to met each outcome.
After being measured the opportunities for improvement can evolve into future plans for achievement.
We vetted STAR and asked locally.
Reading was trained as a Leadership STAR Community in September and just submitted their online certification application.
In our discussions with STAR, Abington Township has been offered to participate in the Leadership STAR Community Program. This program is for communities to get off to a faster and more effective start through structured education and support. I am proud to share that STAR Communities through the Funders Network has offered our Township a 75% scholarship to participate in this leadership program. The EAC will fund the remaining 25% through our Sustainability Fund. As a new community, we need the additional support the Leadership Program offers. Our EAC Chair Jenn Sherwood and myself will be trained in Washington, DC at the end of this month. Alan Jalón, my LEED tutor and mentor will be attending as well. Alan served as the LEED AP for the world’s first ecological airport in the Galapagos Islands, which achieved LEED Gold. He is a graduate of Philadelphia University’s Masters in Sustainability Program and was a former adjunct professor for the University. Alan will serve as a volunteer technical advisor.
Our STAR participation will position the Township to be branded as a community that embraces sustainability. STAR will serve as our competitive benchmark to attract investment and funding to support sustainable development, a vibrant economy, and an engaged community to benefit the environment and the welfare of our citizens.
End of presentation ~ These are the additional slides for anticipated questions)
Slide 33 Goal areas and point system
Slide 34 How STAR works to drive continuous quality improvement
Slides 35-37 ~ Example of how one (Waste Minimization) of the 44 Objectives would be scored for Abington via Outcomes and/or Local Actions
Slide 39 how STAR’s verification process works
Slides 40-41 David Lettermen’s Top Ten List for participating in the Spring Leadership Communities Program.
Slide 42 More specifics about the Abington’s participation in the STAR Leadership Community Program including Letter of Invite and the other 7 selected communities for Spring 2015, breakdown of 75% Scholarship and EAC portion, and what the program provides.
Slide 43: Our future “Ode to Sustainability”?
While promoting strengths the STAR frameworks drives continuous improvement.
Waste minimization is a STAR objective. One that our Township would excel according to these outcomes. Abington Township has one of the best recycling rate in PA at 54% and is on target with its goal to achieve a 75% diversion rate by 2016. The Refuse Department has implemented a myriad of local actions to achieve these results such as conducting an annual audit of all businesses.
These are the metric tons of Abington Township has diverted from the waste stream for recycling for 2013 and 2012. This shows the number of jobs created and the environmental impact.
In addition, many of these local actions are carried out by the Public Works Department.
For the Economy & Jobs Goal, Outcomes include: Demonstrate an increased number of business establishments in the municipality over time; Demonstrate an increased number in annual sales from businesses located in the jurisdiction over time; Demonstrate an increase in the percentage of residents employed over time and demonstrate a decrease in the unemployment rate of residents over time.
Local Actions Include: Formally engage with the business community on a regular basis to improve conditions and address specific needs, appoint an advisory body to provide recommendations and represent the business community in local decision-making (the Township’s Economic Development Committee); Support business development activities in special investment zones, such as Business Improvement Districts which are Keswick and Roslyn Village), Enterprise Zones, or similar districts; These are outcomes and local actions which STAR would help us evaluate and determine future priorities.
Another Outcome “Local Economy” includes local actions such as “create or support promotional campaigns to bank locally, buy locally, or buy from small and independent businesses or retailers” or “Use tax incentives to attract, retain, or expand businesses in targeted industry sectors”
Here is a schematic of the verification process. Verification lasts up to three years and communities have the option of re-submitting sooner. Reading PA has set the goal of being a three STAR Community and becoming a five STAR Community within 5 years.
Here’s our top 10 list.
In the EAC’s discussions with STAR staff, Abington Township was invited to submit for a scholarship to the Leadership Program. I am very pleased to share that we were awarded a 75% scholarship for STAR’s premiere program which costs $7500. The EAC has approved paying the remaining $1875 from existing EAC balances.
