Sustainable Princeton, Town, Announce New Goals for 2014

Sustainable Princeton, a nonprofit organization focused on practical solutions to reduce energy use and waste, has joined forces with the town Princeton to help with three new sustainable actions through 2014.

Mayor Liz Lempert has formed a Municipal Green Team to create “greener” municipal operations and Sustainable Princeton is launching its EnergySmart Homes campaign. Together, they hope these initiatives will help Princeton secure the 350 points needed to achieve Silver Certification with Sustainable Jersey, a designation only 11 of the 565 municipalities in the state have received.  

“The entire town can participate in achieving silver certification," Lempert said. "Residents can take part in the EnergySmart Homes Campaign and other actions. The municipality, schools and nonprofit organizations can implement programs to reduce waste and energy and support walking, biking and much more. My goal is for Princeton to become a state leader and, eventually, a national model of sustainable behavior.”

Princeton is currently certified at the bronze level and need to get at least 350 points to reach silver by August 2014. Twenty points will be earned through the EnergySmart Homes Campaign, a partnership between Sustainable Princeton and Ciel Power, an accredited contractor through the New Jersey Home Performance with Energy Star Program.  

Princeton University's Office of Community and Regional Affairs has donated $10,000 to the campaign, allowing Ciel Power to offer home energy assessments at a discounted price of $49. The goal is to assess at least 100 homes. With support from Princeton University, the next phase of the campaign will feature two panel discussions with local home energy experts and the creation of a video series about the benefits and ‘how to’s’ of home energy improvements that will be aired during Princeton Public Library’s Environmental Film Festival in February 2014.    

Towns can receive points for more than 100 actions, such as establishing a sustainable land use policy, hosting farmers’ markets, establishing an organics recycling program, and supporting school gardens, to name a few. Most of the points come from potential  actions taken by municipal departments such as Public Works, Health, Engineering and Planning.  

The members of the Municipal Green Team are: Princeton Mayor Liz Lempert, Princeton Administrator Robert Bruschi, Princeton Environmental Commission Liaison Gail Ullman, Princeton Planning Board Liaison Cecelia Birge, Princeton Engineer Robert Kiser Princeton Health Officer, (to be appointed), Princeton Infrastructure & Operations Director Robert Hough and Sustainable Princeton Executive Director Diane Landis.

The Municipal Green Team is one of several green teams working with Sustainable Princeton to encourage sustainable practices.  Other green teams, chaired by community volunteers, are the Green Core (Community Outreach and Residential Engagement) co-chaired by Annarie Lyles and Alexandra Bar-Cohen and the Green Schools Coalition, co-chaired by Stephanie Chorney and Karen Nathan.

Sustainable Princeton has set the following two goals for the community:

• Reduce energy from fossil fuels 20 percent in Princeton by 2020;

• Reduce waste by 50 percent in Princeton by 2016