The participation rate for the 2013-2014 Pittsburgh Green Workplace Challenge has doubled since the competition’s pilot debut last year. 

Challenge organizer Sustainable Pittsburgh reports over 100 businesses, non-profits, municipalities and colleges/universities have signed up, demonstrating southwestern Pennsylvania’s continued embrace of sustainable organizational practices.

The GWC is a 12 month competition that enables organizations to track and measure improvements in energy, water, waste and transportation.  Sustainable Pittsburgh created the competition in response to business leaders calling for a credible way to track and measure performance in energy savings and emission reductions.

Sustainable Pittsburgh is hosting a morning workshop for participants and organizations interested in learning more on Tuesday, August 27 at the offices of PITT OHIO in the Strip District. 

Currently, organizations are permitted to sign up for the competition as Observers.  Observers can still benefit from participating, but are ineligible to win.

            The GWC utilizes a competition guidebook containing various “actions” participants can take to earn points.  For example, participants have the option to establish an energy baseline, tracking 12 months of past energy usage using the U.S. EPA’s Portfolio Manager, a free software.  This earns an organization points. 

Subsequently, participants can earn additional points (and save money) for energy reductions over the course of the competition.  Last year’s 51 competitors saved enough energy to power nearly 6,000 average U.S. homes, saving over $4.2 million.

FedEx Ground, a current participant in the GWC, sees numerous benefits and alignments with participation.  

“FedEx Ground is constantly evaluating opportunities and implementing initiatives that reduce the company’s impact on the environment and are fiscally responsible,” said Scott Mugno, vice president of safety and vehicle maintenance for FedEx Ground, and chairman of the company’s sustainability committee. “For instance, we are planning to increase solar installations where it makes sense throughout our more than 500-facility network in the United States and Canada. We’re testing several devices to improve the aerodynamics of our more than 45,000 trailers. And at our Pittsburgh headquarters, we’ve recently installed vehicle charging stations and are partnering with a local utility to retrofit the building with environmentally friendly lighting and lighting controls – both of which efforts reduce carbon emissions and generate substantial savings. We think that the Pittsburgh Green Workplace Challenge will further increase our employees’ engagement with and awareness of key sustainability initiatives at FedEx Ground, and that’s very exciting.”

The GWC Competition Guidebook features many new actions this year that invite employees to participate.  This affords organizations an opportunity to extend their measurement capacities and sustainability programs to involve more people in their sustainability related activities.

“The Y is particularly excited to engage our employees in the Green Workplace Challenge,” said Amy Piccirilli, Sustainability Coordinator for the YMCA of Greater Pittsburgh.  “The competition will provide our employees with a strong incentive to seek alternative forms of transportation, reduce their paper usage, and volunteer at community events.”

Jennifer Stockdale, IKEA Pittsburgh spokesperson, noted, “Everyone at IKEA Pittsburgh is excited about participating in the Pittsburgh Green Workplace Challenge. IKEA nationally has set clear goals for every store around energy and waste consumption while working to make a more positive impact on our environment and communities. Here in Pittsburgh, we not only want to make sure our store is environmentally responsible in our use of resources, purchases, and community action, but we also want to help educate our co-workers and customers on how they can live a more sustainable life at home.  The Pittsburgh Green Workplace Challenge gives us a way to exchange great ideas about sustainability with our community while also giving us an idea to rally around to keep our employees and our customers informed about our sustainability practices, goals and successes.”

Smaller businesses are enthusiastic about the GWC too.  Kelly Henderson, Sustainability and Communications Coordinator for The Efficiency Network, stated, “TEN is excited to participate in the Green Workplace Challenge as a means to help frame the culture of our quickly growing business. It will encourage us to work with and against other local leaders as we continue to emphasize ‘walking the talk’ of sustainable business practices.”

Mike Kotyk, owner of OTB Bicycle Café, said, “We are not only enthusiasts for outdoor recreation but also advocates for minimizing our impact on the environment. We knew that participating in the Green Workplace Challenge would provide a great opportunity for us to manage our energy and water consumption leading to a reduction in expenses.”

In addition to permitting nonprofits to participate for the 2013-2014 Challenge, Sustainable Pittsburgh also welcomed municipalities and colleges/universities.  The City of Latrobe is one of several local governments to sign up this year.

“For us in Latrobe, we have completed a level I and level II energy audit of our City Hall building,” said Jarod Trunzo Assistant to the City Manager, Sustainability/Development, City of Latrobe.  “The GWC is a great way to keep those studies in front of us for implementation even if it is very incremental.  Behavior change and awareness are the intangibles that are a big deal for the long haul.”

Mid-size businesses are getting into the GWC action as well.  “In 2009, WESCO set 2015 Sustainability Goals around waste, water consumption, fleet fuel usage, and greenhouse gas emissions,” said Steve Van Oss, Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for Wesco Distribution, Inc.  “We are in the home stretch in terms of meeting our goals. Now is the perfect time to find the opportunities that have not yet been fully addressed over the past three years and surpass our 2015 Goals.”

“What started out last year as a pilot competition for businesses to measure energy savings has expanded to include several sectors and interest areas,” said Matthew Mehalik, Program Manager at Sustainable Pittsburgh.  “The demand for organizations wanting to save money by tracking and measuring their improvements in energy, water, waste, and transportation continues to increase.  The Green Workplace Challenge enables them to do this.”

Business, non-profits, municipalities, and colleges/universities from around southwestern Pennsylvania are engaged with the GWC.  For the full list of participating organizations is available online.  A leader board will be updated monthly to reflect competition standings.

August 27 Workshop

The August 27 GWC workshop #2, “Setting Goals: Energy, Water, Waste and Transportation,” is scheduled from 8:30 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. at the offices of PITT OHIO, 15 27th Street in Pittsburgh’s Strip District. 

The purpose of the workshop is to help GWC participants understand the benefits and decision processes involved with setting performance goals in energy, water, waste and transportation.

A panel of speakers including Jonah Paul, Analytics Manager, Eaton, and Justine Russo, Manager, Market Research & BICC, PITT OHIO, will discuss their own processes of setting goals in these areas.  The competition guidebook's action items that explain the reward structure for setting goals will be presented and discussed.  The program is free to GWC participants.  For non-participating organizations, the fee is $35. 

The GWC complements the Pittsburgh 2030 District, a collaborative effort among property owners in downtown Pittsburgh to reduce energy and water consumption, reduce emissions from transportation, and improve indoor air quality while increasing competitiveness in the business environment and owners’ returns on investment—by the year 2030. 

The GWC is an initiative of Sustainable Pittsburgh’s Champions for Sustainability business network. 

Visit the Sustainable Pittsburgh website or contact Kimberly Olivito by sending email to: gwc@sustainablepittsburgh.org. The GWC is on Twitter and on Facebook.  Community Energy is the GWC Presenting Sponsor.  The Pittsburgh Business Times and 90.5 WESA are the GWC Media Sponsors.

8/26/2013