Climate change may be a global issue, but Michael Hornsby, chairman of the West Windsor Environmental Commission, thinks solutions can begin at the municipal level.
The commission is preparing a climate action plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the township, and at the June 25 Council meeting, Hornsby invited the mayor, council, business owners and the public at large to help the commission frame a plan and set priorities.
“The way we do that is looking at all the emissions around West Windsor and developing a plan, a schedule, and a means to track those emissions reductions over time,” he said.
The next meeting of the Environmental Commission will be held in the municipal building, Room C, on Thursday, July 12, at 8 p.m.
Hornsby said the action plan will be consistent with state goals concerning greenhouse gas reduction. Last year, the environmental commission won a $25,000 grant from Sustainable Jersey to help develop the climate action plan.
Hornsby said the environmental commission started out by identifying West Windsor’s carbon footprint: a measure of all carbon emissions currently in the township, both from community activities and municipal operations. Now, they want to develop a series of tasks the community can undertake to reduce those emissions over time.
At the meeting, Hornsby introduced New Jersey Architect of the Year Jason Kliwinski, of the Spiezle Architecture group, a consultant hired to help with the financial planning of the action plan.
“The intent is to prioritize the tasks based on the cost-benefit analysis. We will choose selected tasks and roll those into the climate action plan,” Hornsby said.
Hornsby hopes to present a draft climate action plan to Council for approval by the end of the year. If the plan is adopted, Hornsby sees the potential for widespread duplication. “Other municipalities can use this process to lower their greenhouse gas emissions as well,” he says.
To follow up on its Sustainable Jersey silver-level certification, the environmental commission has aspirations for West Windsor to make eco-conscious history again.
Hornsby brought up a new state law that allows for retrofitting buildings, replacing lighting, HVAC controls, and insulation without up-front costs.
“The value proposition is, you do an investment-grade audit and then pay for these upgrades using utility savings over time. That is laid out in our finance notice, and our proposal to the State of New Jersey was to pilot this new law, Hornsby said.
