Climate change may be a global issue, but Michael Hornsby, chairman of the West Windsor Environmental Commission, thinks some of the solutions can begin at the municipal level. The environmental commission welcomes participation from the municipal body (Mayor and Council) as well as the public at large, including township businesses. The next meeting of the Environmental Commission will be held in the municipal building, room C, on Thursday, July 12, at 8 p.m.
“We invite all stakeholders to come to the table and help us frame this plan and have a say in how we should be prioritizing,” Hornsby said at the June 25 Council meeting, referring to the preparation of the commission’s climate action plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the township.
“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.
Hornsby said the action plan will be consistent with state goals concerning the amount of greenhouse gas reduction. Last year the environmental commission won a $25,000 grant from Sustainable Jersey in order to help develop the climate action plan. Hornsby introduced New Jersey Architect of the Year, Jason Kowenski of the Spiezle Architecture group, a consultant hired to help with the financial planning of the action plan.
Hornsby outlined the first part of the plan as the environmental commission identified West Windsor’s carbon footprint: a measure of all the carbon emissions currently in the township, both from community activities and municipal operations.
“We look at the carbon footprint and develop a series of tasks that we can perform to reduce those emissions over time. Jason will help us look at the cost-benefit analysis of this, so 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 says by the end of the year a draft climate action plan will be presented to Council for approval. The benefits it will have are tow-fold: a focus on cost-benefit analysis as well as the prospect of wide-spread duplication “whereby other municipalities can use this process to lower their greenhouse gas emissions as well.”
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 and 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.
