Sustainable Oakmont
Sustainability Begins Locally
The Borough of Oakmont has both a profound role and responsibility for leading the way to the quality of life and access to opportunity in our community and in the region. The Borough is poised to bring local government leaders to the forefront of sustainable community development by participating in the Sustainable Pennsylvania Community Certification Program.
The Sustainable Pennsylvania Community Certification, a project of the Pennsylvania Municipal League and Sustainable Pennsylvania, is a voluntary performance recognition program to help municipalities achieve their sustainability goals, save money, conserve resources, and encourage innovation. The program brings recognition to municipalities that are applying the policies and practices of sustainability as their way of operating, to advance community prosperity. Focused on municipal operations, policies, and practices, the certification also serves as a mechanism for sharing best practices for creating a more sustainable Pennsylvania.
For many years, Oakmont has been designated a Certified Silver Community by Sustainable Pennsylvania as a result of being assessed across 9 essential topics in the areas of: Governance and Community Engagement; Healthy Communities; Diversity, Equity and Inclusion; Education; Energy Use, Conservation and Green Building; Environmental Stewardship; Housing; Land Use and Transportation; and Local Economy. The certification assessment examined 131 policies and practices that any municipality is well-served to have in place. The criteria is based on a municipality’s ability to earn up to 300 points, indicating that the municipality has the policy/practice in place. Points earned can lead to one of five (5) different levels of certification: Associate, Bronze, Silver, Gold or Platinum. The Borough Administration is currently planning to elevate Oakmont’s sustainability efforts to the platinum status.
In addition to points earned, Oakmont also provided evidence to substantiate that the policy/practice is indeed in place, in the form of a document, article, ordinance, municipal resolution, case study, or photo. Links are then published on Sustainable Pennsylvania’s website as a valuable library of examples of the many ways in which local governments are innovative on the path to sustainability and can serve as an important resource for others who wish to emulate the pacesetters.
For more information about Sustainable Pennsylvania, visit https://www.sustainablepacommunitycertification.org/