Project Agreement

Project Scope: 

Assist with the creation of new policies to be implemented within the State College borough by way of the Zoning Ordinance Update that works to promote sustainable practice within the Borough. Complete research into methods that could be used in order to meet these goals. The Planning and Community Development Department is currently working on developing new policies and incentives that will ultimately be included as components of the Zoning Ordinance Update. The research will need to be conducted into policies that focus on the specific topics of retrofitting existing buildings with new sustainable technology and preparing State College for the arrival of refugees displaced by extreme weather events related to anthropogenic climate chnage. The Planning and Community Development department is looking for assistance with researching the preexisting methods that have been utilized in other cities to meet these policy goals, and looking into how these policies could be adapted to effectively be put into practice in the Borough. By the end of the semester, I will have developed an extensive list of recommendations that the Planning and Community Development department can potentially utilize within the upcoming Zoning Ordinance. Following the completion of this project I will compile a comprehensive report of all of the research I completed, specifically related to policies that have already been implemented in other cities which have successfully achieved the goal of promoting sustainable retrofitting practices among their population and preparing the cities in question for the arrival of climate refugees.  All of this information will be reviewed and approved by my community partner, Jasmine, and the Director of the Sustainability Department for the State College Borough. 

Project Deliverables: 

Formal Report:

    • Subtopics – Policies that pertain to sustainable retrofitting practices which maintain the preexisting character of a town while simultaneously reducing energy use and greenhouse gas emissions within the residential and commercial sectors. 
    • Policies that have been used in order to prepare cities of comparable size and demographic to State College for the arrival of individuals displaced by extreme weather events related to anthropogenic climate change.