Sustainable Jersey – Lauren Kaapcke – 2018

Goals

Sustainable Jersey is a non-profit organization that runs a green certification program for schools and municipalities in New Jersey. EDF Climate Corps fellow Lauren Kaapcke was brought on to help Asbury Park, Freehold Borough and Neptune Township reduce their energy usage, quantify financial savings and identify grants and other incentives to support this process.

Solutions

Although all three towns had Local Government Energy Audits done in 2010 they had differing levels of sustainability infrastructure and different goals regarding their Sustainable New Jersey certifications. Kaapcke assessed each municipality’s energy usage and met with staff to identify areas of focus. She applied for energy audits through New Jersey’s Clean Energy Program and was able to bring in contractors to do audits of buildings that qualified for the state’s Direct Install program, which pays for up to 70% of energy efficiency upgrades. For ineligible buildings, she pursued other state incentives, such as Smart Start equipment rebates for the replacement of 2 boilers in the Asbury Park water treatment plant.

Beyond energy efficiency, Kaapcke wrote a Request for Proposals for a solar system at the Freehold Borough Department of Public Works. She also provided green team support by documenting energy actions for the cities re-applying for certification and helped Freehold Borough to start the application process for next year.

Potential Impact

Kaapcke’s work could save the cities a combined potential $78,243 in annual energy costs and reduce carbon emissions by 289.7 metric tons per year. Both Asbury Park and Neptune Township are expected to receive Silver and Bronze SJ certification respectively, while Freehold Borough now has a roadmap to apply next year. Each town also has the tools to track energy usage and will continue to become more energy efficient by taking advantage of New Jersey’s Clean Energy Program incentives. Kaapcke’s efforts helped to set these municipalities on the path to becoming more sustainable communities.