07 - Veni Mittal

Featuring Veni Mittal, a dear friend and proud volunteer for Etna Community Organization. 

We'll talk about how to revitalize vacant parking lots, how to create community centers from scratch, and how to empower yourself and others to make grassroots change.  

Terms mentioned: 

• Energy burden

Resources mentioned:

1. Environmental Welfare Society 
2. Rebuilding Together Pittsburgh
3. BPI Certification Program
4. Etna Community Organization 
5. Evolve EA's website with EcoDistricts
6. EcoDistricts (Just Communities) certification 

Individuals mentioned: 

• Megan Tuñón
• Robert Tuñón
• Mary Ellen Ramage

Transcript

[00:00:00] Aparna: All right, friends of the pod, welcome back. Welcome back today. We are joined by Veni. She's a sustainability professional who currently works for JLL as a global senior sustainability analyst. She holds an eco district, AP certification, her lead GA, and serves as a board secretary of Etna community organization.

She believes that encouraging a more sustainable lifestyle is more than a climate solution. It's about building community power, caring for the well being of people. And to this end, she's dedicated to building a more vibrant and sustainable future.

where everyone has the opportunity to thrive and lead healthy, fulfilling lives. So welcome, Veni. We're so excited to have you on the podcast.

 We'd love to hear more about yourself. about your journey to sustainability and your current role. If you could tell us all the steps along the path and how you found yourself at JLL in this Global Senior Sustainability Analyst role.

[00:00:54] Veni Mittal: Thank you, Parna. Thank you, Kiersten, for having me. my journey to sustainability started in 2011 when I was doing my master's in environmental engineering. that's where I joined the nonprofit organization, Environmental Welfare Society, where we used to teach kids about the importance of environment, importance of trees, and importance of, know, nature around you. not just focusing on pollution or not just focusing only on negative things. So that really drove me to work towards that. And when I came to the US, I did my master's in environmental science and management and Then I started my internship at American Eagle Outfitters. So that's where I did the greenhouse gas inventory, all the fancy things, the data, the Excel. But I really want to do something beyond that. I really wanted to see that what else can be done in sustainability. For me at that time, sustainability was just about having these sustainability goals, fulfilling these, uh, you know, ambitious, like, you know, reducing energy by this percentage or having these different energy efficiency programs. So to improve, or gain insight more into this, I joined other nonprofit, which was a Rebuilding Together Pittsburgh. particular organization focused on energy audits. on energy efficiency programs, particularly for the homes who cannot afford their, bills or who have literally old homes and they don't have sufficient energy and they have like too cold or it's too hot. So that's what, you know, increased my attention towards this and That's when I got to know that there is a like a PPI certification program through which you can do these energy audits and you can use all of these heavy mechanical instruments through which you can actually get to see, how a home is, is it energy efficient or how you can make it energy efficient. I did energy audits and the best part was when the people, they used to come and tell you that you have lowered down my energy bill, you have improved my knowledge, at least I can follow these daily measures, you know, to improve only energy, but how can I pass this knowledge to my fellow friends, to my fellow neighbors, that's what the most important important part of me, like I am not only a part of a great nonprofit organization, but that role is also making an impact. I got a card from like two people, like they are like old people and they were living alone in their home that, you know, you have made my day because you have explained everything in such a simple way that we are able to follow those steps of reducing my energy bills paying those costs and, letting the companies know if they are seeing, you know, any drafting or if they want to see, you know, any weatherization that needs to be done in their homes. So this was all so impactful for me that my, Hunger for knowledge, especially in sustainability, it just grew. then I realized that there are other non profits that also are doing similar things. then I started working at, Evoco Water Technologies, which is a water based firm.

That's where I did sustainability reporting, CDP reporting, all of these different sustainability reporting frameworks. Then I landed my job at JLL because I would say that I started networking within Pittsburgh. I became part of these non profit, green building alliance. I started Volunteering there, attending their events.

That's What opened my eyes. And I landed my role at JLL as an Energy Sustainability Analyst. I joined in 2022 I would be completing three years in June. And I started with MetaAccount and then I joined it. Bridgewater and then ultimately I was a part of five accounts, but then in February of this year I got promoted to Global Senior Sustainability Analyst with my 100 percent allocation on HP Account. 

[00:05:27] Kiersten: That is quite the journey.

And, I find it so inspiring, the human element that you talked about, especially with the residential sector when you were helping people. One thing we thought it would be nice to define for listeners is energy burden. So if anyone isn't familiar, energy burden is The percent of your household income that goes towards your energy costs.

So those are utilities like electricity, natural gas, maybe petroleum and like more rural situations. but it stands to reason that the less money you make, the greater your energy burden. so when you. Implement energy efficiency, as you were saying, you're helping households to reduce that energy burden. And studies have shown that energy burden affects lower income households and disenfranchised groups much more than others. So it's, a really, really valuable thing that you are doing. I wonder for our listeners, if you could share some of the specific tips that you are helping those households to implement to lower their energy bills.

[00:06:27] Veni Mittal: So always look, especially in winters, always look for the leaks, especially around the kitchen. Always get your vents clean, like once a year, that is very, very important. We figured out a gas leak in one of the homes that was causing a major increase in their natural gas usage, but that can also pose a risk.

So always get your natural gas. Leaks checked by a certified company or their people who do these checks. Also compare your bills from the previous months or previous years. See if you have like increased usage, where we have these increased usage, the reasons behind it. That's where you get to know. Third thing is always opt for the bulbs or lights like Don't go for the ones that give you really bright usage so always go for led bulbs use night bulbs in night, especially for the elderly people night bulbs are really really good use Fourth thing is always look for ducts, like always look for leaks near the windows.

If you see that there are leaks or if you see the cold air is coming, always go for weatherization. So these are the tips we provided to the people and it proved really helpful for them.

[00:07:51] Aparna: I love that. For anyone listening out there, if you're anything like me, I will be inspecting every gadget in my apartment as soon as they get off this call. Man, it really is that human element, right? You want to connect with people, you want to help, you want to share something that's going to be beneficial, and I don't know.

I think that's one of the big drivers of why we all are in these professions and why we like it so much, right? It's fulfilling. You see tangible impact. So speaking of impact, we know you do a lot outside of work. So we'd love to hear more about your efforts in sustainability. outside of your nine to five, for example, the role with Etna community organization and your role on the board of directors there.

[00:08:29] Veni Mittal: Yes, so my journey with Etna community, it started in 2019. So, I was at Women in Green organization event, and there I met one lady, Christine Mondor. She, works at Evolvier, Evolvier is a famous company here in Pittsburgh. And I got to know about her like eco districts.

That was the, like the first I've ever heard about it. So she told me, Veni, why don't you come and join me in Aetna? And that was the first time when I actually heard about like this community actually exists within Pittsburgh. I went there. There was a community meeting happening, at a fire department, like a hall.

I'm like, oh, wow, what is this? where I saw all of these major holdings, water, food, mobility, equity. And I was so amazed. I'm like, okay, something big is happening over here. That's when I got to see so many people coming up in these public meetings happening around and I saw Christine Mondor there and I saw other people over there. That's when I got to know, okay, EcoDistrict is something that Etnais working and they're working towards six major goals. that forms an eco district and they are having these public meetings so that they can get to know what people are looking for, what improvements, or what projects that they really wanted to see in these areas, especially to this pertaining to ethnic community. And I got to see the power of community, the power of people. And I chose the option of food because food is something that I love to connect people with. And I formed a vision statement of food along with other people for that community. we used to have these public meetings, and then we developed some projects, some gaps, opportunities, like where can this community be? doing the best in all of these areas because this community has seen major drawbacks and now this community is one of the most sustainable community and it got its eco district certified in 2019, world's first eco district certification community organization formed so that there are people like board of directors who work towards financial stewardship and also works on fulfilling sustainability projects for this community.

[00:10:55] Kiersten: For those that don't know, would you be able to give just a basic description of ecodistricts, ecodistrict certification, that sort of thing?

[00:11:04] Veni Mittal: Yes. eco districts, I would say it refers to a community that is committed to a holistic model of sustainability planning that empowers people. to take ownership over their individual and collective futures. You can also say ecodistrict focus on both the hardware or physical system of places as well as the software of social and cultural resiliency. That's what ecodistrict is all about.

[00:11:35] Kiersten: Amazing. I, full disclosure, also have my ecodistrict AP credential, but I never got to work on a project. So I'm a little bit in awe of you, a little bit jealous if I, if I do say so. I would love to hear from your perspective as someone that's worked on one of these projects. Would you say an ecodistrict community or the design approach for an ecodistrict community is different from a traditional design approach?

[00:11:59] Veni Mittal: So what happened is for the ecodistrict. You will see people are sitting next to each other and they might have known each other very well, but they always feel like they are working something in common. allowed the community to find shared values could all agree on. This helped to build like stronger community connections. And it also helps to build a foundation for an ecodistrict plan. So month we used to have these large scale community meetings focusing on the quality of life issues. And people are particularly passionate about specific areas formed and then they've worked in a group. Develop the vision for that area and that is called like a champion groups.

So for example, we have six focus areas in eco district and then there are community champions who will focus on each of these quality of life issues.

[00:13:01] Aparna: Great. Thank you for that. So human centric design that is tied to the surrounding environment, that's a really unique certification. Talking to you is my first time hearing about it, so definitely learning something new here as well. So we wanted to know, too, from your perspective, which is SPAN public, it's SPAN private, and it, again, human centric at the center of it all, how do you think a greener built environment really benefits everyone?

[00:13:28] Veni Mittal: think about it like this community had never heard of sustainability for them. Sustainability was just okay. Maybe there would be more jobs or there would be more, green buildings, but we focused on the people's point of view. so we built, like we are building a library.

This community doesn't have a library. We got like 6 million funding. Megan Juneau, who is our director, has worked really hard to get the funding. And, when we got the 6 million funding, we have architects, we have construction, companies that, will be building this library. So for them, sustainability is about having that space, where people can connect, talk, and everybody, not just adults, but kids. or anyone coming to that community is benefiting from that. There was a place where it was so much affected by storm water that one of the place got absolutely eroded. So we built a park over there and that park uses rain garden.

That park has a built in space. So now that park is being used for people to come over there. there is no problem of storm water or whenever there is like rain, flooding issues so that park is basically a space that is connected. This community has really good walking trails, but the spaces were not properly connected. So we built two walking trails so that it's connected properly. People can walk, people can just spend time. that's how we used that ecodistrict and aligning that ecodistrict certification with these projects.

When I see this community, I can see people are thriving, their resiliency, obstacles that they have faced in the previous years, and now they are seeing what this community has done. it's just the power of, you can say, the people living over there. We don't live in that community, but being a part of that community, the organization I work with, that is absolutely fantastic. that has not only, expanded my horizon, when I see sustainability, it's like, for me, it's okay, green buildings. I see more data, but I see a sustainable community. where everyone is thriving on a daily basis and they are happy about it. And more people are coming back now to live in that community.

[00:16:04] Kiersten: Gosh, it sounds, like a utopia for lack of a better word, but I think it's so inspiring, At this point in time, when we're seeing a lot of federal rollbacks, we're seeing a lot of reduction in sort of the green and sustainability based workforce, which to those with climate data, feels like the wrong direction. so it's pretty easy to lose hope. and think. I can't influence things on that level, but what I love about what you're sharing and kind of the ethos of eco districts is that you do have control by building community and the more interconnected that community is, the more improvements that you can make.

And it's easy to get buy in because the buy in you're seeking is from the people around you and the people that will benefit are the same people around you definitely, want to ask what. Actionable steps can communities take if they are hearing you talk about this and they want to have this for their community as well. What actionable steps might you recommend for them to move towards that same sustainable future?

[00:17:08] Veni Mittal: I would say eco district is definitely one thing, but that doesn't guarantee success. We need to have like a passion and positive attitude that goes a long way. Being able to like listen and learn. Connect well with people and problem solve, like these are all things that we must possess. And we just don't need to be afraid to ask for help or just to look for, you know, a sustainable community, we can start from our homes. And that's what the people in that community started doing. they have built their own farms so that they can grow their own food because they don't have public transportation to go to these grocery stores because it's too far. what they have done is they have built small gardens around their neighborhood and everyone can take part and grow food of their own choice and they have meetings every week where everyone would share their insights, you know, how you can cultivate this crop better or what ideas you can take. So I would say community, begins with people. And when we as individuals start taking these steps from our home, that's where we will start to thrive.

[00:18:27] Aparna: It's great to see people problem solving at scale like this. So thank you for sharing that example.

On the same line of thinking, are there other emerging trends that you're excited to follow, similar to seeing this farmer come up with this innovative solution, or something else that might apply to the built environment at large, community scale, 

[00:18:45] Veni Mittal: I have already talked about library. So we are also turning like vacant lots, like there are plenty of vacant lots into the largest project we have ever done is the Etna Riverfront Trail and park which sits in the center of that community. It connects to the Allegheny River Trail that is in Pittsburgh and Pittsburgh to the Erie Trail. you can see that there is like no better symbol for the community transformation like these. It's trail connecting trail, people connecting people. And other project, for example, supporting the local businesses, supporting entrepreneurs to rebuild business community. not only we just We have built these trails, but we also emphasize new businesses to come and arrive there. Etnais also revitalizing their main street. That is another step that they are doing. They are converting their one of the mill into a tech hub. So these are the small projects that they have been doing. you can see how these Vacant spaces have been converted into green parks and then green parks, I would say, will form the part of green built environment. 

[00:20:06] Kiersten: That's a great one. One of my favorite to come out of covet if we're looking for a silver lining of a dark time was probably the parklets where they turned little, uh,spots into small parks and cities. And, it became a little bit more human centric as opposed to car centric there for a bit. we have a couple rapid fire, questions for you. And the 1st, 1 is if our listeners wanted to be involved in the sustainability shifts are there books, documentaries or other resources that you like and would recommend.

[00:20:37] Veni Mittal: Yeah, so I would definitely recommend the EcoDistricts plan that is available, and I will definitely drop the link for that. And if you really want to learn more about it, like how we were able to achieve this, there is a whole plan available online on Evolve EA or you can also, if you go to ethnocommunity.

org, that's where we also have all the links. plans listed over there and what are we doing, what are the current projects, how much we have done, and also all the updates on our library that we have been doing. Yeah. And I also want to say ecodistricts now has become just communities. So now we don't say ecodistricts anymore, but we still use that term.

But now you search for ecodistrict, it would come under the term just communities. So that's one update.

[00:21:31] Aparna: Very nice, keeping us up to date with the happenings, the current events of the world. very much. so I think you're the perfect person to ask this If we had a listener out there who's wanting to get involved in the community, but they're starting from scratch, they don't know what to do first, but they have this vision of an idyllic place where neighbors know each other, it's greener, it's healthier, it's a happy place to live.

What are some action steps that you'd recommend they take?

[00:21:58] Veni Mittal: I started doing something for my community, I would say definitely connect with the kids, the high schools, because they form an important part of these issues. Because you participate with these kids, they have such broad vision. Connect with the local non profits that are nearby in your community. Definitely when you make a group, start talking to them, see what are the current issues in the community, how they can be solved, what are the root steps that can be taken, what people are already doing. if we have collective ideas and solutions. that, that would set a greater foundation for any community to work on their sustainability things. When it comes to ecodistrict, I know that term sounds really fancy because the thing is that we are working towards a bigger sustainability achievements, but every community doesn't need to be ecodistrict certified. That's absolutely fine. All we need to do is every person in that taking small individual steps to build a more resilient, community where everybody is thriving.

So that would be my recommendation. But yes, EcoDistricts is something that we are very proud of it. We have achieved like in three years. So that was something a great achievement and I really owe to people who have done this. I was just a small part.

[00:23:32] Kiersten: Which is the embodiment of community, right? many hands make light the work. everybody has their place and space. truly, truly empowering. Again, just the thought that all you have to do is start. to know your neighbors, building the community, and then it can spiral into something so beautiful from there. I feel like you've already described quite the legacy, but what legacy do you hope to leave behind through your work?

[00:23:59] Veni Mittal: For me, I would say sustainability is not just something that you see around Sustainability is about people. is about you and sustainability is about our planet Earth. So we as people, when we are living on this planet we want to make sure that every step counts. Every small step makes a huge difference. So no matter what, just give your best. And when we are doing from our own side, anything can make a difference. no matter how small or big a step is, just play your own part. And this planet will thrive.

[00:24:46] Aparna: Ah, such excellent words. I love this. I'm feeling very motivated to knock on my neighbor's door and say hello, to take small action. So I really appreciate the conversation. It's been really enlightening, educational. And other e words that I'm sure listeners are thinking of that are escaping my mind right now, This has been really fun to get to know you better in this space and to see the impact that you and your group have been able to have. truly thank you for sharing the time with us and we're excited for everyone else to get a listen to this.

[00:25:20] Veni Mittal: Thank you. Thanks for pointing out. Thank you, Kiersten.