Grading Your Growth Management Plan

Guidance for Specific Quality of Life Factors

A Good Plan presents criteria for assessing the effect of past and anticipated growth for each quality of life factor; this information is presented in table and map format. The grading process contains a list of quality of life factors; for each, the question is whether the criteria data is present in the list or table at the recommended level of detail. If lists or tables are not present, then check the table of contents to see if there is a chapter that addresses the quality of life factor or search the plan for keywords.

A New Plan for Your Area if your current plan is about to expire or rates poorly based on the Quality of Life Growth Management system, we can assist you in carrying out the outlined steps and/or conduct a community workshop and assist you in formulating a planning strategy for your community.

  

Frequently Used Questions and Definitions

 Anticipated Growth refers to the growth anticipated in the plan.  Usually the focus is on how population will change by a target year set a decade or more into the future to predict how the number of houses will change along with traffic volume, impervious area and water resource impacts, changes to police staffing and other public safety functions.

Planning Area is the geographical area covered by the plan.  If the planning area is diverse, then data regarding quality of life factors should be provided for each distinct subarea.

Points and Letter Grades five questions are presented for each of the specific quality of life factors.  A firm, unequivocal YES to a question equals one point.  There are situations where a question can be partially answered yes in which case a point value of less than one is an option.  For example, the fourth question for each factor is usually in two-parts: are actions recommended for resolving a negative effect, and does the plan contain text providing the factual basis for why the action is likely to achieve the degree of resolution claimed?

A half-point would be justified for a Yes to either of this two-part question. A Yes to all five questions yields a total score of 5 points and a letter grade of A.  Lesser totals equal letter grades of: 4 = B; 3 = C; 2 = D; 1 = E; 0 = F. If you assess more than one specific quality of life factor then the average score can be equated to a letter grade using this same scale.  For example, an average of 3.4 would be rounded to 3 for a C or you can call it a C+.  A 3.6 average could be rounded up to a 4 or B.  You could also call it a B-.

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Energy and Water Sub-Meters for Your Property

Sub-meters play a major role in successful energy and water reduction efforts and help identify best practices to reduce energy and water consumption in a building.

Utilities implement sub-meter systems that allow a building owner, property management firm, condominium or homeowners association and other multi-tenant property to bill tenants for measured utility usage via individual water, gas and electric meters. Water Sub-meters promote conservation and help offset maintenance and improvement costs for well water systems, lagoons or septic systems. Without a meter to measure individual usage, there is less incentive to identify building inefficiencies, since the other tenants or landlord may pay all or part of those costs.

Sub-metering also refers to the monitoring of electrical consumption of individual equipment within a building, such as HVAC, indoor and outdoor lighting, refrigeration and kitchen appliances, creating opportunities for energy and capital expenditure savings, control over thermal efficiency of the structure, its insulation, windows, and major energy consuming appliances.

Automatic Meter Reading AMR Technology Electronic Meter Reading and Billing

Software provides consumption data. This data provides users with the information to locate leaks and high-consumption areas. Users can apply this data to implement conservation or renovation projects to lower usage & costs, meet government mandates, or participate in green building programs.

System Design typically includes a master meter owned by the utility supplying the water, electricity, or gas, with overall usage billed directly to the property owner. The property owner or manager then places their own private meters on individual tenant spaces to determine individual usage levels and bill each tenant for their share. In some cases, the landlord might add the usage cost to the regular rent or lease bill. In other cases, a third party might read, bill, and possibly even collect for the service. Some of these companies also install and maintain meters and reading systems.

Panelor circuit sub-meters are used to measure resource use of the same system for added security, economic, reliability, and behavioral benefits, providing insights into resource consumption of building systems and equipment working in the same series. Sub-meters can measure use of a single panel, or multiple points within a panel system using single-point, multi-point, and branch circuit sub-meters.

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Covered Bridges Travel Itineraries in the United States and Europe

A Covered Bridge is defined as a bridge in which the trusses, sides, and roofs are made of wood, creating a complete enclosure; they were built that way to protect the structural integrity of the bridge that, left exposed, would otherwise have a useful life of only 10-15 years.

These Structures were built throughout the world during 19^th century. In the United States, Philadelphia lays claim to the first bridge, built in the early 1800s, that spanned the Schuylkill River by 30^th Street. Eventually, nearly 12,000 covered bridges were in operation. By the 1950s, the hat number shrank to less than 1,500 as more affordable and durable materials came into existence.

Pennsylvania has 219 Covered Bridges the most of any State

Early Timber covered bridges consisted of horizontal beams laid on top of piles driven into the riverbed below. This construction method meant that the length between bridge spans was limited by the maximum length of each beam; development of the timber truss circumvented that limitation and allowed bridges to span greater distances than those with beam-only structures of stone, masonry or timber arch structures.

The US Northeast and the Mid-Atlantic States

European Truss Bridges used king and queen post configurations. Some early German bridges included diagonal panel bracing in trusses with parallel top and bottom chords. Wood deterioration upon exposure to weather was addressed with various forms of coverings. Beginning around 1820, new designs were developed, such as burr, lattice and brown trusses. By mid-century, the introduction of wrought iron and cast iron led to metal rather than timber trusses, except in areas where large timber remained plentiful.

Ask us about our anchor locations from which you can best base your travel movements, mindful that you are likely to visit three to four places in a compressed period of time, typically 7 to 10 days, and experience multiple interests that range from cultural to culinary, wellness and the environment.

Smart Trip Planning Logistics Locations Costs Time and Personalized Solutions

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