National company befriends environment one campus at a time
By Julia Boyle
THE ERICKSON TRIBUNE
Doing the right thing for the environment once meant tossing newspapers into the recycling bin. Certainly that helps, but now, with a strong emphasis on global warming from organizations like the Earth Day Network, efforts to go green are no longer a choice but a necessity and are being implemented on a larger, corporate scale.
“We are constantly evaluating our current practices and looking for new ways to be environmentally friendly,” says Larry Ross, Erickson’s director of maintenance and engineering.
“All of our communities adhere to energy standard codes. To be certain that we are very aware of our responsibilities, we have just hired a national energy manager who will be responsible for proposing and implementing strategies for energy efficiencies,” he says.
Ross indicates that maintenance staffs at each community evaluate the mechanical systems and incorporate energy-efficient factors into the day-to-day operations. In the coming months, housekeeping will begin using green cleaners.
One Erickson community, Cedar Crest in Pompton Plains, shows environmental appreciation with a protected nature preserve, environmentally friendly design, and strict maintenance guidelines.
Going green in the Garden State
Like all newer Erickson communities, Cedar Crest developers incorporated environmental responsibility from the beginning. “Most of what we have done for the environment at Cedar Crest was done during the design stage—preserving wetlands, trees, and open space, and donating 130 acres to Pequannock Township for parkland,” says Mark Hunter, Cedar Crest’s director of development.
Cedar Crest developers and landscape architects cooperated with the Land Use Program of the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to set guidelines for campus design and maintenance. MKWN Associates, the landscape architecture firm that helped set those guidelines, also planted native species of trees and shrubs around the campus.