BUTLER TWP — The inaugural Re-Imagine Butler County event, which was aimed at determining the types of sustainable development that would suit the county, was held on Saturday at Butler County Community College.

The event included seven speakers, 11 vendors and an ending session in which those in attendance formed small “visioning” groups and chose the sustainable development they would like to see in the county.

Re-Imagine Butler County was sponsored by Marcellus Outreach Butler and the League of Women Voters.

Diane Sipe of Marcellus Outreach Butler said residents should be cognizant of climate change and global warming as the county moves into the future.

“The rest of the world is moving forward with clean, renewable energy and the U.S. is falling behind,” Sipe said. “I hope people are open-minded about our energy future and will try to embrace a sustainable future.”

The 70 or so people who attended the event were mainly those already interested in sustainability or environmental issues.

“I hope people learn alternative crops and food production that can enhance the county and regional agriculture to provide options to farmers and create manufacturing jobs in the food business,” said T. Lyle Ferderber, who owns an organic farm and store in the county.

Ferderber was one of the event's speakers. His presentation was on sustainable agriculture.

Ben Beers of Butler Township holds a degree in sustainable development from Slippery Rock University. He attended the forum as an employee of a local lumber company.

Beers hoped to gain insight on taking sustainability into the housing industry.

“I wonder where things are progressing and what the future holds,” Beers said as he read the materials given to attendees.

Amy Jewitt of Middlesex Township noticed that she was one of just a few young people who attended the event.

As a member of Glade Run Lake Conservancy, which is now attempting to obtain land around the lake, she noticed that the majority of people working in land conservation are 50 and older.

She wondered how to get younger people involved.

“Young people should actively engage in sustainability,” Jewitt said.

The event's first speaker was Paul Scanlon, an architectural engineer who is the director of sustainability at Slippery Rock University.

Scanlon's presentation included information on the limitations and concerns associated with continuing to power the nation with fossil fuels as well as the benefits of using wind, solar and other sustainable processes to power homes, businesses and cars.

Scanlon said the shale gas industry's claim that it will produce enough gas to last for the next 100 years is misleading because that projection depends on current usage rates.

With the population expected to double during that time, shale gas will not last 100 years, Scanlon said.

“It's a finite resource,” he said.

He also discussed climate change, stating that rainfall amounts in the region are increasing, extreme weather events around the globe are skyrocketing, and mosquito season has increased by one-third, among other factors.

Scanlon said climate change can and must be addressed.

“The best return on investment is sustainable buildings,” he said. “You can't outsource our buildings to China.”

Scanlon compared a current, fossil-fuel run electric plant to a sustainable one, saying renewable systems require little maintenance, have no fuel costs and are secure from cyber attacks and power outages.

Ways to mitigate the impact of nonsustainable activities, Scanlon said, could be to encourage recreational tourism at outdoor facilities and parks, retrain the labor force for work in green industries, preserve more green space, produce more of our own food as opposed to relying on the Midwest, update stormwater management requirements for developers, and create a cleanup plan should the shale gas industry fail.

County Commissioner Kevin Boozel attended the event in an effort to gain knowledge.

“I want to learn more about self-sustaining communities,” Boozel said. “It's always good to look at alternate resources.”

The results of the small group visioning project at the end of the event will be available for viewing at www.reimaginebutlercounty.com.