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40 poles each holding eight 100-watt
PV panels, the largest privately owned solar electric
system in the Eastern U.S., at a private residence in
south Georgia.
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Solar in Georgia—Big Frog involved
Installed by Big Frog Mountain Corporation,
the largest privately owned solar electric system in
the Eastern U.S. is now on-line at a private residence
in south Georgia, near Warner Robins. The system has
dual capability both providing uninterruptible power
to the home and net metering excess power produced by
the PV system back into the utility grid.
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| The 32,000 watts (32KW) of
Siemens PV panels are top-of-pole mounted in a field near
the home with the inverters, deep cycle storage batteries
and switchgear located in a ‘power shed’ near the solar
array. The customer has already reported savings of several
hundred dollars per month in energy costs to run the home.
The environmental savings are also adding up quickly as
thousands of kilowatt hours per month are being produced
without any green house gas emissions. For more info please
contact Thomas Tripp at Big Frog Mountain Corporation
in Chattanooga, tmtripp@bigfrogmountain.com |
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All American Homes delivered modules
of the All American EarthCraft House to the Spring Atlanta
Home Show at the Georgia World Congress Center, inside
which the entire three-bedroom house was assembled.
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Atlanta Home Show and Southern
Building Shows
More than 40,000 people attended the Spring
Atlanta Home Show, April 24-27, at the Georgia World
Congress Center. The show’s feature exhibit, “The All
American EarthCraft House,” was accompanied by a learning
fair showcasing many of our EarthCraft House sponsors
and community partners. Home Show attendees took home
hundreds of Southface Journals as well as information
about radon, mold, the EPA’s Energy Star program and
factsheets. The Georgia Environmental Facilities Authority’s
Builder’s Guide and Home Energy Project publications
were also a hit. After more than twenty years of collaboration
with the Georgia Environmental Facilities Authority
(GEFA) to bring Southface’s Home Energy Clinics to the
public, our outreach continues to grow!
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| Our traveling Home Energy Clinic
made another appearance in the Atlanta area at the ninth
Southern Building Show and Conference, June 6-7. Building
professionals from around the country gathered at the
Cobb Galleria for a weekend of learning and networking
opportunities. Southface, EarthCraft House and GEFA were
there distributing more Southface Journals, factsheets
and radon information as well as the Builder’s Guide.
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Every year Earth Share hosts a number
of Earth Day activities, with the Party in the Park
a well-respected favorite among Georgia’s environmental
community.
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Earth Share Earth Day
Earth Share of Georgia offers citizens
one simple way to care for our air, land and water.
As Georgia’s only dedicated environmental fund, Earth
Share partners with Georgia businesses and employees
to support 60 leading environmental organizations through
workplace giving and other activities. Over 300 people
attended this year’s Earth Day kickoff event—Party in
the Park—in Piedmont Park, raising more than $70,000
for Earth Share of Georgia through sponsorships, ticket
sales and the Silent Spring Auction.
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| In addition,
almost 1,000 shoppers supported Earth Share of Georgia
and its member agencies, including Southface, by shopping
at Borders Book Stores across the state. The Borders Benefit
Days effort raised more than $5,000 and raised awareness
of environmental issues. |
EPA Recognizes Interface’s Environmental
Performance
Interface Flooring Systems’ Troup County, Georgia,
facilities have been accepted into the Environmental Protection
Agency’s National Environmental Performance Track Program.
Audited annually through the Program, Interface will continue
to strive to be a sustainability leader, improving an already
exemplary record in the areas of environmental performance,
regulatory compliance, operational environmental management
system, commitment to continuous improvement and local community
outreach. Other Interface manufacturing plants include the
Ray C. Anderson (RCA) plant in West Point and the Kyle plants
in LaGrange.
“Interface wants not only to be responsive,
but also—and especially—to be proactive in becoming a truly
sustainable company,” said Claude Ouimet, senior vice president
of sales and marketing of Interface Flooring Systems.
Currently with 300 members, according to the
EPA, “The National Environmental Performance Track program
is designed to recognize and encourage top environmental performers
— those who go beyond compliance with regulatory requirements
to attain levels of environmental performance and management
that benefit people, communities, and the environment.”
Winter Construction recycles materials
waste at Nordstrom Store, other stores
Winter Construction Company has made a commitment
to sustainability. Most recently, the company showed its green
building thumb at the Nordstrom Department Store in Short
Pump Mall outside Richmond, Virginia. “We are addressing today’s
resource challenges and realizing our vision for the future
through our sustainability initiatives,” said a Winter representative.
These initiatives enable Winter to conduct business in a socially
responsible, financially sound and environmentally sensitive
fashion.
Winter’s goal is to optimize every construction
project by implementing on-site waste remediation, material
consolidation, salvaging and recycling as was done at new
Rich’s stores in Georgia—the Mall of Georgia in Buford and
Stonecrest Mall in Lithonia.
Practicing responsible erosion control measures
and environmentally sensitive site preparation are other ways
Winter also minimizes unnecessary environmental impacts.
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Arabia
Mountain School: A Smart School
The Arabia Mountain School Project has
brought together a multifaceted design team, incorporating
the needs of the students, teachers, staff, community,
and parks department to design a school building and
to create a model Energy Smart School site in Georgia.
The Project aims to be an environmentally responsive
campus with an ecologically focused curriculum, hoping
to foster diverse cultural views and sustainable environmental
practices through discovery learning, interactive research
and community partnerships.
Arabia Mountain is a sister mountain
to Panola and Stone Mountains.
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The school site encompasses 60 acres within
the Arabia Mountain Heritage Area Alliance, an area
recognized for its pristine beauty and ecological diversity.
“The Arabia Mountain Heritage Alliance, with its unique
combination of environments such as rock outcrops, rivers
and streams, wetlands and open fields, all in close
proximity, make this the perfect setting for the state’s
first sustainable school,” said Kelly Jordan, Arabia
Mountain Alliance Chair. This is a project of Energy
Smart Schools, a collaborative effort between Southface
Energy Institute, the U. S. Department of Energy and
the Georgia Environmental Facilities Authority (GEFA).
Learn more about the project at the August 1 Sustainable
Atlanta Roundtable discussion—call 404-872-3549 or visit
www.southface.org to register.
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National Chairman of the Board of
the American Lung Association, Tony Delucia, Ph. D.
spoke about the correlation between health and air quality
at the May Sustainable Atlanta Roundtable discussion.
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EarthCraft House received two alternative
fuel vehicles from Ford Motor Company. Pictured above,
with EarthCraft House Technician Adam Deck, is a duel-fuel
compressed natural gas/gasoline truck, the second vehicle
(not pictured) is a propane-fueled truck.
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Above: Jim Hackler, EarthCraft House
program director, taught children at the Captain Planet
Earth Day celebration how the sun can be used for energy
by baking pizzas in miniature, solar ovens.
Left: The annual Southface 9-day homebuilding
school was a huge success and hosted 28 students. Alan
Craig and Karen Vockrodt install sheathing.
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Johns Manville insulation was placed
in homes that were part of the Insulate America “Install-Off”
contest in Winder, Ga. Rob Johnson, EarthCraft House
Field Operations Manager, participated as a judge for
this event.
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The Photovoltaic installation, along
with other energy efficiency and renewable energy measures,
created Georgia’s first Solar EarthCraft House in Atlanta.
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