Southface News

	Eco Office Tops Out Dennis Creech, Southface Executive Director, addresses a crowd of Eco Office allies at the Topping Out ceremony for the Eco Office in August.

On the morning of August 23, 2006, Southface guests and staff gathered to celebrate the topping out of the Southface Eco Office. On track to be the first commercial building in the Southeast with a Platinum certification under the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) for New Construction rating system, the Eco Office will provide much needed office space to support the organization’s growing staff and programs, as well as meeting and training spaces for the Metro Atlanta design, construction and development communities in a living sustainable design laboratory.

During a ceremony on the roof, Dennis Creech, Executive Director of Southface, discussed the importance of this event. “Once completed the building will feature state-of-the-shelf products and technologies and will give Southface a demonstration facility and a stellar teaching tool which will increase our outreach by more than 50 percent,” commented Creech. “We’re grateful to Lord, Aeck & Sargent and the Eco Office Contractors for the unique collaborative role they’ve played in setting a benchmark for teamwork that makes a difference.”

The Eco Office is set to open early next year. You can view the construction progress online at www.southface.org/webcam. Also watch for the next issue of the Southface Journal, which will be a special edition highlighting the technologies and products that will be used in the new building.

Artisan Construction and Southface complete first LEED for Homes Pilot in the Southeast

The LEED for Homes pilot is well under way across the country and builders are making great strides towards building more energy and environmentally responsible homes. LEED for Homes was created and is administered by the USGBC. Southface has been chosen as one of the LEED for Home providers across the country and is currently working with several builders across the Southeast to work toward certification.

Artisan Construction of Charlottesville, Virginia has completed the first LEED for Homes pilot project in Virginia and the Southeast. The home was completed using Insulated Concrete Forms and scored thirty-five points in the rigorous USGBC pilot rating system to earn the LEED “Certified” Rating. In addition to the high performance building envelope, the house showcases numerous other green technologies and practices such as high efficiency heating, cooling and ventilation systems, a tankless gas water heater and high efficiency plumbing fixtures.

Another innovative strategy that Artisan employed for this house is a rainwater harvesting system that collects and stores enough water to be filtered for 100% of the houses potable water.

Southface Staff Receive Honor

Southface staff members Mike Barcik and Laura Uhde have been selected by the USGBC as LEED for Homes Faculty members. As faculty, they will be working with the USGBC to train builders, raters and new providers on the LEED for Homes Rating System being released summer 2007. LEED for Homes seeks to recognize and reward the top 25% of new homes for environmental stewardship.

Georgia’s Top Public Servants 2006 Long time Southface friend, Paul Burks, Executive Director of the Georgia Environmental Facilities Authority (GEFA), was honored as the 2006 recipient of Georgia’s Excellence In Public Service Award. The awards were presented for the fourth year by the Carl Vinson Institute of Government at the University of Georgia, in partnership with Georgia Trend. Winners were determined by a special selection committee, which considered a variety of criteria including stable leadership, innovation, productivity, encouragement of citizen involvement and a strong record of ethical public service.

Paul Burks

A native Atlantan, Burks started in the intergovernmental relations division of the Governor’s Office of Planning and Budget as a 25-year-old in the 1970s. Following that position, Burks became program manager of the Energy Resources Division and then the director of the Office of Energy Resources, where he served for 10 years. In 1993, then Gov. Zell Miller appointed Burks Executive Director of the Georgia Environmental Facilities Authority. Burks will retire from that position in November 2006.

He found his niche in state energy work. Under his leadership, angencies have been recognized for energy conservation and innovative projects several times by the Ford Foundation and Harvard University, while Burks himself has received the State Government Manager of the Year Award.

Brought to GEFA “to give the program life,” Burks has made the agency thrive. GEFA’s mission is to make low or no-cost water and sewer loans to small cities and counties in Georgia, which allow for infrastructure improvements. In 1993-1994, Burks’ first year at the agency, GEFA made $20 million in loans. This year GEFA has made $265 million in loans and has branched out from working with small cities and counties, to dealing with the granddaddy of water and sewer problems - the city of Atlanta.

This fall, Burks will retire from state government. Southface wishes Paul well and offers our appreciation for four decades of public service and commitment to energy efficiency and renewable energy.

The above article was excerpted from Georgia Trend’s September Issue. To read the article in its entirety visit www.gerogiatrend.com.

	ULI announces the Development of Excellece Awards The Urban Land Institute (ULI) announced the winners of the Development of Excellence Awards in a recent edition of the Atlanta Business Chronicle. The winners are Glenwood Park, Abercorn, Twelve Atlantic Station and Vickery. Three of the four winners have a Southface Connection.
Glennwood Park was one of several developments in Atlanta recognized by the Urban Land Institute for receiving the Development of Excellence Award.

Glenwood Park is an EarthCraft Community located off I-20 between Grant Park and East Atlanta. Developed by a builders guild of Hedgewood Properties Inc., Green Street Properties LLC, Whitehall Homes and Capstone Partners, LLC, Glenwood Park is a 28-acre mixed-use residential, retail and commercial space.

Abercorn is a Melaver Inc. development. Melaver was the 2006 recipient of the Southface Argon Award. Abercorn Common Shopping Center is located in Savannah, GA. This is the first LEED certified retail center in the United States.

Vickery is also an EarthCraft Community developed by Hedgewood Properties Inc.which is owned by Southface Board President Pam Sessions. Located in Cumming, GA, Vickery is a 214-acre environmentally friendly development which includes retail, restaurants, lofts over retail, a YMCA, a performing arts venue and office condos as well as green space and parks.

Southface is proud to congratulate these winners on being leaders in environmental design and construction.

To read more about the ULI awards visit the Atlanta Business Chronicle online at www.bizjournals.com/atlanta.

Southface Hellos & Goodbyes

Southface welcomes:

• LaTaunynia Campbell as the EarthCraft House Office Manager and Inspector
• Stephen Christensen as an EarthCraft House Inspector
• Danny Harvey as an EarthCraft House Inspector
• Kris Knutson as a Southface Home Services Project Manager
• Ryan Meres as an EarthCraft House Inspector

Southface welcomes our newest interns: Jaimie Cohen and Lauren Gloster

Southface offers best wishes to departing staff and interns: Jeremie Choukroun, Rob Johnson, Brent Stephens and Marie Weis

Visit our staff page to learn more about our staff.

Eco Office current state. The roof coating is in place and the structure is truly “dried-in.” the Kone elevator is installed and drywall is being hung.	Tony Aeck, principal of Lord, Aeck & Sargent Architects, takes a moment to reflect on the occasion of "topping-out” the Eco Office.

Marci Reed, formerly with Southface - now with Georgia Tech, scribes her name on the wall for posterity.	Beth Haynes, Southface Development Director, collects business cards for the Eco Office time capsule.

The Southface staff retreat, August 2006—oh my, how we've grown. Forty-one Southface staff converged on the Sweetwater Creek State Park visitors center for our annual retreat. The visitor center is a LEED platinum building. (click to enlarge)