Southface Institute: Blog

Atlanta Rising to the Better Buildings Challenge

Green Building

The Better Buildings Challenge (BBC), announced by President Obama in 2011, is designed to integrate efficiency practices into our buildings that can lead to great benefits, including cost savings, avoided emissions, and a healthier economy. Through the BBC, the President is challenging CEOs, university presidents, state and local government leaders, and others to voluntarily commit their organizations to reduce their energy consumption by at least 20% by 2020.

Tags: Better Buildings Challenge

At last, Georgia Sees the Value of Solar

Policy
Renewable Energy

A few years ago, who would have thought Georgia was about to become a center of national significance for solar policy and leap other states on the deployment of solar PV? At the end of 2010, Georgia had 5.7 MW of solar, a paltry sum given its abundant sunshine. Based on a July 11 Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC) ruling, the state should have over 800 MW by the end of 2016. The story of how this happened so fast …

Tags: Solar

Sustainable Development and Green Building – A Southern Perspective

Green Building

While this issue of the Southface Journal and the Greenprints Conference feature national thought leaders on sustainable development and green building, we felt it appropriate to hear a Southern perspective on these transformative trends. Dennis Creech has been executive director of Southface for 35 years. He helped incubate the EarthCraft program before the term green building was in the vocabularies of most design and construction professionals and he has participated in numerous initiatives at local, regional and national levels to …

Tags: EarthCraft, Energy Code, Energy Efficiency

Grants to Green: Greening Metro Atlanta Nonprofits since 2008

Green Building

Grants to Green was launched in 2008 as a partnership between The Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta, Southface and The Kendeda Fund. The program provides assessment and implementation awards that evaluate and improve the operations of nonprofit facilities in the 23-county metro Atlanta area. Some of the opportunities identified in the assessment report can be completed immediately without financial or technical assistance. For infrastructure-intensive opportunities, organizations can also apply for an implementation grant to pay for the cost of effective …

Tags: Gooduse

Finding Common Ground with Historic Preservation: Notes from the Field

Green Building

In recent years there has been growing interest in both the green building and historic preservation communities to find practical solutions to energy use issues in historic structures. Design, construction, planning and preservation professionals are taking new approaches to old problems and common ground is being found. Here are a few examples of Southface’s recent energy efficiency work on historic structures. Historic Stone Mountain City Hall, Stone Mountain, GA Built from locally quarried granite, Stone Mountain’s historic city hall is …

Tags: Energy Efficiency, Historic Preservation

Thought Leaders on Sustainable Development Part III

Communities

By 2050, 70 percent of the world’s population will reside in cities. This shift from rural communities uniquely positions cities to become hubs for innovation and incubators for sustainable development solutions. While indicators show the economy to be in recovery, sustainability agendas continue to fall victim to strained city budgets. Lack of political will and government stagnation present further challenges. How do cities advance their sustainability agendas in this tough environment? Douglas R. Hooker: Great cities can bring out the …

Tags: Better Buildings Challenge, LEED

Meet a Southfacer: Chandra Farley

About Us

As project manager for Southface events, Chandra manages the upcoming Greenprints conference, the annual Visionary Dinner and other events including the bi-annual Solstice parties and EarthCraft Awards.

Tags:

The Future is Bright for Solar

Policy
Renewable Energy

Author: John Sibley What is the future of solar power in Georgia? The future is bright. Solar power has begun to take off in our state. The installed capacity of solar electric systems more than doubled in 2011. We have about 700 systems and over 20 megawatts (MW) of capacity, providing enough electricity to power more than 2,000 homes. Even more dramatic growth is coming. Georgia Power has about 50 MW in the pipeline for the next couple of years …

Tags: Solar

Meet a Southfacer: Shan Arora

About Us
Green Building
Renewable Energy

Shan Arora is a project manager with Southface’s Sustainable Communities Team. An environmental advocate since an early age, he transitioned into sustainable community development after working in the international trade and tax fields for a decade.

Tags: Hydroelectric, Solar, Staff, Transit, Wind Energy