Southface Institute: Blog

Part 2 of a three-part series on the Regenerative Economy. Click here to read Part 1 on Regenerative Design and Part 3 on examples of a Regenerative Economy. As the …

Continue reading "Public Policy: Catalyzing the Regenerative Economy"

Managing stormwater on coastal cities like Sarasota, Florida, is essential to preventing pollution and harmful impacts that runoff can have on coastal waters. Rainwater must be intercepted and purified by …

Continue reading "Coming Together to Restore and Protect Coastal Waters From Stormwater Pollution"

Increased flooding and severe weather are bringing water management problems to the top of the civic priority list. In 2015, the EPA created a model focused on community-based public-private partnerships to finance stormwater infrastructure.

Stormwater management is a pressing issue for any urban environment, and Atlanta is no different. Katherine Zitsch and Katherine Atteberry from the Atlanta Regional Commission talked with Southface about how stormwater concerns push urban areas to respond with creativity to both structural and social challenges.

Achieving sustainable systems in our cities and organizations takes community support and a multifaceted approach. Southface Institute’s work for resiliency and sustainability is three-tiered: green building that addresses climate change, supporting neighborhood resiliency and building stronger communities. Below, we’ve highlighted three of our programs that exemplify this approach.

Heavy summer rainfall is common in the hot and humid subtropical climate of the Southeast. What happens to all that water? Until communities flood or their water sources become contaminated, most of us don’t think about it. In fact, excess stormwater runoff can damage land and buildings, parks, playgrounds and more. As stormwater flows over land, it picks up contaminants including debris, oils, grease, metals and excess nutrients from fertilizers. If not mitigated, it can contaminate habitats and waterways.

Thanks to environmental, social and business trends, sustainability is becoming much more of a priority for businesses. It not only affects companies’ cost structures, but it is increasingly a crucial differentiator for investors, consumers and B2B customers. What’s the best way to approach integrating sustainable practices in business operations?

Green infrastructure exists all around us, and yet most people probably wouldn’t be able to point to an example of it, let alone be able to describe what it is. …

Continue reading "Green Infrastructure In Our Own Backyard"

After months of preparation, Southface officially launched The Green Infrastructure and Resilience Institute (GIRI). GIRI recognizes the benefits of GI and provides knowledge and experience to deploy transformative GI projects throughout Metro Atlanta and in additional Georgia communities.