Last night at the annual Winter Solstice Celebration, Southface staff, members and friends celebrated a successful year and honored key contributors to the organization’s mission including The Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation, the recipient of the Southface Award of Excellence, and the Sustainable Atlanta Roundtable Steering Committee, recipients of Volunteer of the Year Award.
The Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation was honored for their leadership in advancing sustainability in the built environment through their role in the creation of the nation’s first green building program tailored to meet the unique needs of historic structures, EarthCraft Sustainable Preservation. Mark MacDonald, President and CEO of The Georgia Trust; Kim Taylor, Chairman of the Trust’s Sustainability Task Force; and Ira Levy, Georgia Trust Board Chair accepted the award. Southface and The Georgia Trust launched EarthCraft Sustainable Preservation in May 2014. The third-party green building certification program is designed to recognize the inherent sustainability of historic buildings, while providing guidance on energy and water efficiency upgrades. “In addition to helping us launch the EarthCraft Sustainable Preservation program, The Georgia Trust is walking the talk by upgrading its own home at Rhodes Hall in Atlanta,” said Dennis Creech, Southface Executive Director. “We are pleased that now there are several pilot projects in the program, and the National Trust is watching our progress.”
Each year, Southface recognizes a volunteer or who has made a significant contribution to the organization. This year, rather than honoring a single volunteer, the entire Sustainable Atlanta Roundtable Steering Committee was honored with Southface’s Volunteer of the Year Award for their leadership and dedication to the Sustainable Atlanta Roundtable, a monthly forum for community dialog on regional environmental issues. “While Southface convenes the Sustainable Atlanta Roundtable, it is the brainpower, expertise and extensive network of oursteering committee that makes the program the excellent and highly anticipated forum that it is today,” said Robert Reed, Project Manager for the Roundtable.
The Sustainable Atlanta Roundtable Steering Committee includes: Jackie Benson, Congress for the New Urbanism – Atlanta; Kerry Blind, Kerry Blind & Associates LLC; Suzanne Burnes; Raymond Christman, The Trust for Public Land; Michael Halicki, Park Pride; Dan Hourigan, Midtown Alliance; Ciannat Howett, Emory University; Sarah Kirsch, Urban Land Institute – Atlanta; Paula McEvoy, AIA Atlanta; Katherine Moore, Georgia Conservancy; and Dan Reuter, Atlanta Regional Commission.
“Each member of the Southface community – from our sponsors and partners, to our members, donors, volunteers and staff – all play a vital role in Southface’s work to advance the green building industry in the Southeast and around the world. We are grateful to The Georgia Trust, the Sustainable Atlanta Roundtable Steering Committee and the entire Southface community for their ongoing support,” said Southface Executive Director Dennis Creech.
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