Sustainable Infrastructure Wins! Now What? BlogGreen Building Southface Staff | November 17, 2021 Countless capital improvement projects in communities nationwide have been backlogged for decades, but for many, that’s about to change. New funding in the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (“Infrastructure Bill”) will go toward a wide range of projects, including road repairs, energy improvements in low-income housing, replacements for old and dirty lead pipes, electric vehicle chargers, and electric buses. On November 15, 2021, President Biden signed the Infrastructure Bill, approving unprecedented levels of funding for investments in transportation, water, … Continue reading “Sustainable Infrastructure Wins! Now What?” Read More Tags:
Southface’s upcoming leadership transition Blog Southface Staff | November 5, 2021 Dear Southface community, Like 2020, 2021 has been a year of great change, fundamentally redefining where and how we work and live, how we protect and support each other, and what it means to work toward a more equitable world. While some of the changes Southface Institute experienced presented us with obstacles to achieving our goals, such as holds on our work with municipalities and the limited availability of funding for long-term sustainability projects, other changes opened doors to the kind of … Continue reading “Southface’s upcoming leadership transition” Read More Tags:
Interview: Southface’s ENERGY STAR Training Will Prepare Raters for Rule Changes Education Southface Staff | October 6, 2021 Watch the live interview here. Tricia: My name is Tricia Embry. I am manager of communications and content here at Southface. We have some upcoming ENERGY STAR trainings, and I have two Southfacers here with me to talk about what those changes mean. So first, let’s do some introductions. Nathan and Mike, can you introduce yourselves and let us know what kind of work you do at Southface? Nathan: My name’s Nathan Bessette. I’m the program director for Southface’s fee-for-service programs, which include EarthCraft, BIT Building, and Southface Energy Rated Homes. And so, my role is about growing these programs helping raters in the marketplace understand the different services available … Continue reading “Interview: Southface’s ENERGY STAR Training Will Prepare Raters for Rule Changes” Read More Tags:
GEORGIA GAINS REINFORCEMENTS IN FIGHT FOR EQUITABLE ENERGY POLICIES Blog Southface Staff | September 16, 2021 Katie Southworth | Program Director, Advocacy The Southeast has among the highest electricity bills and the lowest investment in energy efficiency in America according to 2019 data from US Energy Information Administration and the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy. Newly hired advocates in Georgia have the experience to change the equation. With a juris doctor degree and 15+ years of experience working on energy and climate issues, Katie Southworth knows how easily those who influence our access to resources most … Continue reading “GEORGIA GAINS REINFORCEMENTS IN FIGHT FOR EQUITABLE ENERGY POLICIES” Read More Tags: Advocacy, Energy Efficiency, Equity
You Are Here: Navigating the Latest Science on Climate Change BlogClimate Change Southface Staff | September 13, 2021 Photo by Kelly Sikkema, Unsplash Taking a Sobering Look Around It is unequivocal that human influence has warmed the atmosphere, ocean, and land. Each of the last four decades has been successively warmer than any decade that preceded it since 1850. In 2019, atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations were higher than at any time in in the past 2 million or more years. Annual average arctic sea ice area has reached its lowest level since at least 1850, and the global … Continue reading “You Are Here: Navigating the Latest Science on Climate Change” Read More Tags: Climate Change, IPCC Report
From Andrea’s Desk – Our Statement on Hurricane Ida Blog Southface Staff | September 3, 2021 On behalf of all of us at Southface Institute, I would like to offer our deepest sympathies to those who lost loved ones, suffered property damage, and are still experiencing power outages and lack of access to resources and services they need because of Hurricane Ida. Our hearts especially go out to those who feel the environmental impacts more acutely and recover more slowly because of entrenched housing and health inequities. We recognize that humans can never prevent every natural disaster or ensure that everyone will get through one unscathed, but we can take steps to mitigate climate change, which we know is increasing the frequency and severity … Continue reading “From Andrea’s Desk – Our Statement on Hurricane Ida” Read More Tags: Andrea Pinabell, Natural Disaster, Resilience
5 Tips for Going Back to the Building Sustainably Blog Southface Staff | August 4, 2021 As students return to physical classrooms – many for the first time since March 2020 – and workers are increasingly called to return to their buildings, the sources of our collective environmental impact are shifting to reflect our changing behaviors and needs. While supporting Southface Institute helps increase the health, efficiency, and resilience of our built environment as a whole, there are many other steps you can take as an individual and family to ensure going back to the building … Continue reading “5 Tips for Going Back to the Building Sustainably” Read More Tags: School, Waste, green building, transportation
Google Achieves First BIT Building™ Certification Blog Southface Staff | June 28, 2021 ATLANTA, GA—June 28, 2021— Southface Institute announced today that Google’s 6th Street campus in Kirkland, Washington is the first office campus in the world to certify its operations under Southface’s BIT Building program. Successful certification under BIT reflects Google’s adoption of the program’s 16 Best Practices for resource efficiency and sustainability. What is the BIT Building program? Southface’s BIT Building program gives facility operators and managers the opportunity to implement performance improvements to their buildings no matter the … Continue reading “Google Achieves First BIT Building™ Certification” Read More Tags: BIT Building, Google Kirkland, Press Release
Looking Back at SUN Day, May 3, 1978: Southface’s Birthday About Us Southface Staff | May 3, 2021 Let’s take a look back at May 3, 1978 to learn about Georgia SUN DAY and the origin of Southface. A small group of volunteers formed Georgia SUN Day in 1978. There was a SUN Day committee in all 50 states. While our name evolved from Georgia SUN Day to Georgia Solar Coalition to Southface, our mission and values have stayed remarkably consistent. Read More Tags:
In Gratitude: Leon Eplan, Former Board Member of Southface (1928-2021) About Us Sarah Mundell | April 23, 2021 Southface’s current and former presidents, Andrea Pinabell and Dennis Creech, congratulated board member Leon Eplan for his Volunteer of the Year Award. Leon Eplan, longtime Southface Institute board member from 2001 to 2019 and fourth generation Jewish Atlantan, passed away on April 15, 2021 at the age of 92. After graduating from Emory University, a short stint in the army and marrying his wife Madalyne Buchman in 1959, Eplan had a long career as a city planner and consultant for … Continue reading “In Gratitude: Leon Eplan, Former Board Member of Southface (1928-2021)” Read More Tags: Staff
