Southface Energy Institute Inc

Programs: Each and every day we are working to build our vision for the future: a regenerative economy, responsible resource use and social equity through a healthy built environment for all. Each of our programs and lines of service influence three key outcomes - improved quality of life, shared prosperity and thriving natural systems. The following is one of our key areas of practice which support the execution of our mission and vision: policy: our policy practice prioritizes and champions the state and local policies that propel the clean energy and resource efficiency movement forward. We know that informed policy has the ability to transform the market for a clean energy economy, and we are working with our partners to influence data-driven, rigorous approaches to a low-carbon future. There are three key areas to informed state and local policy in which we focus to leverage the most impact: 1) advancing utility-focused energy efficiency, renewable and clean energy programming. 2) influencing policy in the built environment including energy and water codes, mechanisms such as ordinances and energy/building codes. 3) stormwater management including rainwater, green infrastructure and other water policies in the built environment.

each and every day we are working to build our vision for the future: a regenerative economy, responsible resource use and social equity through a healthy built environment for all. Each of our programs and lines of service influence three key outcomes - improved quality of life, shared prosperity and thriving natural systems. The following is one of our key areas of practice which support the execution of our mission and vision: implementation: our regenerative places + spaces team implements our innovative programs and services that impact our buildings and our communities. Our implementation scale ranges from improving a single family residence to influencing the way a community plans an entire neighborhood or city. The regenerative places and spaces team is responsible for ensuring that our work improves the quality of life for all residents, including low-income residents who often do not have access to the elements that influence healthy, energy efficient homes, workplaces and communities. (for program information, see schedule o).

each and every day we are working to build our vision for the future: a regenerative economy, responsible resource use and social equity through a healthy built environment for all. Each of our programs and lines of service influence three key outcomes - improved quality of life, shared prosperity and thriving natural systems. The following is one of our key areas of practice which support the execution of our mission and vision: education + training: a successful regenerative economy requires a well- trained and educated workforce ready to solve complex problems and implement the solutions they build. Our education and training team develops the curriculum, online, hands-on training and skill development opportunities for the next generation of the regenerative economy workforce. Through the g. I. Bill, military veterans, active duty personnel, and their dependents qualify for reimbursable training at southface. (for program information, see schedule o).

each and every day we are working to build our vision for the future: a regenerative economy, responsible resource use and social equity through a healthy built environment for all. Each of our programs and lines of service influence three key outcomes - improved quality of life, shared prosperity and thriving natural systems. The following are our key areas of practice which support the execution of our mission and vision: research + incubation (r+i) (innovation): our research + incubation team nurtures the sparks, seeds and early-stage developments for our internal and external programming and data collection. They are a team of rigorous scientists, designers, and program developers responsible for the conception, testing and delivery of our offerings at the intersection of the built and natural environments, and human experience. Our research connects our local and federal partners with essential data to shaping the outcomes of healthy, vibrant buildings and communities. 100% clean energy plan: the city of atlanta committed to phasing out electricity from coal, natural gas, and nuclear power by 2035, but before planning began, community engagement was a critical step. As a core partner, southface facilitated a stakeholder engagement process, which will be reflected in the mayor's 2018 plan to convert the city to 100% clean energy. Energy codes task force: for the first time in eight years, the state of georgia updated its energy codes. As a partner to the georgia department of community affairs energy codes task force, we identified opportunities to build more energy efficient buildings and construction throughout the state. This yearlong effort was an exciting opportunity to support policy changes at the state level. Tiny house fasibility study: southface worked closely with tiny house atlanta (now micro living institute), the city of atlanta, ryan taylor architects, llc, the american tiny house association, and multiple volunteers to produce a comprehensive feasibility study on the municipal policy and code obstacles related to accessory dwelling units, including certain tiny homes. Building america grant + kresge foundation healthy homes programs: in 2017, southface developed two separate research programs to track indoor environmental quality. The department of energy building america program provides research dollars to investigate the potential effects of "smart" ventilation on indoor air quality (iaq). The intent of the program was to reduce harmful pollutants that might harm low-income, residential occupants and to create a commercially-available iaq sensor package, which we launched with our partners at senseware. Additionally, southface developed a healthy materials renovation program through the kresge foundation. We are currently testing indoor environmental quality in low-income housing that was recently renovated. We plan to cross reference the results of the two programs to understand the impact of materials and ventilation on iaq in housing. Earthcraft: earthcraft is a family of high performance certification program which serves as a blueprint for energy, water and resource efficient buildings and communities throughout the southeast. In 2017, we updated our nearly 20-year-old green building certification program, earthcraft, to react to new challenges in the built environment. We breathed new life into our earthcraft house and light commercial technical programs and prepared to rethink the earthcraft brand and its influence on the residential market. Grants to green + nonprofit energy & water efficiency initiative (newe): two of our cornerstone programs, grants to green and newe, ensure that nonprofits have access and information to make efficiency improvements to their buildings and save thousands of dollars to reinvest in their mission-focused programs and capacity building. Through newe, three feeding america foodbanks were able to serve last year due to utility savings an additional 186,000 meals. This year, we closed out another round of grants for these programs and prepared to celebrate 10 years of grants to green in 2018 which has saved more than 200 nonprofits over 8. 15 million in cumulative utility savings for its grantees. Better buildings challenge: as we look for opportunities to bring the better buildings challenge to new cities, the atlanta better buildings challenge (abbc) made significant progress toward the goal of reducing water and energy use in commercial buildings by 20 percent by 2020. The program created 67 new jobs in atlanta and contributed 6. 48 million to gross regional product, which means better economic outcomes for all georgians. As 2020 draws near, we'll expand abbc with new goals focused on waste and wellbeing outcomes. Strong prosperous and resilient communities challenge: we committed to developing policy and systems change models to advance racial equity, health, and climate. The transformation alliance (tfa) selected southface as the strong prosperous and resilient communities challenge (sparcc) climate champion and through that partnership, developed the climate policy platform, completed a rapid climate vulnerabilities assessment, partnered with wonderroot on the climate/cultural resilience project, and advocated for the "living transit fund. " healthy homes training center: southface continues to lead the connection between healthy homes and resource efficiency through initiatives like partnering with kresge, the georgia department of community affairs (dca), and the georgia health policy center (ghpc); tracking the improved health benefits through the sustainable renovation of several georgia's public housing authority (pha) sites; and being the southeast lead partner within the healthy homes training center network.