I got a call from a write at the Creative Loafing magazine here in Atlanta a few weeks back, to ask me about how the new green economy was affecting our business.   One of the main things that I have seen is that we have been able to save a few of our employees from having to find jobs elsewhere.  In parts of our company where work did not seem to be there we were able to shift those employees over to our renewables division Fresh World.  We are sustaining our business growth through our sustainable services division. Here is the full story.

I was eating at one of my favorite Italian lunch spots (toscano and sons) and decided to take a walk around the complex where they were located to say hi to the local shop owners and to see how they were doing.  One of the shops that I visited is called Verde Home.  “Verde” meaning “green” epitomizes their furniture collection.  What really caught my eye was not the organic fabrics or organic rugs, but it was the beautiful hand-crafted furniture.  Each piece that was hand crafted had a one of a kind look.  Kent Schneider (one of the co-owners) had a story that went along with each piece giving them even more character.  Most of the pieces can from reclaimed heart pine and other sustainably deconstructed pieces.  Here is a link to the page on their site that displays the hand crafted furniture.   Verde Home

An excerpt from Verde Home:

“At Verde Home we specialize in hardwood furniture made from certified sources and reclaimed materials. This reclaimed pine console made exclusively for Verde is a great example. Hand crafted in Atlanta from antique wooden beams, salvaged from the ongoing White Provisions renovation, this piece is a great example of what we call sustainable style.”

One of my recycling partners in crime forwarded this message to me.  Even thought commodities are down (especially for recycling) they are still getting some money for them and they are not going into the landfill.  Please read on to see all of the updates on recycling in Atlanta giving the new economic situation. more…

The more obvious answer is the southern face of a building, however there is a resource center that is leading the nation in sustaining research and advice here in Atlanta Georgia called the Southface Energy Institute. The mission statement from their website-”Southface promotes sustainable homes, workplaces and communities through education, research, advocacy and technical assistance.”

The tagline for The Hoots Group is “Design green, Build green, Live green.”  Thanks to Southface we can offer certifications for the Build Green part.  Their inhouse building certification – Earthcraft House has won many national awards for it’s stringent sustainable guidelines.  The also are local verifier and supporter of other green programs such as LEED for Homes, and Home Performance with Energy Star.  We are grateful to be able to participate in all of these programs and can offer these certifications to our clients so they can have peace of mind in knowing that their house went through a process of getting certified by a 3rd party.

Take the time to browse their website and check out all of the online resourses that they have so you to can go green.

I have been asked the question “Can ‘Luxury’ & ‘Green’ co-exist?”  My response is that if it is a luxurious house that it must be green these days in order to be accepted.  If you are already at the price point of luxury, adding the green element should not cost you more money.  It is accepted that green options are more durable and therefor more high end in some cases so yes luxury and green must co-exist.

Here in the Atlanta are we have many LEED for Homes and EarthCraft House projects that are both luxurious and green.  The first one to get most people’s attentions was EcoManor.  Laura and Rutherford Seydel brought green to the the mainstream’s attention in Atlanta as they built the first LEED certified house in Georgia. Visit their site at EcoManor.

I was privileged to be the builder of the 2008 Southern Building Show showcase house which will be LEED certified as well.  It features many of the green options and technologies available in the area. Many builders and homeowners alike have benefited from our clients willingness to show their house and share their ideas.  To see some of the vendors and their green story visit: Ecolumina

Note- both of these homes are green and high end, yet they do not “look green.”   Not sure what green is supposed to look like, however these house did not have to compromise design in order to perform better.

Last year our friends at Verus Carbon Neutral created the first Carbon neutral zone in Atlanta.   Actually, the first Carbon neutral zone in the US! To find out more about that press release click on this link:  First Carbon Nuetral Zone in US

Since cap and trade is starting to be better understood, the media have taken  notice of what they have been doing.  They are one of the few companies that are not charging exorbitant rates for Carbon offsets.  Just recently the were featured on the Weather Channel.  To see the video clip of their time on the air click on their logo to the left.

If you are from Atlanta or have visited Atlanta, you have seen the bumper stickers that state- “We belong in the zoo.”  Well how about across the street from it?  Close enough to see it, but far enough away from the smell.

A couple EcoBroker friends of mine are the agents for Grant Park Place, a new green community right across the street from the entrance to the zoo.  The developing team have worked on other green projects in ATL as well.  Soon they will have a whole new website talking about how you can live next to the zoo and be green as well.

Here is a quick blurb from their website:

We are proud to Introduce Grant Park Place.  Grant Park Place is a new live/work Green community in Grant Park just across the street from Zoo Atlanta.  The property is on Cherokee Avenue between Augusta and Grant Park Place.

Included in this mixed-use development are 5 Single Family Homes and 9 Attached Townhomes.  All homes and townhomes will be EarthCraft House Certified.  The third component will be retail with the potential for office space or residential units above.

To get an early bird deal contact:

Carson Matthews  *  678-595-9286  * carson.matthews@harrynorman.com

Carol Cahill  *  404-918-8438  * carol.cahill@harrynorman.com

www.CarsonAndCarol.com

I was reading the Southeast Energy Efficiency Alliance December newsletter and came across an excellent competition that Atlanta can participate in.  One of my passions is to help Atlanta become greener.  I registered the domain Greenlanta and have been using the term in hopes that Atlanta will one day be the model for green building, design, and living.  Here is the competition that I think that Atlanta has a great chance at winning.  Our friend Mandy Schmidt (the director of sustainability for Atlanta) is on board with this challenge and rumor has it that it may have been her idea in the first place.  Go Atlanta, Go Green. Greenlanta

Resolution #3 Green Atlanta. Greenlanta (Southern for “Green Atlanta!”)

From the SEEA e-newsletter:

“SEEA will be awarding a Southeastern city half a million dollars to design a program that reduces energy and water use by consumers and businesses.  Modeled on programs being developed in Cambridge, Mass., and Cincinnati, Ohio, the competition is open to any city in SEEA’s 11-state region, which includes Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia.

The competition, dubbed the Southern Energy Alliance, seeks to replicate the Cambridge Energy Alliance, a private, nonprofit program established by the City of Cambridge that is helping thousands of residential and business customers identify and arrange financing for cost-effective energy efficiency and renewable energy measures. The Cambridge Energy Alliance expects that participants will repay project financing with the money they save in reduced energy bills, thanks to the efficiency upgrades.

Beginning now, cities can submit to SEEA a letter of intent to apply for the award in advance of the January 2009 release of the official Request for Proposals, which will include specific guidelines and eligibility requirements. Proposals will be due back to SEEA in April 2009.  A blue ribbon panel will judge the proposals, and SEEA will announce a winner within a few weeks of the April deadline.”

Tis the day after Christmas.  Whichever holiday that you celebrate during this season, we hope that you enjoyed it and the time with your family and friends.

As you are winding down from Christmas, consider what to do with all of the waste you have generated from the Holiday season.  Here are a few things to do and resources to help you:

1. Treecycle- Last year we took out tree to the Vinings Home Depot and there was a tree mulcher there to mulch our tree along with the others.  Make sure you take all of the lights and decorations off before or they cannot shred it.
2. Protect your plants from the winter cold.  Place the mulch from your recycled Christmas trees around the bases of your more sensitive plants outside to help protect the root from the cold.
3. Recycle all of your paper.  Depending on where you recycle, you may need to separate the papers.  White paper and cardboard can be resold at a premium, while the glossy paper and magazines are not as easy to recycle.
4. Spring clean a bit early.  Get rid of useful items that you do not need.  There are a lot of Charities that are willing to take them before the New Year.  PS- if you turn them in before January 1st- you can get a tax write off for your charitable donation.  We have one place near where we live that has a drive through drop off that is very convenient.
5. Speaking of taxes, there are new tax incentives to make your home more energy efficient and comfortable.  Click here for more info.

Hope you had a great holiday season and we wish you a prosperous New Year from all of us at the Hoots Group.

A friend of mine asked for me to give a tour of our green projects to her daughter and classmates a few days ago.  They were all upperclassmen at The Galloway School here in Atlanta.  The class was part of a course that focuses mainly on sustainability.  I knew that they might know a little about green building so I was looking forward to talking to them and sharing what I knew about sustainable design.

I have given tour to GA Tech students, green builders and many other very qualified professionals and I must say that these high schools students may actually have come better prepared than many of the other tour groups.  As I was explaining the different technologies in the house, I did not get the sense that this was the first time that they were exposed to green building.  I went into the details on how geothermal HVAC worked, they told me that they have seen that already (I think that is what they have for HVAC at their school).  I proceeded to show them the Solar Power and the Solar Water heaters and they seemed interested in that as well and asked very good questions.

I began to talk about Indoor Air Quality and why you need to have clean air in a green house.  I asked them what the number 2 cause of lung cancer in the US was.  One of the female students guessed Radon correctly on her first try.

These kids are smart and I feel like our future is in good hands as I work with students like these and get to speak to the students as GA Tech that are interested in sustainable building as well.

Not only are they learning about sustainable practices but they are entering their school into a competition in about one month as well.  The goal is to show a significant energy savings over other schools in the competition.  If course, I volunteered my time to help guide into victory.  You never know they may end up working with me one day.  It is a good investment into our future.

Thanks to progressive schools such as Galloway, the future definately looks green for us.

You go girl.  Our own Hoots Group fan, Mandy Schmitt is making headlines at the City of Atlanta.  She is taking action and finding ways to cut government spending.  Sounds like good ol’ political rhetoric?  Think again.  We are not asking for government to decrease spending on programs.  That is grounds for an audit(tax audit not energy audit).  She is just finding ways that the City of Atlanta is spending money unnecessarily and eliminating waste.  A dollar here and a dollar there adds up and that is exactly what Mandy is working on.  She is finding phones that are no longer in use and discontinuing the service.  She is also finding ways to save on utilities and reduce operating cost on gas, electric and water.  Keep up the good work Mandy.  Go Eco Divas!

Here is the official press release from the City of Atlanta:

more…

The Hoots Group is a proud participant in most of the green programs and events that the Southface Energy Institute hosts.  The are the local provider for EarthCraft House, Home Performance with Energy Star, LEED for Homes and other great green programs.

Twice a year they host a party at their Eco-office cebrating the shortest and longest days of the days.  These are known as the Summer and Winter solstices.  Last week hosted the Winter Solstice and it went off really well.  In the summer, they make solar ice cream.  This is ice cream that is made on site powered by a Solar Panel.

This is a fun tradition for all Southface members to enjoy.  To find out more about these events and other events at Southface go to Southface.org.

Thanks Southface for making green building well known in Atlanta and the SouthEast.

Kudzu.  Am I crazy?  Kudzu takes over hillsides, forest and is on the invasive species list.  It can grow up to a foot a day in the growing season.  How can Kudzu be green?

On the other hand you add .com to it and it is green.  Kudzu.com is a web service where you can find relevant information regarding service provider and contractors.  So why is kudzu green? Well, since they are web based, they can reach hundreds of thousands of potential customers and guide them to contractors.  This saves time and money.  Clients can rate the contractors and look up services that they need with in seconds.  The contractors do not even have to pay to be on the site, however they do have the opportunity to upgrade their listing.  There are advertising spots on kudzu for service providers to get better positioning, but clients can still find and rate and contractor that they want for free!!

So what else make them green?  They do have a green business section promoting green services.  If you are looking for green pest control, well you can find it on kudzu.com.  I think they even have a green service for killing kudzu on your property!

Finally, most print media is shiny and pretty, but it is not the greenest way to advertise.  The chemicals used in print media can be bad for indoor air quality and it is difficult to recycle glossy paper.  Kudzu.com does not use ink or paper!!

While the plant kudzu kills trees, kudzu.com is a tree saver!!

To find out more how your green business can be optimized on kudzu.com contact LeaAnne            LeaAnne.Perry@coxinc.com

Zoo Atlanta is a favorite for the Hoots boys.  Last month we had fun attending “Boo at the Zoo” a Halloween event for kids.  The zoo volunteers handed out candy as the kids made their way through the zoo.  Of course, I made sure that they did not pick up any unwrapped chocolate!

Around the same time Zoo Atlanta won a green award for their waste management of elephant poop and bamboo.

Here is a excerpt from their website:

The Zoo Atlanta Green Team’s elephant manure and bamboo composting program just won first place in the 2008 Keep Georgia Beautiful Awards for Waste Reduction and Recycling. By working with Natural Growth, Inc. for composting elephant manure and Downey Trees for shredding bamboo waste to be burned as fuel by Georgia Power, we’re diverting over 1,800 cubic yards of waste from the landfill every year.