Working with GTRI
For the past few weeks I have been meeting with some fantastic people at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) that want to start making their building more green. Moon Kim contacted me, my adviser from when I formerly interned there Fall semester in 2009, asking if I could help them with sustainable living tipes and set up an enviromental management system (EMS).
There are so many great ideas! GTRI has already established a group of people to act as the “environmental cheerleading team” (sounds silly, but is very important to have when starting an EMS). Two employees are determined to set up an urban rooftop garden! How incredible would it be to take your lunch break on the roof in an environment as pictured above? I would be a much needed improvement from eating at your desk. I have done it on a regular basis, and I truly believe that eating at your desk in front of your computer during (a time that is supposed to be a break from work) is a soul drowning activity. But, that’s just me.
I am really happy to be part of the project. I think more and more businesses will realize that there IS a business case for sustainability.
Saving energy = saving money.
More green space = happy employees.
A solid environmental management system = marketing advantage (and green street cred).
Hey, this post about the rooftop garden made me think of a project that the architecture firm that I work for has worked on. It’s not the exact same thing but still really cool: a for-profit rooftop farm in Queens, NY.
http://brooklyngrangefarm.com/
Like rooftop gardens, hopefully we will start to see more rooftop farms popping up in cities all over!
That is really cool! GTRI has talked about starting a vegetable garden on their potential rooftop garden. I think its really fantastic when companies (like GTRI and your firm) propose these inspiring projects! Hopefully other companies will follow their lead.